Course Syllabus
Welcome to ESL002: Intermediate English as a Second Language
Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.
Course Description
Improve your writing accuracy and fluency by developing your English grammar skills and improving your vocabulary.
Course Introduction
Developing skills in a second language involves understanding how the language works and taking the time to practice using it. ESL002 encourages you to work with new grammar ideas and word choices, and practice using those topics to write about yourself and expand your writing skills.
In Unit 1, you will learn how past and present tenses change the meaning of what you read and write. You’ll practice using different tenses and see how the verb "to be" can change a sentence's purpose. Unit 2 expands your ability to read actively as you ask questions while you read and predict what will happen next. In Unit 3, you will read more and recognize how adjectives are used to describe things. Unit 4 brings these skills together as you write a descriptive paragraph about something you learned in the past. By the end of ESL002, you will be able to use different tenses to describe past experiences and explain to a reader how you best learn.
This course includes the following units:
- Unit 1: Now and Then: Past and Present Tense
- Unit 2: Asking Questions: What Does Reading Tell Me?
- Unit 3: Reading More: Describing
- Unit 4: Reading to Write: Writing About the Past
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- recognize past and present tense;
- apply active reading skills by skimming and questioning a text;
- enlarge your vocabulary of Standard American English terms commonly used in academic contexts; and
- write a cohesive series of sentences on a familiar topic demonstrating the difference between past and present tense.
Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.
Course Materials
The primary learning materials for this course are articles, lectures, and videos.
All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource, and will help you to understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.
Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score
Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. In order to pass this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you may take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt. Once you have successfully passed the final exam you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.
There are also end-of-unit assessments in this course. These are designed to help you study, and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments by clicking on Quizzes in the course's navigation bar.
Tips for Success
ESL002: Intermediate English as a Second Language is a self-paced course, which means that you can decide when you will start and when you will complete the course. There is no instructor or an assigned schedule to follow. We estimate that the "average" student will take 10 hours to complete this course. We recommend that you work through the course at a pace that is comfortable for you and allows you to make regular progress. It's a good idea to also schedule your study time in advance and try as best as you can to stick to that schedule.
Learning new material can be challenging, so we've compiled a few study strategies to help you succeed:
- Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories that you come across. This can help you put each concept into context, and will create a refresher that you can use as you study later on.
- As you work through the materials, take some time to test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned is important for your long-term memory, and will make you more likely to retain information over time.
- Although you may work through this course completely independently, you may find it helpful to connect with other Saylor students through the discussion forums. You may access the discussion forums at https://discourse.saylor.org.
Suggested Prerequisites
In order to take this course, you should:
- have completed ESL001: Beginning Lower-Intermediate English as a Second Language, or
- demonstrated readiness by successfully completing the How Good Is Your English? section of this course
Technical Requirements
This course is delivered entirely online. You will be required to have access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and have consistent access to the internet to either view or download the necessary course resources and to attempt any auto-graded course assessments and the final exam.
- To access the full course including assessments and the final exam, you will need to be logged into your Saylor Academy account and enrolled in the course. If you do not already have an account, you may create one for free here. Although you can access some of the course without logging in to your account, you should log in to maximize your course experience. For example, you cannot take assessments or track your progress unless you are logged in.
For additional guidance, check out Saylor Academy's FAQ.
Fees
This course is entirely free to enroll in and to access. Everything linked in the course, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, is available for no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.