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Contact: Ingrid C. Holm, Senior Lecturer II
Office: 308B Bartlett Hall
Phone: (413) 545-4210
Website: www.umass.edu/esl

Lecturers Allard, Holm.

The English as a Second Language (ESL) Program has been redesigned with the support of the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development. The program mission is for matriculated undergraduate and graduate non-native speakers of English to attain an expert level of second-language fluency and accuracy in academic written and spoken English as defined by the American Council of Foreign Language Teaching. Undergraduate and graduate students may enroll in the same course. By taking ESL Program courses for credit, students learn how to master the formal conventions of academic English for undergraduate General Education courses as well as for undergraduate and graduate courses in the academic disciplines. The courses are of four types: Second Language Writing, including essay composition and graduate research writing; English for Academic Purposes, including oral communication; English for Specific Purposes, including English for medical and health professionals; and International Teaching Assistants, including teaching undergraduate academic courses. Independent Studies on special topics of interest are also offered. The program courses, informed by research on Second-Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, Second-Language Writing, Composition and Rhetoric, and Intercultural Studies focus on academic writing, reading, speaking, listening, grammatical sophistication and accuracy as well as vocabulary expansion. The courses are taught by experienced second language specialists holding graduate degrees in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Currently enrolled full-time undergraduate, graduate, Five College, and foreign exchange students are eligible to register for courses offered during the fall and spring semesters. 

For more information about the program or its courses, call the ESL Program or visit www.umass.edu/esl.