ESL Self-Placement Form Header Image

Welcome to the ESL Self-Placement Tool

Thank you for your interest in studying credit ESL at OCC. 

This tool will help you decide which level is right for you.

It is very important for you to choose the right level. By taking the best level, will be more linguistically prepared for college-level classes and overall academic success.

We offer the following Listening/Speaking and Reading/Writing paths to help non-native speakers of English succeed at work and in college-level courses:

  1. Listening/Speaking (ESL 011, 022, 032, and 052)
    • Focus on academic note-taking, presentation skills, and pronunciation.
  2. Grammar/Reading/Writing (ESL 015, 022, 032, A052)
    • Focus on targeted grammar, academic vocabulary, and readings from low to high Intermediate levels.
  3. Reading/Writing (ESL 162, 192-CSU transferable, and ESL 100 CSU/IGETC)
    • Focus on advanced reading, critical thinking, and writing that to ESL 100 (equivalent to English 100) or English 100 and successful work at OCC and beyond.

Please note: OCC is excited to be offering ESL 100, College Composition for Non-Native Students. ESL 100 is the equivalent of Freshman Composition (English 100) and meets IGETC (UC/CSU transferable) requirements.

The goal of the ESL/ELL Department is to help you succeed. Whatever your goal is, we are here to help you!

If you have any questions about the levels of our program or which one is right for you, please email the ESL Advisers.
The ESL Advisers are Laurie Barton (lbarton@occ.cccd.edu) and Cheryl Bucholtz (cbucholtz@occ.cccd.edu).

ESL Self-Placement Tool

To best understand which level to begin your ESL courses at, please read the following:

Beginning:

  • I can listen and understand short conversations in simple English (shopping, restaurants, work)
  • I can read and understand basic information in simple English words

Intermediate:

  • I can listen and discuss the news in English
  • I can read and understand the news in English

Advanced:

  • I can listen and discuss academic topics (business, environment, social & cultural issues)
  • I can read and discuss academic topics (business, environment, social & cultural issues)
Based on the above information, at which level of ESL would you like to take courses?*

Beginning ESL Courses

At any time, if you would like to look at a different level, please click the "Previous" button located at the bottom-left of the page.

Please select one of the beginning ESL courses to find out more information about that course:*

English as a Second Language A011
Beginning Listening and Speaking

Listening comprehension, oral communication, and pronunciation skills for beginning academic students who are non-native speakers of English. Practice in spontaneous conversation and small group discussion.

This is an entry-level course that includes:

  • Focusing on listening comprehension, oral communication, and pronunciation skills for beginning academic students who are non-native speakers of English
  • Participating in spontaneous conversations and small group discussions
  • Being introduced to the sounds of American English through modeling and then reproducing the sounds
  • Being asked questions (and expected to answer) based on daily interactions related to work, school, and daily life in the United States
  • Being introduced to academic words such as salary, token, benefits, responsibilities, security, hurricane, athletic, adventurous, creative, and documentary

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Could you understand most of the listening sample without a dictionary? If you answered yes, this may be the course for you. If you answered no, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A011 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

English as a Second Language A015
Grammar, Reading, and Writing 1

Intensive introductory level of integrated basic grammar, reading, and writing of American English for non-native students who are pursuing college coursework. Includes work on sentence structure, questions, verb tenses, spelling, and vocabulary.

This is an entry-level course where students will:

  • Learn basic grammar, reading, and writing for beginning academic students who are non-native speakers of English
  • Practice responding to specific prompts targeting basic grammar points
  • Learn how to understand the main idea in simplified readings
  • Practice responding to writing prompts in complete sentences
  • Work individually, in pairs, and in groups on targeted grammar, writing, and reading comprehension questions
  • Be introduced to academic words in readings learning them in context

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4.5 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Reading Sample
Taken from: Reading Explorer 1

The Trip of a Lifetime

Many people dream of going on a great travel adventure. Most of us keep dreaming; others make it happen.

Gregg Bleakney’s dream was to travel the Americas from top to bottom. He got the idea after he finished a 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) bike ride. Gregg’s friend, Brooks Allen, was also a cyclist. The two friends talked and decided their goal: they would travel from Alaska to Argentina--by bike.

To pay for the journey, Gregg and Brooks worked and saved money for years. Once they were on the road, they often camped outdoors or stayed in hostels. In many places along their route, local people opened their homes to the two friends and gave them food.

During their trip, Gregg and Brooks cycled through deserts, rainforests, and mountains. They visited modern cities and explored ancient ruins such as Tikal in Guatemala. In many places, they met other cyclists from all over the world.

In May 2007--two years, twelve countries, and over 30,500km (19,000 miles) later--Greg eventually reached Ushuaia, Argentina, at the tip of South America. (Near Guatemala, Brooks had to return to the U.S. and Gregg continued without him.)

Gregg and Brooks kept a record of their adventures in an online blog. The trip taught both men a lot about traveling. Here is some of Gregg’s advice:

  • Travel light. The less baggage you have, the less you’ll worry about.
  • Be flexible. Don’t plan everything. Then you’ll be more relaxed and happy, even when there are challenges along the way.
  • Be polite. As one traveler told Gregg, “Always remember that nobody wants to fight, cheat, or rob a nice guy.”

Writing Sample

Directions: Write about your life. What did you do? What important events happened in your life? Use the simple past tense. Use past progressive. Use time clauses with when, before, and after. 

Example - Student 1:
I moved to California, U.S.  in 2011. My family was living Santa Ana from 2014.
Before I moved to Santa Ana, I was studying English.
I registered in Orange Coast College this semester, this time is my first semester in OCC, I love OCC.
Before I studied ESL in Santa Ana  College 2018, now I am studying ESL in Orange Coast College.
When I moved to California, I really want to joine to ESL class, but I did not know what school I can join , after found some school in Orange County ,I joined to 2 schools and many class, finally I figured out : OCC is the best school for me.

Example - Student 2:
I was born and  lived  in  China . When  I was   20  years old ,  I got a job after I finished school.  When I was 25  , I got married.  Before my family came  to the United  states, I had two children. My  Children  weren’t go to school before so  I spent most of my time at home. Until  2018 year, I  began working.In 2019, I  was  learning  English while working.

Could you understand most of the reading sample without a dictionary? Do you feel that you could write a paragraph similar to the writing sample in vocabulary, sentence structure, and punctuation? If you answered yes to both of these questions, this may be the course for you. If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A015 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

English as a Second Language A022
Grammar, Reading, and Writing 2

Integrates intensive study of grammar, reading, and writing for low-intermediate students who are non-native speakers of English. Introduction to writing basic responses to simplified texts. Extended writing practice for grammar and mechanics.

This is a high-beginning course where students will:

  • Further develop the foundations for academic writing in English
  • Identify main ideas and details in low-intermediate news articles on a variety of academic and current topics
  • Write multi-sentence and simple paragraphs in response to a simplified reading, using low-intermediate grammatical forms and sentence structures
  • Identify and use vocabulary from simplified readings

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4.5 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Reading Sample
Taken from: News for You 6.15.16 (www.newsforyouonline.com)

To Succeed Overseas, U.S. Businesses Must Change Their Culture

Walmart plays a big role in America’s food shopping habits. It controls 25 percent of the U.S. grocery business. There are reasons for that. Walmart has big stores with lots of choices. It also offers what it calls “everyday low prices.” That draws shoppers who search for the best value and buy a lot at one time. But Walmart may not be able to grow much more in the U.S. It now has more rivals. “Dollar Stores” offer low prices on packaged food and household supplies. Online stores such as Amazon offer quick and easy service. So Walmart has tried to expand to other countries. It has won over shoppers in Mexico and Japan. It has done well in Chile. But Walmart has had to change the way it works in other cultures. The biggest example of that is China.

China is a big prize for grocery chains. It has more people than any other nation. Its grocery market is the world’s largest at $1.1 trillion. That is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion in just the next four years. Right now, Walmart only has about 400 stores in China. That compares to 5,000 stores in the U.S. The country makes up just 3 percent of Walmart’s global sales of $478.6 billion.

The company wants its business there to be much larger. But it first needs to win the trust of Chinese shoppers. That starts with knowing how they shop. They do not like their fresh food covered in plastic. They like to touch things such as meat and fish. In Shenzhen, shopper Zhong Guoyan looked through fish at Walmart. She studied the fins. She wanted to make sure they were bright and red. Other shoppers smelled handfuls of rice. They used tongs or their hands to inspect whole chickens and pigs’ feet. They scooped live fish and frogs from tanks of water.

Most Chinese also do not buy much at one time. They shop for fresh food every day. Their refrigerators are tiny, and they don’t have much room. The country also has had many food problems. So food has been mixed with other things. Other food is bad when it is sold. “I like when the products are fresh and the quality is good,” said Zhong. “If it’s good then I will buy it. If it’s only cheap, I won’t buy it.”

That means Walmart cannot bring shoppers' attention to its low prices as it does in the U.S. Instead, it has to focus on a ‘Worry Free” slogan. Food-testing labs go from store to store. They check for bug-killing chemicals on fruits and vegetables. They make sure meat products are the right temperature.

Writing Sample

Student Example:

TET Holiday

Tet is a important holiday in Viet Nam. Tet also call Lunar new year. We usually prepare two or three week before New Year begin. Almost everyone clean and decorate their houses, go to shopping and cook traditional food. My mom want everything in my house must be cleaned to get the good in the new year. We spend a lot of money for clothing, flower to decorate and purchase for foods. In Tet holiday we have many activities: performance, firework, lion dance, eat and drink together, we spend time visiting relatives, us friends, and us teachers. We also go to the church to pray for peace and happiness in the new year. We send to older people in my family best greeting Tet, and they will give us lucky money. I am very like Tet.

Could you understand most of the reading sample without a dictionary? Do you feel that you could write a paragraph similar to the writing sample in vocabulary, sentence structure, and punctuation? If you answered yes to both of these questions, this may be the course for you. If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A022 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

English as a Second Language A024
Listening and Speaking 2

The course is first in a sequence of listening and speaking courses leading to the English proficiency needed for success in college-level classes by focusing on listening comprehension, oral communication, presentation skills, and pronunciation skills for intermediate ESL students. Students will be introduced to various note-taking strategies, discuss academic lectures, and learn strategies to improve their listening comprehension and oral communication skills. In addition, students will present both in groups and individually.

This is a high-beginning course where students will:

  • Focus on the language proficiency needed for other college courses and workplace competency
  • Be introduced to strategies for effective note-taking, understanding and discussing academic lectures, and improving their listening comprehension and oral communication skills
  • Listen to videos of academic lectures
  • Be introduced to IPA symbols in conjunction with sample words
  • Present information from lectures and individual projects both in groups and individually
  • Use technology such as Google Forms, Docs, and Sheets, or other classroom and presentation tools

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
3 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Could you understand most of the listening sample without a dictionary? If you answered yes, this may be the course for you. If you answered no, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A024 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

Intermediate ESL Courses

At any time, if you would like to look at a different level, please click the "Previous" button located at the bottom-left of the page.

Please select one of the intermediate ESL courses to find out more information about that course:*

English as a Second Language A032
Grammar, Reading, and Writing 3

Integrates intensive study of grammar, writing, and reading for intermediate students who are non-native speakers of English. Introduction to both literal and critical reading in addition to writing basic responses to unsimplified texts. Writing practice for grammar, mechanics, and fluency.

This is an intermediate course where students will:

  • Improve their academic writing skills with further development of vocabulary and grammatical structures
  • Identify main ideas and details in simplified and authentic readings
  • Use studied grammatical structures to complete sentences and write short paragraphs based on information in readings as well as personal opinions
  • Write complex sentences as well as formal paragraphs that include topic sentences, support, and conclusions

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4.5 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Reading Sample
Taken from: 030 textbook (Challenges 3; University of Michigan Press; 2016)

It was a freezing cold winter day, and mountain climber Cory Richards was climbing down from Gasherbrun II, the 13-tallest mountain peak in the world, when his life changed in an instant. The mountain, which lies between Pakistan and China, is not an easy one to climb, and the cold that day was painful. As Richards and his team were climbing down, they heard a noise and looked up. They saw a wall of snow and ice coming toward them. They were all hit and thrown to the ground. Luckily, all of them lived to tell about it. After he saw that his partners were safe, Richards took photos of himself, which captured the terror he had just experienced.

One of these photos was on the cover of National Geographic Magazine.

Writing Sample

Question: Do you think eating beef in Argentina should continue? Who do you agree with more—the ranchers and beef groups or the animal rights activists?

In my opinion, eating beef in Argentina should continue. Beef is loved and eaten by people all over the world. In addition, it also contributes to physical health because beef has a lot of protein and builds muscle. However, if we eat too much it is not good for our body, so we should eat it moderately. Therefore, I agree more with the ranchers and beef groups. In fact, I believe people will be happy if they continue the tradition of eating beef.

Could you understand most of the reading sample without a dictionary? Do you feel that you could write a paragraph similar to the writing sample in vocabulary, sentence structure, and punctuation? If you answered yes to both of these questions, this may be the course for you. If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A032 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

English as a Second Language A034
Listening and Speaking 3

The course is second in a sequence of listening and speaking courses leading to the English proficiency needed for success in college-level courses by focusing on listening comprehension, oral communication, presentation skills, and pronunciation skills for high-intermediate ESL students. Students will listen to various academic lectures while utilizing note-taking strategies in addition to discussing the various lecture topics in order to improve both their listening comprehension and oral communication skills. Students will also conduct research on academic topics for short individual and/or group presentations.

This is an intermediate course where students will:

  • Learn how to use the IPA for minimal pair distinction, stress and unstressed sounds in words and utterances, rising and falling intonation, among other techniques for enhanced pronunciation
  • Work in pairs and small groups on pronunciation topics, academic lecture topics, and comprehension questions
  • Conduct research on academic topics for short individual and/or group presentations (such as “The Art and Architecture of the Han Dynasty” and “Cultural Exchanges During the Silk Road Era”) using PPT, Prezi, or Google Slides

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Could you understand most of the listening sample without a dictionary? If you answered yes, this may be the course for you. If you answered no, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A034 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

English as a Second Language A052
Advanced Academic Reading and Writing 1

This course is the first in a series of advanced integrated ESL skills courses designed to improve the academic reading, writing, grammar, and interpersonal communication skills of non-native speakers. It integrates intensive study of grammar, reading, and writing for high-intermediate students who are non-native speakers of English. Expansion of intermediate grammar and reading skills, with extended practice using advanced grammatical structures. A variety of in-class writing assignments will be completed in response to readings emphasizing a cultural component.

This is a high-intermediate course where students will:

  • Review intermediate writing and reading skills and work on advanced grammatical structures and paragraph writing in response to readings
  • Discuss and write about both factual and inferred information in short, unsimplified readings, such as those found in Reader's Digest, the Log Angeles Times, and Newsweek
  • Apply writing skills, such as synthesis and analysis, by responding to readings in the form of summary and opinion-based paragraphs with grammatical accuracy
  • Write paragraphs using introductory and concluding sentences, as well as supporting sentences

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4.5 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Reading Sample
Taken from: American Ways: An Introduction to American Culture, Chapter 1, page 8

In the United States, people have become very sensitive to the language used to describe racial and ethnic groups, and they try to be politically correct, or “P.C.”  For example, some black Americans prefer the term “African-American” instead of “black” to identify with their African heritage.  The terms “Native American” and “American Indian” are both used by those native to the North American Continent.  Some Spanish speakers prefer to be called “Latinos” (referring to Latin America) instead of “Hispanics” (referring to Spain), while others prefer to be identified by their country of origin (Cuban-American or Cuban, Chicano, Mexican-American or Mexican, etc.).

In spite of all this diversity, there is still a tie that binds Americans together.  That tie is a sense of national identity – of being American.  Incidentally, when citizens of the United States refer to themselves as Americans, they have no intention of excluding people from Canada or Latin American countries as residents of the American continents.  However, there is no term such as “United Statsians” in the English language, so people call themselves “Americans”.  Thus, what is really a language problem has sometimes caused misunderstandings.  Although citizens of Latin American countries may call the people in the United States “North Americans”, to many people in the United States, this makes no sense because the term North American refers to Canadians and Mexicans as well as citizens of the United States.  NAFTA – the North American Free Trade Agreement, for example, is a trade agreement among Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Writing Sample

Student Example:

“ The Goodness of Gratitude “

In the article, “The Goodness of Gratitude”, the author, Lisa Fields describes how thanking others or expressing kindness to them gives people good influences mentally and better outcomes on their health. Fields starts her article by describing how she wrote “thank-you notes” and baked brownies when she was appreciative, and then the people, who have been given the gifts from her, were also grateful to her. Gratitude is feeling thankful for what people have been given or something that happened to you. Gratitude is communicable; thus, people who received thanks will be nicer to others. Also, gratitude has effects to make relationships better. Even if people think that they are not thankful now, they can train their brains to be thankful. Usually people are not good at recognizing the good things that happened, so writing down three positive things that happened to them every day makes people’s brain more grateful. In fact, according to the article, John Kralik, who had been spending not good life, he changed his life dramatically better by writing 365 thank-you notes over 365 days. The author concludes the article by stating that just a simple act, gratitude, has big positive effects that could change our lives, and we will be surprised by that.

Could you understand most of the reading sample without a dictionary? Do you feel that you could write a paragraph similar to the writing sample in vocabulary, sentence structure, and punctuation? If you answered yes to both of these questions, this may be the course for you. If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A052 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

Advanced ESL Courses

At any time, if you would like to look at a different level, please click the "Previous" button located at the bottom-left of the page.

Please select one of the advanced ESL courses to find out more information about that course:*

English as a Second Language A054
Listening and Speaking 4

The course is third in a sequence of listening and speaking courses leading to the English proficiency needed for success in college-level courses by focusing on listening comprehension, oral communication, presentation skills, and pronunciation skills for advanced ESL students. Students will give various presentations to the class, take notes on advanced college-level academic lectures of a variety of disciplines, analyze and discuss those lectures with classmates, and use various communication strategies to improve their listening comprehension and oral communication skills. Students will conduct interviews and complete further research on academic topics for lengthy individual and/or group presentations.

This is an advanced course where students will:

  • Learn to use the IPA for minimal pair distinction, stress and unstressed sounds in words and utterances, rising and falling intonation, past tense markers, and silent endocentric and exocentric words among other techniques for enhanced, intelligible pronunciation
  • Take notes on advanced college-level academic lectures of a variety of disciplines, analyze and discuss those lectures with classmates, and use various communication strategies to improve their listening comprehension and oral communication skills
  • Work in pairs and small groups on pronunciation topics, academic lecture topics, and comprehension questions
  • Conduct interviews and complete further research on academic topics (e.g., Attachment Theory, The Triangular Theory of Love) for lengthy individual and/or group presentations presented in PPT, Prezi, or Google Slides

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Could you understand most of the listening sample without a dictionary? If you answered yes, this may be the course for you. If you answered no, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A054 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

English as a Second Language A062
Advanced Academic Reading and Writing 2

This course is the second in a series of advanced integrated ESL skills courses designed to improve the academic reading, writing, grammar, and interpersonal communication skills of non-native speakers. It integrates college-level reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, with an emphasis on summary skills, short responses to college-level readings, and clear/concise expression of ideas and opinions. Individual attention given to the structure and usage problems of ESL students by using readings emphasizing a cultural component, conferencing, computer applications, and self-revisions. Students will write approximately 6,000 instructor-evaluated words, including a variety of weekly in-class writing assignments.

This is an advanced course where students will:

  • Focus on reading, writing, and critical thinking skills
  • Learn to develop, organize, express, and support their ideas and opinions on selected topics in order to create a solid foundation for academic success in future college courses
  • Respond to college-level readings, such as those found in newspapers, magazines, and college-level textbooks, in both paragraph and essay form
  • Review only some syntax points that may cause difficulty applying to compositions, as it is assumed that students have been formally exposed to the basics of English grammar
  • Study and utilize college-level vocabulary, construct sentences and well-developed paragraphs integrating grammatical forms and sentence structures learned in this and previous writing classes
  • Be required to edit their own assignments and apply their new skills in future assignments

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4.5 units.
Not degree applicable.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Reading Sample
Taken from: Communication and Culture, Chapter 1, page 5-6

People have always been interested in how human beings would develop in a “culture-free” setting.  Today it is considered immoral to isolate individuals at birth for experimental reasons, but such experimentation was attempted in the past.  The Egyptian pharaoh Psammetichus tried to discover what language children would “naturally” speak if they were reared where they could hear no human voice.  He ordered two infants isolated from society and had them brought up without the sound of any human speech.  He assumed that they would “naturally” talk in the language of their ancestors, and to his ears, their babbling sounded like Phrygian, an ancient Mediterranean tongue.  In the fifteenth century, King James IV of Scotland tried a similar experiment and claimed his two infants spoke in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament of the Bible.  Both monarchs were mistaken, of course.  As the cases of Victor, the wild boy, and Kamala and Amala demonstrate, children learn human language in the same way they learn other kinds of human development – by participation in a cultural community.  They learn a specific human language as well as specific kinds of human behavior through their membership in a specific cultural community.  The cases of Victor and the wolf-children make fascinating reading.  But more important, they emphasize that we as human beings can only develop our human potential through growing up in close association with other human beings.  Although culture restricts us to certain kinds of values, thoughts, and behavior, culture is also what allows us to develop our human qualities and abilities.  The price that we pay for being human is that we become human in a culturally specific way.

Writing Sample

Student Sample:

 In the article, “On Cultural Time,” the author, Tracy Novinger, explains how the different time concepts between Mexican and America are based on each culture. First, the author begins the article by stating that there were surprising misconceptions while two people from two different cultures, American and Mexican, were starting a conversation because of their different cultures. Next, the author emphasizes that cultural practices have influenced the way of thinking about the concept of time. Mexico has a polychromic culture, which is focused on building social and family relationship. On the other hand, Americans follow a monochorionic culture, which values on time, goals, and achievement. There are positive and negative implications between polychromic and monochorionic cultures. Mexican time is described as more relaxing, whereas American culture emphasizes punctuality. In addition, Novinger stated that it was acceptable to be late at social meeting in Mexico although it was not acceptable in American culture. Furthermore, Mexican believe that time is flexible, while American believe that time is money. According to the author, the time concept of one culture does not apply the same to another. The author concludes the article by stating that each country should maintain their own traditional custom.

Could you understand most of the reading sample without a dictionary? Do you feel that you could write a paragraph similar to the writing sample in vocabulary, sentence structure, and punctuation? If you answered yes to both of these questions, this may be the course for you. If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you might want to look at a lower level.

Is ESL A062 the course you would like to place into?*

Please scroll up to the top of the page and select a different course.

English as a Second Language A192
Advanced Academic Reading and Writing 3

This course is the third in a series of advanced integrated ESL skills courses designed to improve the academic reading, writing, grammar, and interpersonal communication skills of non-native speakers. It integrates college-level reading, writing, and critical thinking skills with intensive practice in writing essays in response to college-level expository texts, using various methods of development and organization to prepare students for ENGL A100. Individual attention given to sentence structure and usage problems needed for ENGL A100 and other college-level courses by using readings emphasizing a cultural component, conferencing, computer applications, and self-revisions. Students will write approximately 6,000 instructor-evaluated words, including in-class essays and a research paper.

This is an advanced course where students will:

  • Focus focuses on a variety of skills needed to prepare students for transfer-level courses, including reading, writing, and critical thinking skills
  • Read non-fiction articles at the college level, including college-level textbooks
  • Write paragraphs and essays that shows the ability to summarize, analyze, and synthesize information
  • Use college-level vocabulary in writing
  • Use grammatical forms and sentence structures learned at this level and also in previous classes
  • Be required to edit their own assignments and apply their new skills in future assignments

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
4.5 units.

We highly recommend that you look at the following samples in order to determine if this is the correct course for you. Please select the box below:*

Reading Sample
Taken from: 190 textbook (Challenges 3; University of Michigan Press; 2016)

The Basque language of Europe has long been a puzzle to historical linguists because it is unrelated to any other language. It is an example of a language isolate, one of about 75 that have been identified by linguists. Most language isolates are spoken by small groups of indigenous peoples, but two are spoken by large numbers of people: Basque (580,000 speakers) and Korean (78 million speakers worldwide). Although some people speculate that Korean belongs to the controversial Altaic language family, the prevailing view is that it does not. In general, the hypothesis is that language isolates did not develop in total isolation; the nature of languages is such that they change over time and become dialects and then proper languages. Each isolate most likely developed from another source language that then receded into history. The fact that there are no records of these proto-languages does not negate their existence. The sad truth is that most language isolates are becoming extinct as the last of the native speakers die. The Basque language, therefore, has little hope of being completely understood by language scholars.

Writing Sample

Student Example:

In “Non-Violent Resistance and the Mahatma” (Challenges 3), the authors describe satyagraha, a non-violent way of resistance that utilized protest, boycott or strikes. It was developed by Mohandas Gandhi, who first used it in South Africa to lead Indians to resist the Black Act, a law that forced Indians to be fingerprinted and to carry their identification papers with them. Gandhi applied his theory of non-violence by organizing mass demonstrations and encouraging Indians to disobey the law by “travelling illegally” and “not getting fingerprinted”; thus, the Black Act was finally eliminated in 1914. When he came back to India, which was colonized by the British at that time, he devised several ways to help Indians fight back against the monopolization of British government. The first step was calling on all Indians to start making their own cloth, and the second was a salt march, which was organized by Gandhi to help Indians to harvest salt by themselves to avoid paying tax to the British government. The salt march gained the attention of the world by showing the British government’s vicious response to the followers of satyagraya. As a result of Gandhi’s leadership, India gained independence from the British, and today, he is remembered as a “Great Soul” who developed the concept of resisting injustice without using violence.

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English as a Second Language A100
ESL College Composition

This course is for second-language learners and is equivalent to ENGL A100. The emphasis is on in-class essay writing (thesis, body, and concluding paragraph development), applying analytical and critical thinking and research-based papers, using annotated college-level readings as supporting evidence. An additional focus is on second-language grammar, syntactical structure, and academic vocabulary. Students will be required to spend three hours per semester in the OCC Writing Center or other equivalent revision activities as determined by the instructor.

This course is the equivalent of Freshman Composition (English 100) and meets the CSU A2 requirement, as well as the A.A./A.S. and certificate graduation requirement for OCC.

May be taken for grades or on a pass/no-pass basis.
Lecture.
3 units.

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Reading Sample
Taken from: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner

The question of the optimal definition of intelligence looms large in this inquiry. And it is here that the theory of multiple intelligences begins to diverge from traditional points of view. In the classic psychometric view, intelligence is defined operationally as the ability to answer items on tests of intelligence. The inference from the test scores to some underlying ability is supported by statistical techniques. These techniques compare responses of subjects at different ages; the apparent correlation of these test scores across ages and across different tests corroborates the notion that the general faculty of intelligence, called g in short, does not change much with age, training, or experience. It is an inborn attribute or faculty of the individual.

Multiple intelligences theory, on the other hand, pluralizes the traditional concept. An intelligence is a computational capacity—a capacity to process a certain kind of information—that is founded on human biology and human psychology. Humans have certain kinds of intelligences, whereas rats, birds, and computers foreground other kinds of computational capacities. An intelligence entails the ability to solve problems or fashion products that are of consequence in a particular cultural setting or community. The problem-solving skill allows one to approach a situation in which a goal is to be obtained and to locate the appropriate route to that goal. The creation of a cultural product allows one to capture and transmit knowledge or to express one’s conclusions, beliefs, or feelings. The problems to be solved range from creating an end for a story to anticipating a mating move in chess to repairing a quilt. Products range from scientific theories to musical compositions to successful political campaigns.

MI theory is framed in light of the biological origins of each problem-solving skill. Only those skills that are universal to the human species are considered (again, we differ from rats, birds, or computers). Even so, the biological proclivity to participate in a particular form of problem solving must also be coupled with the cultural nurturing of that domain. For example, language, a universal skill, may manifest itself particularly as writing in one culture, as oratory in another culture, and as the secret language composed of anagrams in a third.

Writing Sample

Student Example:

Disabled persons who receive mandated aid from the government certainly are afforded the opportunity make up for their initial disadvantages. During the twentieth century, there have been extreme improvements in civil rights within the United States. Such improvements are elaborated upon by Joan Shapiro and Rebecca Rich: “The ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act of 1970] prohibits discrimination of a qualified individual because of a disability, in such areas as job application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, and job training” (144). Before the passage of the ADA, numerous disabled individuals before had difficulties finding jobs. Thus, the ADA brought about much-needed change to millions of disabled people by requiring private corporations to hire or advance individuals regardless of whether they have a disability.

The government can not only help the disabled with careers but with public education also. Matt Blake is a disabled student attending Edison High School who feels a strong debt towards the United States government for helping him throughout his education: “With CP [cerebral palsy], I can’t write or move very much. But with the SAC people there with me all the time at school, they can take notes for me and help me do tests. I’m very thankful for them!” Matt is one of many disabled individuals at a public institution who receive mandated government aid. SAC is a government-funded program whose goal is to help disabled individuals such as Matt have the most successful education possible. His aids from the SAC program have helped him achieve impressive feats such as becoming one of the nominees for Edison’s Golden Key Awards (a prestigious award dedicated to academic students). It is clear that government aid can certainly help the disabled by encouraging them through funded programs and by passing specific laws

Could you understand most of the reading sample without a dictionary? Do you feel that you could write a paragraph similar to the writing sample in vocabulary, sentence structure, and punctuation? If you answered yes to both of these questions, this may be the course for you. If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you might want to look at a lower level.

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