ESL Services - Graduate Courses

Credit
These courses are taken on a Credit/No Credit basis. They count as 3 credit hours for purposes of full-time enrollment, but do not count toward students' degree requirements and do not appear on students' transcripts.

Registration
Students must register for these courses in person at the ESL office; registration for these courses cannot be done on-line. ESL courses do not appear on a student's on-line list of courses, but are noted in the mainframe (the S13 [concurrent enrollment] screen of IORECS). Payment is due at the time of registration. Students can register for these courses until the 12th class day. Courses are limited to 15 students, but new sections are opened to accomodate students once existing sections are filled.

Cost
Each course costs $500, which must be paid directly to ESL Services at the time of registration.

If students take Communication for International Teaching Assistants as part of a full-time course load and receive tuition assistance, they will be reimbursed for the course as part of that benefit.

If students take Oral Communication for International Students or Academic Writing for International Students to fulfill a J-bar requirement as part of a 9-hour course load, they must pay for the course themselves. However, if they are taking 9 hours in their department and this class puts them above 9 hours, they can apply for a scholarship in the ESL office to reimburse the cost of the course as long as they receive no other financial assistance.

If their department is willing to pay for a course, students can bring a letter from the department with an IDT account number, or the department contact can send an email with the account information to mikesmith@austin.utexas.edu.

Any questions about courses, credit, or cost can be directed via email to mikesmith@austin.utexas.edu.

Communication for International Teaching Assistants

Section 1        MW       10:00-11:30     WOH (room TBA)        
Section 2        TTh         9:30-11:00       WOH (room TBA)   
Section 3        TTh         12:30-2:00       WOH (room TBA)                  

This course is required for graduate students who received a conditional pass on the ITA English assessment and have TA/AI appointments with student contact. It meets the requirements for ITA certification. This course is designed to explore and enhance ITAs' skills in English communication through a variety of functional areas. Practice areas include pronunciation, vocabulary, fluency, reductions, presenting and summarizing information, and compensatory strategies. Intercultural communication topics relevant to teaching in U.S. universities are also addressed.

Basic Speaking Skills for Potential International Teaching Assistants

Section 1         TTh          8:00-9:30             WOH (room TBA)

This course is for graduate students who failed the ITA English assessment and would like to improve their English before retaking the assessment. This course will focus on pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary development, and presentation skills.

Oral Communication for International Students

Section 1          MW          8:30-10:00            WOH (room TBA)
         Section 2          TTh           11:00-12:30           WOH (room TBA)

This course is required for graduate students who did not pass the oral skills component of the J-bar English assessment. The course is designed to develop academic oral communication skills. Practice will focus on pronunciation, fluency, grammatical accuracy, vocabulary development, formal presentations, and graduate-level discussions. Instruction will be delivered within the context of academic speaking tasks.

Academic Writing for International Students

Section 1          TTh                  2:00-3:30         WOH (room TBA)

This course is required for graduate students who did not pass the written skills component of the J-bar English assessment. The course is designed to develop academic written communication skills. Practice will focus on clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and essays.

Advanced Oral Communication for International Students

Section 1          TTh         11:00-12:30             WOH (room TBA)

The course is designed to develop academic oral communication skills. Practice will focus on pronunciation, fluency, grammatical accuracy, vocabulary development, formal presentations, and graduate-level discussions. Instruction will be delivered within the context of academic speaking tasks.

Advanced Academic Writing for International Students

Section 1           TTh          2:00-3:30                 WOH (room TBA)

The course is designed to develop academic written communication skills. Practice will focus on paragraphs, essays, and research writing.