ESL Center Syllabus
For ESL 92, 93, L90, L91, R90, R91, R92, and R93
Welcome to the ESL Center, a place designed especially for ESL students who want to improve their English skills while working on their own individual study plan.
The ESL Center has a staff consisting of an ESL instructor, an instructional assistant, and student tutors who care about your progress and want your experience here to be successful. Don’t hesitate to ask for help whenever you need it. Attend a guidance conference with the teacher at least once during the semester so that you can get personal help and advice.
Please read the following information about course policies carefully. When you are finished reading this syllabus, sign your name and record the date on your student information sheet to show that you have read and understood the course policies and rules. Review these course policies regularly–they’re important.
Course Content
With the guidance of your ESL Center instructors, you will work with the materials listed on your lab menus and, in some cases, with other materials approved by your ESL Center instructors. Conferences with your ESL Center instructor will count for time credit.
The Center does not offer drop-in tutoring services to help students with assignments from other classes. Please do not ask Center staff (instructor, assistant, or tutors) to read essays or review homework for any classes other than ESL Center classes.
To earn credit for your ESL Center classes, you must be in the ESL Center working on activities from your lab menus. We understand that ESL students have a lot of homework, and many students have jobs and family responsibilities in addition to their studies. However, we cannot give class credit to students when they are not doing assigned ESL Center work. For example, students who do their homework, talk with friends, or leave the ESL Center while they are logged in for ESL Center classes may lose up to double the time that they are logged in. This loss of time could keep you from reaching your 27-hour minimum.
Required Materials
You need a blue lab folder for each ESL Center class that you are enrolled in. All folders become the property of the Center and must remain in the Center at all times.
In your folder, record the time you spend in the ESL Center so that you will know how many hours you have attended. The ESL Center staff will report your exact number of hours at least twice during the semester. Before you stop attending ESL Center classes, make sure the Center staff confirms that you have finished your 27 hours for each class.
It is your responsibility to be sure a staff member has signed your menu and attendance sheet each time you attend. These records confirm your attendance and your work on approved lab activities. If there are questions or problems regarding your lab attendance, we may need these records to give you credit for your lab time.
Attendance
When you arrive, log in. Follow the log-in instructions posted in the check-out area to make sure your starting time is recorded in the computer. Use the ESL Center lab card in your blue lab folder to log in and borrow materials. Before you leave, check out by giving your lab folder and any lab materials you have borrowed to the lab staff in the check-out area. They will log you out. If you forget to log in or check out, we will not be able to give you time credit. Each student must personally log in and check out. No one may log in or check out for anyone else. Students who require assistance with lab procedures should contact the Disability Resource Center to request accommodations.
You must register through Admissions and Records for each of the ESL Center classes you are taking.
The class schedule is TBA (to be arranged). Plan to attend two hours per week for each 0.5-unit class to complete the number of hours required for credit.
Pay attention to the ESL Center schedule. You will have a chance to make reservations for the ESL Center hours you want to attend, and you may be able to attend at other times when the Center is open (see the attendance policies posted in the Center). However, no one will be able to log in when the Center is closed or when we have reached our maximum number of students, so be sure to check the Center’s schedule and posted attendance policies before planning when to attend.
You can earn ESL Center credit for working in the English Computer Lab (RS 326), but only when you are logged in in the ESL Center and working on approved ESL Center activities. No one can earn time for ESL Center classes when the ESL Center is closed.
These additional time policies will help make your ESL Center class attendance more effective:
1) There is a minimum time of 15 minutes attendance per visit to receive any credit.
Less than 15 minutes receives no credit for that visit.
2) There is a maximum of 120 minutes attendance per class (per folder) per day.
3) There is a weekly maximum of twice your scheduled weekly hours.
For each of your ESL Center classes, you may attend your two reserved hours plus two extra
hours each week, for a total of four hours per week per class. Rule #2 still applies.
If you fall behind in your lab hours, see the lab staff immediately to plan a schedule which will enable you to complete your lab hours without going over the daily and weekly limits.
Course Credit
CR (credit) = 27+ hours
NC (no credit) = 0—26.9 hours
ESL Center courses are credit / no credit courses. Students who complete a minimum number of hours will receive credit (CR) and fulfill their corequisite. Students who do not reach the minimum number of hours will receive no credit (NC) for their ESL Center class. “Incomplete” grades are not available for ESL Center classes. To receive credit for ESL Center classes, you must attend class for a minimum number of hours (you are welcome to attend more!):
To earn 0.5 units, you must attend class for at least 27 lab hours (=1350 minutes). This is 2 hrs/week.
To earn 1.0 unit, you must register for 1 unit and attend class for a total of at least 54 lab hours
(=2700 minutes). This is 4 hrs/week.
This is for independent lab classes only; corequisite lab classes are 0.5 units each.
Attend regularly from the beginning of the semester so that you can complete the minimum required 27.0 hours. If you miss your reserved lab hour, make it up as soon as possible. You may continue to attend after finishing your 27 hours.
We hope you have an interesting and productive semester!