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 English Language School in Silver Spring has established a comprehensive curriculum to help students of all levels achieve high degrees of proficiency as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Upon registration, each student completes a placement evaluation to determine his or her proficiency in English. The program includes ten levels of English instruction, followed by a variety of upper-level electives, including TOEFLŪ test preparation.
The following course outlines describe some of the topics that are studied at each level of the curriculum:
| Pre-Level 1 |
Pre-Level One is ideal for students who do not know the Roman alphabet or who find school's Level One too difficult. Students speak, read, write, and listen in everyday English contexts. |
| Level 1 |
Students develop basic conversational English for activities like shopping and ordering in restaurants as well as learning how to read and write simple passages. They also learn seven difficult English sounds and basic English grammar. |
| Level 2 |
Students have conversation about the past and the future. They learn vocabulary to describe time and common places like the subway and the workplace. Students learn to read and write about simple plans and memories, and to pronounce eight difficult English sounds. |
| Level 3 |
Students learn how to participate in more complex conversations. They learn to describe things and ask questions about them. They also learn vocabulary about hobbies and free time and learn to read and write longer, more difficult compositions. Students also learn to pronounce and distinguish among ten difficult English sounds. |
| Level 4 |
Students begin to use and understand more complicated sentences with various clauses and basic tenses. The students' language becomes more idiomatic and fluent, and their vocabularies increase. The size and complexity of the passages that the students can read and write increases. Students learn to pronounce and distinguish among ten difficult English sounds. |
| Level 5 |
Students begin to use and understand more of the nuances of the language, including less common constructions and vocabulary. The passages they can read and write become longer and more complex, and their pronunciation becomes more fluid, despite difficult clusters and unusual sounds. Students also learn to understand faster and more fluently spoken English. |
| Level 6 |
Students build on what they have learned in the previous five levels, further increasing the complexity of the structures they can use and understand, as well as the size of their vocabularies, the rate of speech they can understand, and the variety of topics they can address. |
| Level 7 |
Through the use of an integrated series of texts, this level focuses on refining all four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking), while also reviewing grammar. Pronunciation practice is also included as are activities to develop students' critical thinking skills. The primary focus of the reading and writing portion of the class is on the paragraph level: identifying the topic sentence and developing a well-structured paragraph. The listening and speaking section focuses on developing oral skills and listening to longer passages: listening for details, identifying the main idea, and inferring information from the language sample. The speaking section concentrates on making student oral communication styles more natural and idiomatic, while giving students ample time to practice what they have learned. |
| Level 8 |
Level Eight is a continuation of Level Seven; this level finishes the material which was started in Level Seven. Students receive additional practice in all four language skills (reading, writing listening and speaking), while also reviewing grammar, receiving pronunciations practice and developing critical thinking. The primary focus of the reading and writing portion of the class continues to be at the paragraph level, and the listening and speaking section continue to highlight strategies such as listening for details, identifying the main idea and making comparisons based on the information provided and background knowledge. |
| Level 9 |
Level Nine continues to use an integrated approach and material to focus on all four language skills, and also pronunciation, grammar and critical thinking skills. Reading and writing skills are further refined: the focus has moved beyond the paragraph level to the essay level. Vocabulary is expanded, grammar and structure are polished, and the students are given more time to practice what they have learned. Oral and aural skills are also further refined: students begin to synthesize information from multiple listening, and also from their own experiences. |
| Level 10 |
Level Ten is a continuation of Level Nine; this level finishes the material which was started in Level Nine. Through an integrated approach and material, students continue to practice and refine all language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking), while reviewing grammar and pronunciation and further developing critical thinking skills. Students' essays are further developed, and students receive additional practice in synthesizing and supporting ideas, as well as developing oral presentation skills. |
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