Course Outline

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General English Intermediate Level

This course includes teaching/learning modules for adult learners across the four macro skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Additional supportive modules are also provided in the structural skills areas of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Prerequisites:

Students need a level of English equivalent to IELTS 4.5.

Skills Development:

Listening:
  • Develop skills when listening — listening for gist, listening for main ideas, inferring,
  • Identify how language structures are used in context
  • Increase size and application of vocabulary
  • Understand the relevant cultural contexts of oral communication

Speaking:
  • Improve fluency of expression, through practising and increasing the variety of lexical phrases when participating in discussions and conversations

Reading:
  • Know, recognise and understand the different associated language features of the various text types
  • Develop skills when reading — reading for meaning, reading for main ideas, making inferences
  • Develop academic reading skills through strong vocabulary development — to meet the needs of future academic purposes

Writing:
  • Write a variety of text types through use of associated language features and practising the writing process
  • Develop skills of reflection, analysis and interpretation when writing a personal text
  • Empower students towards autonomy and independence in practising their writing skills
  • Develop cross-cultural awareness in writing, through vocabulary and grammar
  • Understand sentence structure, punctuation practices and paragraph structures
  • Write a variety of texts, including descriptive texts, letters and essays and journals, and write to express opinions, to compare and contrast ideas
  • Write a variety of texts using skills of:  correct order of paragraphing and the logical division of ideas; use of topic sentences and noun phrases; use of personal pronouns, contractions and informal vocabulary; ability to distinguish between personal and impersonal register; and he use of passive and active sentence structures
  • Engage in self and peer assessments

Entry Requirements

Our courses have different entry requirements. Placement in a course is offered through Confirmation of Enrolment, however you may be placed in a different course, depending on your Placement Test.

Placement Test

In addition to meeting the entry requirements, each student will sit a Placement Test before commencing the course.

Placement tests are based on the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening.

A test score is comparable to standardised tests like the Cambridge Quick Placement test (PET) and IELTS scores.

General English – Intermediate

Students must have the following IELTS (or equivalent) scores for entry to the General English course:

Intermediate: 4.5 – 5.5 IELTS equivalent

Students with little or no English are asked to contact the Academic Manager to ensure their needs can be catered for.

IELTS Preparation

ELSPM offers IELTS preparation courses. It is generally believed that students can increase their score by 0.5 each 10 weeks. Different visas require different IELTS scores. Students must be at or close to the required score before beginning IELTS. The IELTS preparation course usually runs for 10 weeks each semester.

Regular Assessment

ELSPM has a regular assessment program that gives students a progress report every 5 weeks. These should be taken into account when you are planning your next level of study.

If you have any questions about Course Placement please contact the Academic Manager at manager@elspm.org.au