English As A Second Language (ESL)

ESL 0850 - Intense English for Foreign Students

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

Oral communication in the US requires cultural knowledge, concision, precision and clarity. In this course, students will learn to organize their ideas and to express themselves in a way appropriate to context, with a specific focus on researching, planning and formal speaking in different academic situations.

ESL 1000 - Contemporary Issues

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

A thematic introduction to contemporary global issues with the ultimate objective of developing the awareness, analytical tools, and action toward global citizenship. Special attention is given to issues of poverty, conflict, peace, and rights. Through this course students will identify and analyze contemporary global issues from a variety of perspectives while reflecting on related experiences and materials in class discussions, readings, and assigned films. In order to do this, international students will apply academic English skills such as reading university-level texts in English, discussing university-level texts in class, taking notes, writing reflective blogs, writing researched term papers, presenting on course material, collaborating on academic assignments, among others.

ESL 1010 - Critical Reading

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

Understanding academic texts is key to succeeding in higher education and is complex because it requires understanding at several levels, and academic texts include many structures which are rarely used in the spoken language. In this course, while developing vocabulary and knowledge of different academic subjects, students will learn to distinguish stated from inferred information, reliable from unreliable sources and meaning from intention.

ESL 1020 - Advanced-Intermediate Written Expression

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

Intensive argumentative essay preparation through a focus on critical thinking and creative writing processes for development of well-organized, grammatically effective and highly expressive prose. The three levels move students from basic paragraph and sentence level skills to the process of producing well-supported multi-paragraph academic essays. Students will also learn how to synthesize and summarize information, and to cite from external sources.

ESL 1050 - Academic Structures

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

This course focuses on the grammatical structures of Academic English, combining vocabulary acquisition with grammatical analysis as applied to the Parts II in the TOEFL ITP and the reading and writing sections of the TOEFL IBT. The main focus will be on sentence structure, analysis of sentence parts and functions, vocabulary work and general study skills. Besides focusing on Academic English, the course will also reinforce a view of grammar and vocabulary as necessary tools for effective communication contained in living, ever-changing language systems.

ESL 1110 - Advanced Listening, Grammar and Reading

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

Intensive TOEFL preparation based on natural spoken discourse in English; effective use of English grammar and fluent reading comprehension strategies. The course provides students with advanced literacy for academic study in the U.S. university system.

ESL 1120 - Advanced Written Expression

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

Intensive SLUWE preparation through a focus on critical thinking and creative writing processes for development of well-organized, grammatically effective and highly expressive prose.

ESL 1200 - ESL History: Origins of the Modern World, 1500 to the Present

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

English language learning and developmental approach to five hundred years of history, with emphasis on increasing European awareness of the rest of the world: the forming of the modern state, the first transatlantic encounters, Catholic and Protestant Reformations, the Enlightenment, the Age of Revolutions, the Ottoman Empire, encounters with Africa and Asia, Marxism, World Wars I and II, and contemporary society. Students who pass this course and decide to pursue an undergraduate degree program at SLU-Madrid may get this course transferred for 3 credits with a grade equivalence of C.

ESL 1930 - Special Topics

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

ESL 2930 - Special Topics

3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)

ESL 2980 - Independent Study

1 or 3 Credits (Repeatable for credit)