University of Nevada, Las Vegas

University of Nevada, Las Vegas Assessment Plan for English Language Center 2005

Program English Language Center (ELC) Assessment Coordinator for the program Vicki L. Holmes Department(s) or Interdisciplinary Council Responsible for the Program : ELC Five-Year Implementation Dates: 2005 to 2009

Is this program accredited by an external organization? X NO

1. Student Learning Outcomes for the program. List the Student Learning Outcomes for the program.

Overview Learning outcomes for students enrolled in the English Language Center are expressed both globally in terms of general English language fluency and specifically in terms of student behaviors exhibited in ESL classes. Fluency is defined for the purposes of English acquisition as the ability to interact in the target language smoothly, with minimal effort, and to be able to read, write, listen, and speak in a comprehensible manner. Added to this general fluency goal is the ELC’s goal of supporting academic English fluency; that is that non-native speaking students will be able to successfully participate in and complete academic programs at UNLV in the same way as native speakers can. Moreover, ELC supports the goal of cultural fluency—that the student will understand and be able to adapt to the norms of American culture without compromising their own cultural values. These three fluencies underlie the philosophy driving the goals, curriculum, and assessment tools evident in the English Language Center.

Program Description The ELC program contains both integrated skills courses (courses that address reading, writing, speaking, and listening in the same course for six specific levels of competency) and targeted skills courses that address one of the skills in a more in depth manner for specific proficiency levels. The program is divided into six levels of proficiency: beginning, high beginning, intermediate, high intermediate, advanced, and high-advanced (or bridge).

Initial Assessment and Placement (Intake) Prior to registering in the English Language Center, students’ language proficiency is evaluated using a placement instrument published by the University of Michigan. This instrument (Michigan Placement Test) is a standardized test administered by the ELC through special permission from the University of Michigan. It is a timed test comprised of grammar, vocabulary, reading, and listening multiple choice items to which students respond on a scantron sheet.

1 Following testing, students are interviewed, during which time their oral proficiency is holistically evaluated and a score is awarded for oral comprehensibility. A composite score of the Michigan Placement Test and the oral interview yield a fairly accurate assessment of students’ proficiency at the time of intake. Students are advised as to the courses that would best suit their needs to enhance their English language fluency.

Alternatives to the Michigan Placement Test are the Test of English as a Spoken Language (TOEFL) and the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP). These standardized exams are used by the University for the purpose of admission into academic programs, but can be used for placement into the English Language Center as well. Both tests are more rigorous and discriminating than the Michigan Placement Test. They are recommended for students who are believed to have attained sufficient fluency to engage in coursework in their academic majors.

2 Specific Student Learning Outcomes for the ELC

NB: The English Language Center is an open entry, open exit program. Students may leave the program before completing all the competencies. It is not a degree granting program, but an academic preparation program. Thus, when students reach their desired or required level of proficiency they may exit into other programs at the university or at other institutions of higher learning without having attained all the program goals. The list of student learning outcomes represents a level of fluency that would be ideally attained by a student completing the program and scoring a 76 on the standardized test, the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) or 173 on the TOEFL, both of which are used as exit assessments for the ELC program.

Speaking and Listening Outcomes

The student will

1. listen to, understand, and use social English in structured situations to include everyday expressions such as introductions, requests, invitations, apologies, greetings and the like. 2. identify the importance of stress and intonation in English communication. 3. improve aural discrimination of stress, rhythm, and intonation patterns through focused listening. 4. apply learned stress, rhythm, and intonation patterns to his/her own spontaneous speech. 5. recognize and-self correct pronunciation errors. 6. learn and apply the principles of syllabification. 7. listen to, understand, and reproduce reduced forms. 8. identify the main idea in a stream of oral English. 9. draw inferences and determine main idea in oral discourse. 10.be able to discriminate between and produce close English phonemes. 11.listen to authentic discourse and demonstrate comprehension through oral and written discussion. 12.take organized notes from taped lectures and dialogues. 13.listen to and produce discourse related to various organizational patterns including: chronology, narrative, description, persuasive, comparison and contrast. 14.listen to and be able to identify mean idea and supporting details in a selected oral discourse. 15.use oral language as a tool while solving problems in a group setting. 16.organize, prepare and deliver formal oral presentations using graphic organizers such as overhead transparencies, power point demonstrations, flip charts, slides, or the like.

3 Reading Outcomes

The student will

1. read adapted English prose with the help of a bilingual dictionary. 2. recognize controlling ideas and organizational patterns in adapted text. 3. demonstrate comprehension of adapted material by responding correctly to comprehension questions and by summarizing the main idea. 4. recognize the meaning of punctuation in written prose. 5. identify expressions of time, order, and rank. 6. skim for main idea and scan for specific information in a text. 7. distinguish fact from opinion in adapted readings and selected authentic readings. 8. identify topic, purpose, and main idea in a given text. 9. use context and word attack skills (including word parts, word families, and affixes) to decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words. 10.use a monolingual dictionary to develop active and passive vocabulary knowledge. 11.use word analysis and context clues such as signal words, punctuation, parallel structure, grammar, and word families to determine the meaning of text. 12.draw inferences from authentic academic discourse. 13.respond orally and in writing to selected authentic passages from academic textbooks.

Writing Outcomes:

The student will

1. learn the structure of and demonstrate understanding by writing complete sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex. 2. understand the rationale for and write topic sentences, which contain controlling ideas. 3. understand the rationale for and write paragraphs with specific supporting ideas. 4. understand the rationale for and demonstrate basic paragraph formatting, including the following conventions: indenting, margins, double-spacing, word division. 5. learn and write various rhetorical patterns for paragraph development, including narrative, descriptive, cause/effect, process, comparison/contrast, classification, and analysis. 6. edit own writing by restructuring, correcting, errors, and revising. 7. produce short written summaries of information that was heard, read, or seen. 8. use various brainstorming strategies to develop writing topics.

4 9. use organizational strategies such as outlining, diagramming, and listing to structure thoughts 10.learn to minimize writing anxiety by free writing in journals 11.master formal outlining to the four-level. 12.use a variety of sentence patterns in writing, with an emphasis on the correct formation of complex sentences containing relative, noun, and adverbial clauses. 13.understand the structure of and write essays using various organizational patterns: logical division, chronology, cause/effect, comparison/contrast persuasive, and analysis. 14.use MS Word to prepare an essay for submission, using correct format, spell check, and grammar check. 15.understand and use the steps in the writing process: brainstorming, grouping, outlining, writing a rough draft, editing, revising, and producing a final draft. 16.use the writing process steps for a timed, in-class writing. 17.understand the rationale for and use outside sources to support argumentative writing, using standard conventions for quoting and citing (MLA & APA) 18.understand academic standards regarding plagiarism and learn to use paraphrasing and summarizing to avoid plagiarizing. 19. choose a field of interest, narrow to a selected topic, conduct research using external sources such as monographs, journal articles, and Internet, and write a five page research paper conforming to academic standards.

Grammar Knowledge and Application Outcomes

The student will 1. learn parts of speech, identifying individual words as nouns , adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, articles, determiners, and quantifiers. 2. understand formation and demonstrate use of contractions in oral English. 3. learn and identify pronouns and their antecedents. 4. use subject, object, and possessive pronouns correctly. 5. learn and use the simple verb tenses correctly. 6. learn simple past and perfect forms of irregular verbs and be able to use them correctly. 7. learn and use the continuous verb tenses correctly 8. learn and use the perfect verb tenses correctly. 9. begin to monitor and self-correct basic grammar structures, including subject/verb agreement, pronoun reference, and word order in statement sand questions. 10.understand the relationship between time and tense and demonstrate mastery. 11.learn and use modal auxiliaries correctly. 12.begin to use adjective and adverbial clauses to form complex sentences.

5 13.begin to use conditionals to express real/unreal situations 14.begin to use passive voice. 15.develop an understanding and use of noun clauses and reported speech. 16.master irregular verb tenses for use in perfect tense and passive voice. 17.demonstrate near mastery of all verb tenses, modals, articles, voice, gerunds & infinitives, conditionals, and clauses in oral and written English. 18.demonstrate near mastery of clause formation in complex sentences. 19.self-edit written material for grammatical errors 20.self-correct oral English for grammatical errors. 21.be able to explain the differences between the grammatical rules of his/her own language and the rules of English; i.e., develop a separate cognitive scaffolding for English structure. 22.be able to identify and use formal grammar versus informal grammar. 23.be able to recognize social register and apply the appropriate language structures for a given situation.

2.Curriculum Alignment of Student Learning Outcomes. Where is the information introduced, enriched, and/or reinforced in the courses required in the program?

Students will be placed into courses in the ELC based on assessment of their strengths and weaknesses following the administration of the Michigan Placement Test during intake. Learning outcomes are expressed as numbers in the left column of the charts below. Courses in which those outcomes are introduced, enriched or reinforced are listed in a horizontal column across the top of each chart.

6 SPEAKING AND LISTENING OUTCOMES RECOMMENDED COURSES

Curriculum Alignment of Student Outcomes. Where is the information introduced, enriched, and/or reinforced in the courses required in the program?

Recommended Courses Student Learning ESL 110 ESL 116 ESL 120 ESL 128 ESL 129 ESL 139 ESL 380 Outcomes 1 I E E R R 2 I E R 3 I I, E, R I, E, R 4 I, E 5 I I I, E E, R E, R E, R E, R 6 I I I, E, R I, E, R 7 I I I I, E I, E, R I, E, R 8 I E, R E, R E, R E, R 9 I I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R R 10 I E E R I, E, R 11 I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R 12 I E, R 13 I, E I, E, R 14 I I, E I, E, R 15 I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R 16 I E R R I = Introduced E = Enriched R = Reinforced

7 READING OUTCOMES RECOMMENDED COURSES

Recommended Courses Student Learning Outcomes ESL 117 ESL 123 ESL 124 ESL 125 ESL 130 ESL 133 ESL 134 ESL 135 ESL 144 ESL 148

1 I I, E E E, R 2 I E E E R R R R R

3 I E E E R R R R R 4 I I, E E 5 I E R R R R R R R 6 I I, E I, E I, E R R R R R

7 I I I, E I, E R R R 8 I I, E I, E I, E R R R R R 9 I E I, E, R

10 I I E E R R R 11 I I, E I, E, R 12 I, E I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R

13 I, E, R 14 I I, E R E 15 I E R I = Introduced E = Enriched R = Reinforced WRITING SKILLS OUTCOMES 8 RECOMMENDED COURSES

Recommended Courses Student Learning ESL 117 ESL 125 ESL 127 ESL 135 ESL 137 ESL 138 ESL 146 Outcomes 1 I I, E I, E R R R R 2 I I, E I, E R R R R 3 I I, E R R R R 4 I I R R R R 5 I I R R R R 6 I I, E I, E I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R 7 I I E, R E, R E, R E, R 8 I I, E I, E E, R E, R E, R 9 I I I, E I, R E, R E, R E, R 10 I I I I I I I 11 I I I, E R 12 I E E, R E, R R 13 I I, E E, R R 14 I E R 15 I I E E, R E, R R 16 I I I E E, R E, R R 17 I E, R E, R 18 I I, E I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R I, E, R 19 I, E R I = Introduced E = Enriched R = Reinforced

GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE AND APPLICATION OUTCOMES RECOMMENDED COURSES 9 Curriculum Alignment of Student Outcomes. Where is the information introduced, enriched, and/or reinforced in the courses required in the program?

Recommended Courses Student Learning ESL 112 ESL 121 ESL 122 ESL 126 ESL 131 ESL 132 ESL 146 Outcomes 1 I I, E E E E, R E, R R 2 I E E E R R R 3 I E E E R R R 4 I I, E E E R R R 5 I E R R R R R 6 I I, E I, E, R R R R R 7 I I, E I, E, R R R R R 8 I I, E E E, R E, R E, R 9 I I, E E E R R R 10 I I, E E R R R 11 I I, E I, E E E, R E, R R 12 I I, E E E, R E, R 13 I I, E E E, R E, R 14 I I, E E E, R E, R R 15 I I, E E, R E, R E, R 16 I I, E E E, R E, R R 17 I I, E E E, R R 18 I I, E I, E E R 19 I I I, E I, E R R 20 I I I I I, E I, E, R, I, E, R 21 I I I, E I, E, R 22 I E E E E E 23 I I I I, E I, E R I = Introduced E = Enriched R = Reinforced