Certificate in English As A Second Language (ESL) Novena, Central

Course details

The Certificate in English as A Second Language (ESL) Course is designed to build up students’ level of competency and confidence in the English language in a gradual and structured way so that they can live and study in an English speaking environment. It is designed primarily to prepare students for studying in Singapore where command of the English language is necessary.

Course Structure

Elementary: Our Elementary level is for students with a beginner level knowledge of English who need English to survive for social and everyday purposes. It is expected that the productive skills of our students will be limited and fragmented at this stage and that the language will be mostly or completely formulaic at this level; receptive skills will be more developed than productive skills. By the end of the level it is expected that our students will be able to understand straightforward information in the spoken and written language and to express himself/herself in speech and in writing for simple practical purposes in everyday situations, requiring a simple and direct exchange of information. It is a thorough course which prepares students for the next stage in English On completion of this course our students will be intermittent users of English with an expected IELTS score of 2.

Lower Intermediate: Our Lower-Intermediate Level is for our students who have a basic command of English and who need English to cope with the language needs for social and everyday purposes. By the end of this level our students should be able to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. They should also be able to introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Our students should also be able to interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help. On an IELTS scale our students would be extremely limited users of English with an IELTS score of between 2 and 3.

Intermediate: Our Intermediate Level is for our students who need to understand and express in speaking and writing – information, ideas, feelings, opinions and common functions about everyday situations in straightforward spoken and written language. By the end of this level our students are expected to be able to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Our students should also be able to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. They should also be able to describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need. On an IELTS scale our students would be limited users of English with an IELTS score of between 3 and 4.

Upper Intermediate: Our Upper-Intermediate Level is for our students who use or will use an upper intermediate level of English for their educational or working life. At the end of this level our students should be able to understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, college, etc. Our students should also be able to deal with most situations likely to arise while living in an area where the language is spoken. In addition our students should also be able to produce grammatically accurate simple connected texts and essays on topics that are familiar or of personal interest. They should also be able to describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. On an IELTS scale our students would be modest users of English with an IELTS score of between 4 and 5.

What will I learn?

Upon completion of the Elementary Level, the student should be able to:

1. Listening
   • Listen to and follow very short conversations, messages, announcements, and information services related to areas of immediate relevance in daily life.
   • Understand the gist of the spoken discourse
   • Understand simple factual details in the spoken discourse
   • Identify the context and the purpose of the spoken discourse
   • Identify the general information in the spoken discourse
   • Idnetify and select relevant information
2. Reading
   • Read and follow short written signs, notices and posters, catalogues, directions, instructions, messages and very short, simple documents
   • Read and follow the written text or written version of spoken discourse on everyday matters.
   • Undertsand the gist of the discourse
   • Identify the context of the discourse and the purpose of the speaker/s and writer/s
   • Identify and understand general information in the discourse
   • Identify simple factual details in the discourse
   • Follow the order and sequence of information
   • Identify and select relevant information
3. Writing
   • Respond appropriately to simple visual and written instructions and convey information related to themselves and areas of immediate relevance in the form of simple instructions and messages
   • Convey information and descriptions related to themselves and areas of immediate relevance in the form of a postcard, application form or simple descriptions
   • Describe a picture/pictures related to situations in the examination paper
4. Speaking
   • Respond to and express greetings
   • Respond to and express thanks
   • Ask for and give information
   • Describe people including themselves
   • Spell their name and address
   • Descibe activities
   • Describe possessions and everyday items
   • Instruct and direct poeple
   • Express likes and dislikes
   • Handle simple numbers up to 100, simple costs, quantities, time and dates
   • Ask for repetition or clarification when they do not understand

Upon completion of the Lower-Intermediate Level, the student should be able to:

1. Listening
   • Listen to and follow short conversations, messages, announcements, and information services
   • Related to areas of immediate relevance in daily life
   • Identify the context of the spoken discourse and the purpose of the speaker/s
   • Identify the gist of the spoken discourse
   • Identify general information in the spoken discourse
   • Identify specific information and details in the spoken discourse
   • Identify and extract the relevant information from the spoken discourse
2. Reading
   • Read and follow short written signs, notices and posters, directions, instructions and messages
   • Read personal correspondence and other short, simple documents on everyday matters
   • Read and follow the written verison of spoken discourse on everyday matters
   • Identify the context of the written discourse and the purpose of the speaker/s and riter/s
   • Identify the gist of the written discourse
   • Identify and understand general information in the discourse
   • Identify and understand specific information in the discourse
   • Identify and extract relevant information from the discourse
   • Follow the order and sequence of information in the discourse
3. Writing
   • Convey information related to their own background, locality and areas of immediate relevance in response to simple visual or written instructions
   • Reply to an invitation or suggested meeting in the form of simple application forms, notes, messages, e-mails, postcards and short letters
   • Describe and narrate on topics related to the scenario of the examination paper in the form of a description of a scene and narrative account.
4. Speaking
5. • Respond to and express greetings, introductions and farewells
   • Respond to and express thanks
   • Ask for and give information and directions
   • Describe people including themselves, places and things
   • Describe events and activities
   • Describe daily routines and habits
   • Express likes and dislikes
   • Express time
   • Express ability
   • Make and accept offers, aplogies and requests
   • Make future plans
   • Instruct and direct people
   • Express numbers, costs and quantities

Upon completion of the Intermediate Level, the student should be able to:

1. Listening
   • Listen to and follow conversations, short talks, messages and announcements, telephone,
   • traffic and tourist information, publicity and routine instructions and directions related to familiar
   • matters regularly encountered in study, work, daily and leisure contexts
   • Understand the gist of the spoken discourse
   • Identify the context of the spoken discourse and the speaker/s and the purpose
   • Identify and extract the main points in the spoken discourse
   • Identify and extract the general and specific details in the spoken discourse
   • Identofy the feelings and ideas of the speaker/s in the spoken discourse
2. Reading
   • Read and follow simple written discourse such as signs, directions, notice, instructions
   • advertisements, brochures, leaflets, personal correspondence, and informative texts from
   • newspapers and magazines
   • Read and follow the written version of spoken discourse from everyday situations
   • Understand the gist of the written version of spoken discourse
   • Identify the context and purpose of the speaker/s and writer/s
   • Identify and obtain the main points in the discourse
   • Identify and obtain the general and specific details in the discourse
   • Identify and obatin the ideas, feelings and general opinions put forward by the speaker/writer
3. Writing
   • Visual or written instructions and: write messages, e-mails, and postcards which might include directions and instructions
   • Describe past events, and express ideas, feelings, personal thoughts and advice in the form of informal letters, diaries and stories
4. Speaking
   • Undertsand and describe events
   • Ask for and communicate feelings and opinions
   • Ask for and give instructions and explanations
   • Ask for and make suggestions
   • Ask for and give permission
   • Give and accept invitations
   • Ask for and give advice
   • Give and receive orders
   • Follow and narrate a story
   • Ask about and describe events and occurrences
   • Ask for and describe events and activities in one’s life
   • Make complaints
   • Reply to and make polite requests
   • Make hypotheses
   • Ask for amd make plans and arrangements for the future
   • Ask for and make comparisons
   • Agree and disagree and express opinions
   • Ask for clarifications and explanations and check back and ask for confirmation
   • Spelling: Spell words in daily use accurately
   • Punctuation: consistent control of capital letters, full stops, question marks, commas for lists and exclamation marks and use of paragraphing

Upon completion of the Upper Intermediate Level, the student should be able to:

1. Listening
   • Listen to identify and extract information from concrete and abstract spoken discourse on
   • familiar and unfamiliar topics from their own personal, social, educational or working life
   • Identify the context and register of the spoken discourse and purpose of the speakr/s
   • Understand the context and details of the extract in the spoken discourse
   • Identify and extract relevant information from the spoken discourse
   • Identify the relationship between the main and secondary ideas in the spoken discourse
   • Identify the feelings, attittudes, and points of view of the spekaer/s in the spoken discourse
   • Identify the purpose of the choice of language of the speaker/s
   • Listen for the gist and follow the details of a discussion
2. Reading
   • Understand and follow the main events of continuous narrative, descriptive, explanatory and persuasive texts
   • Follow texts on concrete and abstract topics on familiar and unfamilair topics, related to their
   • own personal, social, educational or working life
   • Use organisational and structural features to locate, extract and synthesise relevant information
   • from different parts of the written discourse
   • Identify the context and register of the written discourse and the purpose of the writer
   • Understand the general content and details of the written discourse
   • Identify the relationship between the main and secondary ideas in written discourse
   • Identify and understand the feelings, attitude and points of view of the writer
   • Infer meaning which is not explicit in the text
   • Identify and understand the prupose of the choice of language of the writer
3. Writing
   • Consider and integrate information and express clear, qualified and illustrated facts and details, ideas and points of view, advice and arguments on a wide range of subjects from a variety of personal, social, educational and wroking context in the form of competition entries, contextualised summaries, reports and public notices, informal letters, questionnaires, narrative accounts, discursive essays
4. Speaking
   • Understand and express facts, ideas and points of view in sequence and in detail
   • Make future plans and arrangements and describe the future
   • Present information in sequence and in detail
   • Introduce others
   • Make comparisions
   • Make and refuse formal and informal requests
   • Speculate about situations, events and people
   • Relay information that other speakers have told them
   • Ask about and express likes, dislikes, feelings and hopes
   • Express regrets
   • Express points of view with facts, reasons and examples
   • Describe processes
   • Discuss problems and give advice and instructions
   • Engage in discussion and express agreement and disagreement
   • Ask questions to obtain information
   • Give examples, advice and suggestions
   • Express obligation and lack of it
   • Make recommendations
   • Ask about and narrate events in the past
   • Show purpose, consequence, reason, contrast
   • Interrupt and check back

Certification

After the completion of each level of the Certificate in English As A Second Language (ESL), students will be given a Certificate of Attendance by Beacon International College.

Assessment

The Certificate in English as A Second Language (ESL) will be characterized by both lectures and task-based activities. A student-centred approach will be employed to produce positive results. Emphasis will be placed onshort presentations, focused exercises, role-play, student-interaction, pair-work, student tasks, continuous assessment, projects and final exams.