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Curriculum

Levels and Placement
Courses
Sample Schedule
Certificates and Evaluation

Levels and Placement

At the Language Institute, we realize our students aren’t all the same.  To find the right level for you in our program, we assess your English proficiency in five areas:

• Listening,
• Reading,
• Vocabulary,
• Grammar, and
• Writing.

When we know your overall level of proficiency, we place you with other students with similar ability in English

Seven Levels of Proficiency
Beginning	100	Lower elementary
	200	Upper elementary
Intermediate	300	Lower intermediate
	400	Intermediate
	500	Upper intermediate
Advanced	600	Lower advanced
	700	Upper advanced

Students may not select their own level of study and must follow the placement committee’s decision. However, to ensure you are placed at the correct level, your class performance will be observed for the first three or four days with placement adjustments made during the second week of the session.

Students are promoted to the next level based on their final grades and teacher recommendations. All continuing students may retake the placement test if they would like to try for a higher level than their teachers recommend.  

Beginning Levels
Beginning students have limited proficiency in English. They can function somewhat in everyday conversation, write basic sentences and paragraphs, and read short passages with controlled vocabulary.

If you are placed at this level, you take one-hour classes in grammar, writing, reading, and speaking/listening, and you should expect to spend an additional two to three hours outside of class working on homework assignments.

Intermediate Levels
Intermediate student can communicate in English in most social situations, but their fluency and accuracy may still be weak in one or more areas.

If you are placed at the intermediate level, you receive fairly intensive practice with English as it is used for academic purposes and everyday communication. You will attend daily one-hour classes in grammar, speaking/listening, reading/discussion, and writing and should expect to spend three to four hours daily on homework assignments.

Advanced Levels
Advanced students are approaching readiness or are ready to begin academic study but still have some weaknesses in some of their English skills.

If you are at this level, you will take one-hour classes daily in grammar, writing, reading/discussion and speaking/listening, read academic texts, listen to authentic lecture and other authentic materials, learn ways to connect ideas and use more sophisticated structures in both writing and speaking, and write essay exams and short extensive research papers.

As an upper-advanced level student, you will take one two-hour grammar writing class daily and one-hour classes in both oral skills and listening. At both advanced levels, you can expect to spend at least four hours on outside homework assignments and preparation for class. 

Courses

Core Courses

Grammar
Grammar classes help you learn structures that will help you communicate more accurately in English. Emphasis is not on learning rules of English grammar. Instead, you learn how to use English grammar structures accurately in meaningful communication in both speaking and writing.

Reading and Discussion
In reading and discussion classes, you learn strategies and practice reading for detail, main idea, and inference. You also work on the skills of speed reading, skimming, scanning, paraphrasing, and summarizing and synthesizing information. You can practice new vocabulary and participate in discussions about class texts. Texts include short, simple newspaper articles to scholarly journal articles and literature.

Writing
At the lower levels, you focus on writing sentences and paragraphs related to your experiences.  In the intermediate levels, you work on different rhetorical styles, writing unified coherent paragraphs and essays that demonstrate a variety of cohesive devises, some mastery of punctuation rules and diction, and use of adequate support.

At the advanced levels, you focus on writing more academic topics. You learn to research and use the techniques of paraphrasing and summarizing of information effectively in your writing. You are also introduced to a number of different citation forms.

Speaking/Listening
In our speaking/listening classes, you practice understanding spoken English in social, academic, and testing situations through guided exercises, listening exercises, note-taking practice, and vocabulary building. Listening material includes short controlled passages at the beginning levels to authentic lectures and video segments at the more advanced levels.

In speaking, you receive instruction and feedback on pronunciation issues including sound production, intonation, thought groups, and word and sentence stress. Fluency is emphasized. You learn to participate more confidently in conversations and group discussions and to give both formal and informal presentations.  

Elective Courses

In addition to core classes, you can register for elective classes in standardized test preparation including TOEFL preparation and GRE/GMAT writing preparation, and vocabulary building, as well as non-test electives such as Making a Movie, Rhythm in English, English Through Dramatic Activities, and Idioms.

Learn more about upcoming electives click here.

Sample Schedules

What does a typical week look like for our students? Here are a few sample schedules for our full-time intensive English students.

Schedules vary from session to session. Specific schedules are available on the second day of each session after all new students have been tested and placed.

Full-time students take four hours of class daily, Monday through Friday.

Beginning to Lower Intermediate Levels

Time	Monday-Friday
11 a.m.-Noon	Grammar
Noon-1 p.m.	Writing
1-2 p.m.	Lunch
2-3 p.m.	Reading
3-4 p.m.	Speaking/Listening
4p.m.	Open Lab Time

Intermediate to Lower Advanced Levels

Time	Monday-Friday
8 a.m.	Open Lab Time
9 a.m.	Grammar
10 a.m.	Writing
11 a.m.	Lunch
Noon	Reading
1 p.m.	Speaking/Listening
2 p.m.	Electives (Tuesday-Thursday)
3 p.m.	Open Lab Time

Upper Advanced Level

Time	Monday-Friday
8 a.m.	Open Lab Time
9 a.m.	Speaking
10 a.m.	Listening
11 a.m.	Lunch
Noon	Writing
1 p.m.	Grammar
2 p.m.	Electives (Monday-Wednesday-Friday)
3 p.m.	Open Lab Time

Certificates and Evaluation

You can earn three types of certificates recognizing your achievements at the Language Institute. They are:

• Successful Level Completion (take all four core classes and pass three),
• Successful Course Completion (individual core classes), and
• Course Attendance (elective classes).

Official transcripts and your GPA for all coursework can also be obtained.