Welcome to West Valley College

English as a Second Language Department

General Information

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West Valley College offers 17 different ESL courses, ranging from beginning level (960) to advanced (65).  Our six-level program begins with a basic 4-skills course.  For the other five levels, there are three courses at each level: grammar/ writing (GW), listening/ speaking (LS), and reading/ vocabulary (RV).

    NEW WORLD LANGUAGES CENTER     

The ESL and World Languages Departments are proud to announce the installation of a new multimedia Language Lab, called the World Languages Center, located in the Language Arts Building, Room LA27. Come meet Irene Morrison, the Lab Supervisor, and view the new computers and workstations. Better yet, register for a listening/speaking course and use the new Lab every week!

The ESL program is supplemented by the new language lab, an independent study Skills Lab (975), the Computer-Assisted Writing (CAW) Lab, and a specialized course for advanced students in pronunciation (68).

ESL Program Courses [To view a course description, click on the desired course number or name.] **West Valley does not offer every class every semester. Please check the Schedule of Classes (see below) for current offerings.**
960 Foundations in ESL
961LS Basic Listening & Speaking 1	962LS Basic Listening & Speaking 2	963LS Oral Communication 1	964LS Oral Communication 2	65LS Academic Listening & Speaking
961GW Basic Grammar & Writing 1	962GW Basic Grammar & Writing 2	963GW Sentence Development	964GW Paragraph Development	65GW Composition in ESL
961RV Basic Reading & Vocabulary 1	962RV Basic Reading & Vocabulary 2	963RV Intermediate Reading & Vocabulary 1	964RV Intermediate Reading & Vocabulary 2	65RV Academic Reading & Vocabulary

Supplemental ESL Courses

68  Pronunciation Skills

975  ESL Skills Lab

General Procedures

All ESL students should take the placement test to determine which level is appropriate for them. They then check their placement results online or with the Assessment Office. Students can then simply register for classes at that level that fit their schedule and their needs. We recommend that students take all three components, for example 961 Grammar/Writing, 961 Listening/Speaking, and 961 Reading/ Vocabulary. All ESL classes may be repeated three times.

ESL Orientation and Placement Test

Registration and schedule information

Next, students should plan to attend the first day of class. The instructors will provide a greensheet (syllabus) in the first week. It will then become clear what the class expectations and content are.

Students can buy their textbooks at the Bookstore before or after the first day of class, but it is recommended that all receipts be kept in case the books need to be returned. For textbook information, call the Bookstore at (408) 741-2015.

For important dates, check the school calendar.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the ESL Department Chair, Ann Marie Wasserbauer (408) 741-2486 in Office LA 3e.

Last updated 08/25/2007.