Placement and Classes - ESL Center

Placement

The ESL Center administers an online placement test to incoming students.

ESL Online Placement Test (requires an OU username/password to login)

Students are then placed in courses at one of three levels (beginning, intermediate or advanced) based on the results of their placement test and subject to course enrollments.

In general, the times and duration of the ESL courses follow the Oakland University schedule of classes and academic calendar.

ESL Course Descriptions

These courses cannot be used to satisfy any portion of the University requirement in writing proficiency. No more than 16 credits in courses numbered 050-099 may count toward graduation requirements.

ESL 050: Listening and Speaking I
To aid students in developing general listening and speaking skills through guided conversational practice. Students will be instructed in appropriate conversational techniques and will practice in group discussions.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 051: Reading and Vocabulary Development I
Designed to help students develop general-purpose reading skills and strategies. Emphasis on vocabulary development to enhance reading facility.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 052: Writing and Sentence Structure for Academic Purposes I
Designed for students of ESL to improve basic writing skills.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 060: Listening and Speaking II
To help students develop the necessary listening and speaking skills for an academic environment. Focus will be on listening and speaking in a variety of class settings (lecture, seminar, discussion) and will include note-taking and subject comprehension.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 061: Reading and Vocabulary Development II
An intermediate-level course designed to help students develop reading skills and strategies for academic purposes. Emphasizes developing appropriate technical vocabularies.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 062: Writing and Sentence Structure for Academic Purposes II
Improving basic knowledge of paragraph structure, linear sequencing, and grammatical structures used in writing. Focus on organization and coherence, and practice in transitions, conciseness, and patterns of organization.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 070: Listening and Speaking III
Designed to help students reduce their accent for improved listener comprehension. Focus on accuracy in articulation at both the individual sound level and the sentential level. Will use interactive phonetics software to provide feedback.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 071: Reading and Vocabulary Development III
An advanced-level course designed to help students further develop reading skills and strategies for academic purposes. Emphasizes critical analysis and handling heavy reading loads.
Prerequisite: Placement

ESL 072: Writing and Sentence Structure for Academic Purposes III
Designed to help students improve their writing skills. Combines extensive practice in rhetorical techniques with a review of grammatical structures.
Prerequisite: Placement