Grades 9-12 Intermediate

Students entering this class typically:

• have a basic level of vocabulary,
• need a good deal of help in understanding class work in mainstream classes,
• possess basic competence in English verb tenses,
• can only contribute a few words to a conversation,
• can write simple sentences (little competence in complex sentence structure).

The course develops ESL students':

• speaking and listening skills to an active conversational level,
• reading skills, especially getting the gist, reducing dependence on the dictionary,
• writing in terms of grammatical accuracy, ease of expression, and complexity.

Course content

• structured, controlled listening activities involving the use of tapes, videos, short dictations and reading aloud by the teacher,
• oral work,  including pronunciation practice, discussion of written texts (various lengths and topics), reading aloud, retelling (e.g. based on tapes or videos), and short prepared speeches,
• reading "short" texts and structural readers, guided and free reading for pleasure, practice with scanning texts for information (note-taking and research skills),
• controlled writing especially at the beginning of the year with a gradual move towards freer expression; includes individual work in class and at home, collaborative writing, proofreading, and rewriting.
• the coursework is linked to work being done in mainstream subjects; this may be achieved by devoting ESL class time to subject support work or by arranging extra sessions.

Students leaving course should be able to:

• express themselves orally in sentences, communicating basically what they want to say,
• understand almost all of what is said in mainstream classes,
• understand what is expected of them in assignments for mainstream classes, and possess a moderate independence in completing these
• read texts for mainstream classes and comprehend the essential points, being able to answer most questions, though sometimes perhaps still with difficulty,
• write complete sentences with accurate use of simple tenses, with some competence in dependent clauses.