Courses

The program consists of 20 hours per week of classroom instruction in the basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and grammar. Video and audio equipment helps students improve pronunciation and listening comprehension. An IEP computer lab is available for student use.

There are six levels in the IEP. Students take placement assessments to determine their level. Students who successfully complete Levels V and VI and then enroll at EMU for an undergraduate degree may receive 15 semester hours of credit.

Listening, Speaking & Vocabulary

In this class, students develop skills for oral communication in a variety of English language contexts. Levels I and II focus on conversational skills, developing the student’s ability to understand the experiences of others while sharing his or her own. Levels II-VI highlight the skills necessary for academic achievement. Students listen to lectures, learn to take notes, participate in group discussions, and plan and deliver oral presentations. All levels include an emphasis on learning vocabulary and improving pronunciation for effective oral communication.

Grammar

This class focuses on increasing the student’s understanding and accurate usage of the grammatical forms and structures necessary for successful oral and written communication in English. Students in Levels I and II focus on parts of speech and their usage, simple verb tenses, basic word order, and simple sentence structure. Levels III-VI review these concepts and build on them with complex verb tenses, modals and conditionals, gerunds and infinitives, passive voice, adjective and noun clauses, reported speech, and complex sentence structures.

Integrated Skills

In this class, students integrate the use of language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking, and grammar) with the exploration of interesting content. Students learn about U.S. history and culture, as well as global issues and challenges. They also acquire common English idioms and expressions. A variety of creative learning activities are used, such as field trips, group projects, film, drama, etc.

Reading, Writing, and Research

The focus of this class is the development of skills for written communication in the academic English environment. Levels I and II focus on skills for writing at the sentence and paragraph level. Students engage readings from genres such as letters, news reports, and short stories. They begin to explore the research skills necessary for finding reliable information in libraries and on the internet. Levels III-VI build on these skills by moving from paragraphs to essays, adding longer academic readings (articles, textbook material, classic works of fiction, etc.), and learning to integrate sources into one’s own writing. All levels include an emphasis on learning the writing conventions (spelling rules, punctuation, etc.) necessary for effective written communication.