English as a Second Language (ESL)
The goal for students enrolled in Catholic Charities’ English as a Second Language classes is that they will understand, speak, read, and write English by the end of our program. Our classes are divided into levels, and our teachers will help their students select a level that is appropriate for their current skill level and will help challenge the student to improve. Our hope for all our ESL students is that they will use the English knowledge and skills they have gained to proceed to earn a high school equivalency certificate, gain employment, and/or transfer to college or university. For more information on the ESL class levels, please click on the descriptions below.
Course Descriptions
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ESL - Level 1
This course focuses on fundamental grammar, common vocabulary, introduction to reading skills in English, and conversation practice. ESL 1 Learning Outcomes: ● Grammar in Context - Students will be introduced to target grammatical structures including the present and past of the verb ‘be’, subject-verb agreement, imperatives, descriptive adjectives, prepositions of location, pronouns, possessives, and modals of ability and permission in realistic contexts. ● Writing Practice - Students will improve their use of capital letters, past tense time markers, time word connectors, the connectors ‘and’ and ‘but’, and correct usage of punctuation (commas, periods, and question marks) in simple and compound sentences. ● Every Day Skills - Students will learn practical life-skills information concerning the English alphabet and numbers, the calendar, currency, body, health, and nutrition to be able to function in everyday, real-life situations related to their immediate needs. ● Reading - Students will work on developing reading fluency skills by identifying the topic and main idea of paragraphs, scanning for specific information. ● Speaking - Students will participate in real-life communicative activities, discussions, and role-plays which focus on demonstrating the ability to follow oral directions, respond accurately to oral cues and open-ended questions, and explaining different cultural celebrations. Students will engage in discussions pertaining to future career paths, job hunting techniques and interview skills, particularly answering questions for a job interview. ● Technology- Students will develop skills with technology that will allow them to use computers, cell phones, and the internet as learning tools. Students will learn the basic computer concepts, computer hardware, operating systems, the Internet, online safety and security, and computer applications including Microsoft Word, basic Google Suite (Gmail and Google Classroom) and basic Burlington English. ESL - Level 2
This course continues and reinforces content and skills from our first ESL level. Students will focus on four skills in various segments- fundamental grammar, reading comprehension, technology, and conversation practice. ESL 2 Learning Outcomes: ● Grammar in Context - Students will be introduced to target grammatical structures including the simple past of regular and irregular verbs, simple present versus present progressive, quantifiers, count and non-count nouns and article usage, Wh-questions, comparative and superlative adjectives, and modals for advice, requests, offers, and necessity. ● Writing Practice - Students will learn how to write short routine work memos or reports, including writing e-mail messages; filling out basic medical forms and simple job applications; describing basic work procedures in writing; taking notes and phone messages; writing personal notes or letters. ● Every Day Skills - Students will learn practical life-skills information concerning , identifying family members, recognizing and using U.S. currency and asking about prices, recognizing different methods of transportation, including traffic signs and signals, using directional terms to follow directions, identifying rooms of a house, filling out simple medical forms and discussing resumes along with different occupations to be able to function in everyday situations. ● Reading - Students will work on developing reading fluency skills by identifying the topic and main idea of paragraphs, interpreting titles of readings, scanning for specific information, demonstrating understanding of explicit and implicit information in readings, and summarizing. ● Speaking - Students will participate in real-life communicative activities, discussions, and role-plays which focus on demonstrating the ability to follow oral directions, respond accurately to oral cues and open-ended questions, and explaining different cultural celebrations. Students will engage in discussions pertaining to future career paths, job hunting techniques and interview skills, particularly answering questions for a job interview. ● Technology- Students will develop skills with technology that will allow them to use computers, cell phones, and the internet as learning tools. Will learn the basic computer concepts, computer hardware, operating systems, the Internet, online safety and security, and computer applications including Microsoft Word, basic Google Suite (Gmail, Google Classroom, Google Docs, and Google Drive) and Burlington English. ESL - Level 3
This course continues and reinforces content and skills from our second ESL level. Students will focus on five skills in various segments- fundamental grammar, everyday skills, reading comprehension, conversation practice, and technology. ESL 3 Learning Outcomes: ● Grammar- Students will review use of simple present, future and past. Students will also be introduced to comparative and superlative adjectives, future conditional, phrasal verbs, object pronouns, gerunds, and past continuous. ● Writing - Students will write comprehensively, demonstrating an organized presentation of ideas using simple and compound sentences with proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, and structure. Will write narrative, and descriptive paragraphs with the use of brainstorming and clustering to organize pre-writing ideas. ● Reading - Students will make inferences, determine cause and effect, find clues to meaning, recognize patterns of organization, and match main ideas and supporting details of authentic reading passages. ● Speaking - Students will participate in communicative activities, discussions, role-plays, and an in-class presentation on real-life situations and their respective cultural importance. Students will focus on demonstrating the ability to use selected high-frequency words and idioms to improve oral language by expressing ideas and feelings, using simple and compound sentences with proper grammar, fluency, and pronunciation. ● Everyday skills: Students will learn practical life-skills concerning shopping and comparing products, going to a doctor’s appointment and describing symptoms, identifying healthy foods and habits, and occupational knowledge including preparing for a job interview. ● Technology -Students will develop skills with technology that will allow them to use computers, cell phones, and the internet as learning tools. Students will effectively use Google Suite (Gmail, Google Classroom, Google Docs, and Google Drive) and Microsoft Suite (Word and Powerpoint). ESL - Level 4
ESL 4 Learning Outcomes: This course continues and reinforces content and skills from our third ESL level. Students will focus on five skills in various segments- fundamental grammar, everyday skills, reading comprehension, conversation practice, and technology. ● Grammar- Students will review use of simple present, future and past. Students will also be introduced to common phrasal verbs, modals, conditionals, and present perfect simple, continuous, and future. ● Writing - Students will write comprehensively, demonstrating organization and development of a minimum of a three-paragraph essay (narrative and descriptive), using clear topic sentences, specific, descriptive details to support main ideas, and a strong conclusion with an emphasis on paragraph unity. Students will express a written opinion effectively using proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure. ● Reading - Students will read more advanced written English and develop the ability to infer, judge, or speculate the answer to specific questions. Students will continue to strengthen comprehension and critical thinking skills in order to distinguish between quoting and paraphrasing and facts versus opinions, complete a main idea statement, understand reference words, determine cause and effect, and understand the writer’s point of view and purpose of a reading. ● Speaking - Students will strengthen oral skills by participating in a variety of discussions and role-plays on popular topics. Students will prepare, develop, and perform speeches and presentations on authentic topics, constructing and defending arguments. The emphasis will be on appropriate fluency and pronunciation, proper grammar, authentic language use, comprehensibility, and improved confidence when speaking in front of a group. ● Everyday Skills: Students will learn practical life skills including self-advocating as a consumer, identifying healthy habits, identifying steps to plan a career, locating community resources, and communicating opinions about a community problem. Technology -Students will develop skills with technology that will allow them to use computers, cell phones, and the internet as learning tools. Students will effectively use Google Suite (Gmail, Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Drive) and Microsoft Suite (Word and Powerpoint). ESL - Level 5
ESL 5 Learning Outcomes: This course continues and reinforces content and skills from our fourth ESL level. Students will focus on five skills in various segments- everyday skills, reading comprehension, and conversation practice and technology. ● Writing - Students will develop critical reading and thinking skills that are essential for college and workplace success including grammar usage, sentence variety, paragraph development, critical reading and thinking, brief essays, and research-paper elements. ● Reading - Students will strengthen foundational reading skills in English. Students will interact with various text styles, develop fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies. ● Speaking - Students will participate in a variety of conversations to learn how to effectively communicate in social and familiar work situations; Students will be able to understand and participate in practical and social conversations and in technical discussions in their professional field. ● Everyday Skills: Students will learn practical life skills such as identifying practices that promote mental and physical well-being, identifying and prioritizing personal and professional goals, identifying ways to organize finances, and identifying requirements for establishing residency and citizenship. ● Technology -Students will develop skills with technology that will allow them to use computers, cell phones, and the internet as learning tools. Students will effectively use Google Suite (Gmail, Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Drive) and Microsoft Suite (Word, Powerpoint, and Excel). Required Technology for Online Learning
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