English as a Second Language (ESL) English Language & Training Academy, American University

Program at a glance

• 18-20 hours of classroom instruction per week
• Three levels from intermediate to advanced
• Site visits, workshops, and conversation partners
• Specialized courses focused on U.S. culture

Why ELTA?

• Classes taught by trained and experienced faculty
• Advising and support from a dedicated staff
• No application fees
• Immigration support for qualified students
• Pathway program options available

An Exciting Place to Study

Washington, DC is a fun and exciting place to study. At American University we believe that learning should be done not only in the classroom, but also outside in the community, so we encourage our students to take advantage of the city’s many cultural and historical attractions.

English Proficiency and Placement

Students will be placed in appropriate course levels from intermediate to advanced with a placement test taken during the on-campus orientation. Students are expected to be able to speak, read, write, and understand simple sentences.

Level 4

Academic Discussion

This course focuses on improving all aspects of the oral and aural skills necessary to be successful undergraduate students. The curriculum emphasizes receptive skills, such as listening for content, note-taking, paraphrasing, and summarizing, as well as expressive skills, such as giving a variety of presentations and participating in small group and whole class discussions.

In the process, students increase their fluency and accuracy in expressing their ideas, expand their academic and idiomatic vocabulary, and sharpen their critical thinking skills while becoming more comfortable and confident with the culture of an American classroom.

Reading and Vocabulary

This course offers undergraduate students the opportunity to develop critical academic reading skills and to expand their academic vocabulary. Students read a variety of texts, such as essays, newspaper articles, short stories and novels. Students respond critically to the texts by writing journals and essays, giving presentations, and actively engaging in small and whole group discussions with their classmates in order to explore the nuances and deeper meanings in each text. All semester students keep a vocabulary journal composed of new words they encounter from each article, story, or novel.

Writing and Grammar

This course develops students’ writing skills with a particular focus on writing academic essays according to American academic conventions. After reviewing and honing their ability to write clear, focused, and well-developed paragraphs, students learn to state and defend a thesis while composing essays in multiple genres, including compare and contrast, cause and effect, and argumentative.

Students engage in all aspects of the writing process, including pre-writing, brainstorming, outlining, drafting, editing, and peer review. Students will learn the value of feedback and revision. In addition, students analyze and address the typical grammatical trouble spots for non-native speakers. Throughout the semester, students pay close attention to the norms of academic integrity and the issue of plagiarism. The course culminates with an introduction to the research paper.

Life and Culture in Washington, DC

In this course, students of all levels have the opportunity to both study and experience the life and culture of the U.S. capital. Through readings, discussions, watching films, guest lectures by experts in the fields of history and politics, and site visits in Washington, DC, students gains a more profound knowledge and insight about this exciting and intriguing city. Over the course of the semester, students will also compare and contrast the life and culture of DC to that of the US as a whole. In the process, students strengthen all aspects of their English language skills and deepen their understanding of US culture.

Level 5

Academic Discussion

This advanced level course builds on the academic aural and oral skills learned in the level 4 course. The focus is on comprehension of oral communication in the classroom (i.e. listening for content, note-taking, paraphrasing, and summarizing) as well as participation in oral communication in the classroom (i.e. utilizing verbal and non-verbal communication skills, managing conversations/discussions, and giving oral presentations).

Particular emphasis is placed on understanding and responding to long-form academic lectures from a variety of disciplines. In addition to a variety of individual and group presentations, students also give a short lecture and lead a discussion on a topic of their interest. In the process students increase their fluency and accuracy in expressing their ideas, expand their academic vocabulary, and sharpen their critical thinking skills.

Reading and Vocabulary

This course builds on ELTA’s Level 4 learning goals, further developing critical thinking skills, academic reading skills, and expanding academic vocabulary. Students will read and interpret literary works, academic texts, and media articles, write on assigned topics, and apply a range of learning strategies and research skills effectively. Students will participate in debates, lead classroom presentations and discussions, and work collaboratively to complete in-class activities.

Writing and Grammar

This course develops students’ academic writing skills with a particular focus on how written academic essays can be used to develop a short research paper. Students will build on their previous essay writing skills, incorporating complex grammatical structures and using different rhetorical genres such as classification, definition, problem/solution, and compare/contrast to increase the sophistication of their writing. Students engage in all aspects of the writing process, including peer review workshops, and learn the value of feedback and revision.

In addition, students analyze and address the typical grammatical trouble spots for non-native speakers with a particular focus on tone, hedging and boosting. Throughout the semester, students pay close attention to the norms of academic integrity and the issue of plagiarism as they research and document their work.

American TV and Culture Studies

In this course students deepen their understanding of media and culture by evaluating and responding to how American culture is represented on television sitcoms. Through readings, discussions, presentations, and watching various shows students gains insight into the way TV portrays the culture and people of the U.S. Students specifically examine the representations of gender, race, ethnicity, family, sexual orientation, and politics while also viewing how these representations have changed over the history of TV sitcoms. In the process, students strengthen all aspects of their English language skills.

Level 6

Academic Discussion

This advanced content-based course approaches oral and aural skills holistically. With Ted Talks as a unifying source of diverse content material, students not only improve their listening and speaking skills, but also pronunciation, vocabulary, note-taking, presentation skills, and critical thinking. The course topics range from sociology to literature to statistics, among several other disciplines. However, a key theme to the course will be in the world of business. Presentations will be framed around this topic, but with flexibility to make it relevant to each student’s needs and goals.

Reading and Vocabulary

Students develop their critical thinking skills, academic reading skills, and expand advanced academic vocabulary. Students read and interpret academic texts across a diverse array of disciplines as well as scholarly articles and a novel. In addition to writing analytical responses to the texts, students apply a range of learning strategies and research skills, participate in debates, lead classroom presentations and discussions, and work collaboratively to complete in-class activities.

Writing and Grammar

This course develops students’ academic writing skills with a particular focus on how to write research papers and graduate-level research proposals. Students will build on their previous essay writing skills, incorporating complex grammatical structures and using different rhetorical genres to increase the sophistication of their writing. Students engage in all aspects of the writing process, including peer review workshops, learning the value of feedback and revision.

In addition, students analyze and address the typical grammatical trouble spots for non-native speakers. Throughout the semester, students pay close attention to the norms of academic integrity and the issue of plagiarism as they research and document their work.

American Film and Culture Studies

By closely watching and discussing films from each decade since WWII students observe the evolution of American culture, history, and society over the past seven decades. Students watch one film per week on their own, complete a worksheet about the film, and come to class prepared to discuss it with the instructor and their peers. Class discussions aim to dissect the film's meaning beyond the plot and make connections to the key events of the film's time period trying to understand the zeitgeist.

In the process, students develop critical thinking skills, increase awareness of American culture and history, improve oral and aural skills by actively participating, and become more confident public speakers by giving presentations on key events of each decade.

International Accelerator Program (IAP)

English for Academic Purposes

The English for Academic Purposes course will introduce students to the necessary knowledge and skills to comprehend written and spoken academic English with a high degree of accuracy, and to speak and write accurately and fluently in both formal and informal academic contexts. The course will feature active and peer-learning activities so students may practice and improve their existing skills in these areas. In addition, the course will also introduce students to a variety of relevant technologies, texts, and contexts across disciplines with an express purpose of supporting students in becoming successful English-language users in their academic, professional, and personal lives.

Intercultural Understanding

This course will help you understand your cultural position and develop intercultural competencies to build and cultivate relationships with others from different cultural groups. The course examines how US and western histories and current-day global trends across non-western cultures impact and shape relations between dominant cultures and co-cultures across race, class, gender, ethnic, sexual orientation, religious, and other cultural identity markers. The course will require a grounding in intersectional theory, intercultural communication concepts, reading, viewing, and discussions that will develop your ability to produce thoughtful, informed oral presentations, research, and writing assignments.

Academic Writing Skills

In this course, students develop and sharpen their academic reading and writing skills. Students read texts in a variety of content areas that range across disciplines including the natural sciences, history and government, literature, and psychology and the social sciences. They write essays that arise from the readings, employing different rhetorical styles such as argument, compare and contrast, and problem solution. The course culminates with an extensive research paper on a topic related to the student’s intended major. Particular attention is given to the issue of academic integrity throughout the semester. As a result, students will become better writers across the curriculum.

Culture of U.S. Higher Education

This course is designed to help students adapt to the academic expectations during students’ course of study at American University by supporting the transition to a new academic culture and community. In this course, students will explore cultural assumptions underlying academic practices and personal interactions in U.S. university communities, with special attention on how U.S. cultural norms are viewed by people from other cultural backgrounds. Topics of the course include academic integrity, examining student-faculty interactions, academic reading and writing, conducting mini research, and presentations.

Critical Reading Skills

This course introduces students to the skills necessary for critical reading in an academic context and serves as a complement to ELTA-070 (English for Academic Purposes). The course focuses on developing students' rhetorical reading skills in order to actively engage with texts in a deeper and richer way. The content of the course covers an identified theme that integrates a variety of academic subject areas, utilizing lectures, films, podcasts, and other listening materials to provide background and context to the texts.

Master's Accelerator Program (MAP)

Graduate Academic Communication

This course offers graduate students the opportunity to sharpen the listening and speaking skills essential for graduate work. The focus is on listening for content, giving effective presentations, note-taking, and summarizing. Students also develop an understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication and become comfortable and confident at actively participating in class discussions. This interactive course utilizes small and large group discussions and various forms of collaborative work, which serve to acculturate students to the typical classroom dynamic of U.S. universities.

Introduction to Graduate Academic Writing

This course introduces students to the academic expectations of graduate programs at American University. During the semester, students will learn the conventions and rules of writing in English in an academic environment. Students will focus on developing academic skills in English that will enable them to effectively communicate and advance in their chosen academic field. The focus of this course is on enhancing academic writing skills in English, including vocabulary acquisition, advanced grammar structures, and various rhetorical modes. Students will be expected to read, understand, and summarize academic texts, analyze underlying grammatical choices in academic texts, and write short papers related to their course of study.