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English Language Institute
PO Box 117051
315 Norman Hall
Gainesville, FL 32611-7051
Phone: (352) 392-2070
Fax: (352) 392-3744
studyenglish@eli.ufl.edu

The ELI is a proud member of UCIEP, a consortium of University and College Intensive English Programs

Listening/Speaking Classes Grammar Classes Reading and Writing Classes Elective Courses

Classes

Coordinator: Patricia Moon

The ELI offers English classes which are designed according to the latest research in the field. The core classes include Listening/Speaking, Grammar, and Reading/Writing classes. Students are placed into levels for each skill at the beginning of each term according to their proficiency in each skill. The ELI also offers elective courses in TOEFL, Business English, Pronunciation, Conversation Strategies, and other special courses that vary by term. Classes at the ELI are small, averaging 12 students, allowing very individualized instruction. Many classes also meet in the UF computer labs weekly, completing a variety of language activities.

Below, you will find descriptions of each of our classes and what students should be able to do at the end of each course.

Listening/Speaking Classes

Coordinator: Lia Brenneman

The Listening/Speaking classes at the ELI focus on the English listening and speaking skills that are necessary to function in an academic environment. The Listening/Speaking class meets in the classroom four hours per week with a teacher and four hours per week outside the classroom with two language assistants for additional practice with authentic English.

At the end of Listening/Speaking 10 (Beginning), students at minimum will be able to:

• respond to simple yes/no and wh-questions with a simple response
• present personal information such as their names, addresses, telephone numbers, nationalities, and majors/professions
• count using ordinal and cardinal numbers up to 1000
• identify or list the letters of the alphabet correctly
• list the days of the week and the months of the year
• correctly identify the tense of verbs used in a short, highly contextualized audio recording
• correctly distinguish between singular and plural nouns in a short, highly contextualized audio recording.
• correctly identify basic prepositions in a a short, highly contextualized audio recording

At the end of Listening/Speaking 20 (High-Beginning), students at minimum will be able to:

• recall 5- 10 common, idiomatic expressions
• make a simple request related to their daily lives in the U.S.
• ask for directions
• respond to directions
• use simple prepositions of place correctly in speaking assignments
• recite ordinal and cardinal numbers up to one million
• understand and articulate the main ideas of a short informal presentation.
• take notes on a short, informal presentation on a familiar topic or on a biographical or experiential topic
• give a short, informal presentation on a biographical or experiential topic in class using the past and present tenses
• show an increasing mastery of the pronunciation rules for past tense form, final -ed, and plural and third person final -s.

At the end of Listening/Speaking 30 (Intermediate), students will be able to:

• understand and articulate the main idea of a short presentation on a familiar topic
• take notes on a short presentation on a familiar topic.
• summarize a short presentation on a familiar topic in their own words
• demonstrate an understanding of 10 -20 idiomatic expressions in quizzes throughout the term
• demonstrate an understanding of 10 common phrasal verbs throughout the term
• demonstrate knowledge on how to ask questions and make requests politely
• demonstrate understanding of a short telephone message
• give a short, formal presentation
• reproduce the past tense form, final -ed, and plural and third person final -s correctly

At the end of Listening/Speaking 40 (High-Intermediate), students at minimum will be able to:

• understand and articulate the main idea and supporting details of short academic presentation modified for English language learners
• take notes on a short academic presentation
• respond and participate in a class discussion
• summarize the main points of a tv newscast or television program with reasonable accuracy
• give a short academic presentation
• reproduce reduced forms of going to, would have, could have, might have, should have

At the end of Listening/Speaking 50 (Low-Advanced), students will be able to:

• understand and articulate the main idea and most supporting details of a brief academic lecture by someone familiar with English language learners
• take notes on a brief academic passage
• list the main points of a radio broadcast on a familiar topic or one for which students have had some preparation for
• lead a class discussion and/or academic topic, encouraging equal participation from all students
• summarize an experience of a face to face conversation
• give a presentation showing evidence of research, providing proper written or spoken citations, and using notes without interrupting the flow of speech
li> recognize and modify own pronunciation and intonation problem li> understand verbal cues in speaker attitude and tone
• understand the concepts of phrasing, blending, and linking

At the end of Listening/Speaking 60 (Advanced), students will be able to:

• understand and articulate the main ideas and nearly all supporting details of an academic lecture by an instructor unfamiliar with English language learners
• take notes on an academic passage
• initiate questions based upon the passage
• give an academic presentation with two specific source references
• solicit comments and discussion on an academic presentation
• participate and interact in academic debates
• identify and understand verbal cues in speaker attitude and tone
• participate in transactional conversations in person and on the phone
• recognize and modify problems in pronunciation so that the student can be readily understood by native speakers or is near-native

Grammar Classes

Coordinator: Todd Allen

Grammar classes at the ELI are taught with attention to form and function. Following is what students are expected to be able to do upon completion of each level.

At the end of Grammar 10 (Beginning), students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the following grammatical structures by using them in an appropriate context on a grammar exam:

• simple present tense
• be in the present tense
• singular and plural forms of regular nouns
• parts of speech

At the end of Grammar 20 (High-Beginning), students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the following grammatical structures by using them in an appropriate context on a grammar exam:

• possessive nouns, pronouns and adjectives
• present progressive
• simple past
• definite/indefinite articles
• yes/no questions
• there + be
• basic wh- questions (when, who, why, where, how much/many)
• adverbs of frequency (always, sometimes, often, never, twice a week, etc.)
• common prepositions of place

At the end of Grammar 30 (Intermediate), students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the following grammatical structures by using them in an appropriate context on a grammar exam:

• past progressive
• basic modals
• future forms, specifically the present progressive
• count vs. non-count nouns, article and quantifiers usage
• comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs
• the function of phrasal verbs
• present perfect
• time clauses

At the end of Grammar 40 (High-Intermediate), students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the following grammatical structures by using them in an appropriate context on a grammar exam:

• simple present vs. present progressive tenses (emphasize action vs. non-action verbs)
• simple past vs. past progressive
• future forms: simple present, present progressive, will vs. be going to
• present perfect progressive
• modals (including have to)
• gerunds and infinitives as direct objects
• the function of adjective clauses

At the end of Grammar 50 (Low-Advanced), students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the following grammatical structures by using them in an appropriate context on a grammar exam:

• past perfect, past perfect progressive, and future perfect tenses
• used to, would, be used to
• past time modals
• progressive/passive forms of modals
• conditionals
• passives
• gerunds as objects of prepositions
• adverb clauses and related structures

At the end of Grammar 60 (Advanced), students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the following grammatical structures by using them in an appropriate context on a grammar exam:

• reported speech
• verb tenses as listed above with emphasis on usage rather than form
• future perfect progressive tense
• modals as listed above with emphasis on usage rather than form
• passives as listed above with emphasis on usage rather than form
• verbals as listed above with emphasis on usage rather than form
• noun clauses
• conditionals
• participles as adjective phrases and adverbial phrases of time, reason, and contrast
• stylistic features of good writing

Reading and Writing Classes

Coordinator: Jen Ramos

Reading and writing classes at the ELI focus on the kinds of reading and writing skills that are necessary in the highly competitive academic and professional worlds. Following is what students are expected to be able to do upon completion of each level.

At the end of Reading/Writing 10 (Beginning), students will be able to:

• identify the main idea and supporting details of a short paragraph written with simple sentences
• scan for specific words in a text
• demonstrate most sound-to-letter correspondences by reading short passages aloud
• write sentences and a brief paragraph using limited everyday vocabulary with accurate spelling
• copy a five-sentence paragraph correctly

At the end of Reading/Writing 20 (High-Beginning), students will be able to:

• identify and demonstrate comprehension of the main ideas and some supporting details of controlled passages of up to 4 paragraphs
• scan for specific information in a text
• skim for and correctly identify the main idea of a text
• write a summary of up to 5 sentences of the main idea of a reading
• write paragraphs with a right and left margin
• write paragraphs indenting the first line
• write a narrative paragraph with a topic sentence and unity
• write a descriptive paragraph with a topic sentence and unity
• accurately use periods in written assignments
• use commas correctly in compound sentences in written assignments

At the end of Reading/Writing 30 (Intermediate), students will be able to:

• read and demonstrate comprehension of the main ideas and supporting details of a simplified newspaper article
• identify a paraphrase
• write a process paragraph with appropriate topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences with unity and coherence
• write a compare and contrast paragraph with appropriate topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences with unity and coherence
• write a cause and effect paragraph with appropriate topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences with unity and coherence
• use commas in lists in written assignments

At the end of Reading/Writing 40 (High-Intermediate), students will be able to:

• read and demonstrate comprehension of the main idea and most supporting details of a short newspaper article
• read and demonstrate comprehension of passages ranging from two to three pages long on general interest academic topics
• write a brief summary of a simplified academic text
• write a timed comparison/contrast essay, which includes a general to specific introduction, supporting body paragraphs, specific to general conclusion, and simple transitions
• write a timed cause/effect essay, which includes a general to specific introduction, supporting body paragraphs, specific to general conclusion, and simple transitions
• write a timed descriptive essay, which includes a general to specific introduction, supporting body paragraphs, specific to general conclusion, and simple transitions
• demonstrate usage of comma in complex sentences with dependent clause first.
• demonstrate emerging usage of semicolons and colons in sentences.
• identify incidences of plagiarism
• recall the consequences of plagiarism

At the end of Reading/Writing 50 (Low-Advanced), students will be able to:

• read and demonstrate comprehension of the main ideas and most supporting details of unsimplified magazines, texts
• summarize a newspaper article on a social, scientific, political issue or topic
• articulate/identify a writer's purpose and audience in class discussions and on comprehension tests
• write a timed 5-paragraph essay synthesizing information from two or more sources with compound and complex sentences with punctuation that is diverse and includes accurate use of commas, quotation marks, and semi-colons
• write an essay which uses effective and varied transition signals to accurately demonstrate relationships between ideas
• identify incidences of plagiarism
• recall the consequences of plagiarism

At the end of Reading/Writing 60 (Advanced), students will be able to:

• read and demonstrate comprehension of the main idea and most supporting details of a text on an unfamiliar topic
• synthesize concepts and data from a group of readings or a series of graphs and charts in written assignments
• write a timed, five-paragraph argument essay using elements of argument, counterargument, and, optionally, concession.
• write a short, academic research paper with appropriate citations, quotations, and references, and single quotation marks, brackets and ellipses when needed.
• paraphrase and summarize the main ideas of several readings on the same topic.
• find academic resources in the library and on the internet for research paper.
• demonstrate an understanding of a wide range of academic vocabulary and figurative language
• identify incidences of plagiarism
• recall the consequences of plagiarism

Elective Classes

• In the TOEFL Preparation class, students practice and discuss exercises that appear on the TOEFL test. Only higher intermediate level and above students may take the TOEFL class. All ELI classes, however, are intended to improve students' general language proficiency and test scores.
• In the IELTS Preparation class, students become familiar with the design of the IELTS by practicing listening, academic reading, academic writing, and speaking. Only higher intermediate level and above students may take the IELTS class. All ELI classes, however, are intended to improve students' general language proficiency and test scores.
• In the Business English class, students study the vocabulary and typical forms of English that are necessary in business. Students are expected to already have knowledge of business in their native language.
• In the Writing and Grammar for Writing class, students focuse on refining grammatical abilities in writing as well as improving general organizational structure for essay writing. Intensive editing practice is a large component of this course.
• In the Advanced Academic Vocabulary and Pronunciation class, students will learn the rules of pronunciation towards an understanding of a American English pronunciation and improving their own pronunciation. This class will also cover vocabulary in a wide range of topics such as business, geology, technology, etc. This class is exclusively for intermediate and upper level students who desire to work intensively on pronunciation and vocabulary alone. Listening/speaking classes also cover pronunciation in a less intensive form and all classes cover vocabulary.
• In the Advanced Informal English class, students practice and learn strategies for successful conversation and interaction with native speakers of English.
• Other elective courses may be offered according to students' interest. These courses may include special topics courses, computer courses, or English for specific purposes.

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