We believe that non-native English speakers succeed in college when they are supported in applying their multi-lingual skills and cultural knowledge, and when academic content and English language skills are learned together. For these reasons the ELL Program is modeled on the following best program and teaching practices:

1. Students accelerate as soon as possible into college credit classes using multiple pathways based on their needs and abilities.
2. Challenging academic content drives the learning through linked content classes and thematically organized ELL classes.
3. ELL instruction
1. integrates the learning of language skills and content.
2. supports students in communicating and negotiating meaning.
3. helps students make meaningful connections between academic content and personal experiences.
4. Assessments are holistic with multiple measures to assess and continuously advance students.
5. We support continuous improvement and collaboration across departments and work areas with on-going professional development.

ELL Department’s Vision for the Multi-Media Language Lab

Second language acquisition theory indicates that non-native speakers and writers of English need from 5 – 7 years to learn academic English. Therefore, with a 3 – level academic ELL Department, most, if not all, ELL students will need more time on task to assimilate an academic English curriculum. ELL students can learn academic English more effectively and quickly with structured time on task in the Lab with the following strategies.

1. ELL faculty members can refer individual students to the Lab and calculate the assignments completed in the Lab into the final grade. ELL faculty will not have to know how the programs in the Lab work or teach their students how to use these programs; all they have to do is refer and identify skills to be improved (SEE STAFFING). Assignments may include the following: Writing, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Grammar, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Note-taking.
2. An individual ELL faculty member can assign specific assignments/modules for all students in an ELL course to be completed in the Lab as part of a course requirement.
3. ELL students who receive the an In-Progress (IP) grade in any BELL or ELL course may complete required work in the Lab under the supervision of tutors and a faculty member (see staffing).
4. BELL and ELL students who are identified with literacy needs will work in the Lab, under the supervision of tutors and a faculty member.
5. If ELL students exit ELL courses and struggle with college content courses, they may work in the Lab (with self-referral or referral from faculty) for continued language support.
6. ELL faculty members will be able to use the Lab for instruction.

Lab Staffing

• Full-time coordinator
• Two full-time tutors: One ELL/Bilingual: The other with TOEFL expertise
• Part-time tutors
• Work-study students
• Two ELL faculty members for Fall and Spring Semesters and one for Summer Semester with course releases to work in the Lab

For more information, visit the Language Lab Home Page