Director: Jeremy SamsoeThe IEP is a pre-collegiate program of study in English as a second language designed to prepare students for admission to college or career advancement. Serving groups of learners with diverse goals and needs, the program provides opportunities for life-changing intercultural encounters leading to sustained intercultural learning. The program Director: Jeremy Samsoe
The Intensive English Program (IEP) consists of 20 hours per week of classroom instruction in the core academic basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, research- writing, and grammar. The IEP offers language enrichment activities that may include tutoring, field trips, cultural experiences, and other activities to strengthen academic language skills.IEP focuses especially on preparing students for undergraduate college study in the United States, so a variety of textbooks, computer and other audio and visual technologies are integrated into our curriculum.
There are six proficiency levels (I –VI) in the IEP. The Step-Up program is available, upon recommendation by the IEP, to qualifying students who have successfully completed a semester in level V of the IEP. These students may enroll in one course in the EMU undergraduate program with simultaneous enrollment in the IEP. Students take placement tests assessments to determine their level. Assessments are administered at the end of the semester to evaluate students' progress. Students who successfully complete the level V and VI and subsequently Levels 5 and 6 and then enroll at EMU for an undergraduate degree may receive up to 15 SH 15 semester hours of credit. Students may be eligible to apply for combined admission to the IEP and the undergraduate program.
Further information and application forms can be found at www.emu.edu/iep.
IEP courses in levels I through IV do not earn academic credit. For work successfully completed in levels V and VI, up to 15 undergraduate semester credit hours may be counted towards fulfilling students' language and intercultural requirement in the general education curriculum. Please note that an IEP "hour" equals a period of 50 minutes. Throughout the university, credit hours are based on the number of 50-minute class periods per week. Courses in the fall and spring semesters are for a 15-week duration. The summer semester is eight weeks in length; therefore, the class periods are longer each day to equal the necessary number of class time minutes for one semester of academic credit.
The program consists of 20 hours per week of classroom instruction in the basic language skills - reading, writing, research, listening, grammar, and speaking.
Multimedia equipment helps students improve pronunciation and listening comprehension. An IEP computer lab is available on campus for student use. In general, the levels are combined; levels I and II, levels III and IV, and levels V and VI meet together. When enrollment for a particular level is high enough, the level will meet individually.in our most advanced levels may also consider studying part-time at IEP and part-time at EMU’s undergraduate level in our Step Up program.
Course Descriptions
IEP 100/105/200/205/300/305 Listening
...
and Speaking
...
In this class the students develop skills for oral communication in a variety of English language contexts. The levels I and II focus on conversational skills, developing students' ability to understand the experiences of others and share their own. Students listen to lectures, learn to take notes, participate in group discussions, and plan and deliver oral presentations. All levels include an emphasis on learning vocabulary and improving pronunciation for effective oral communication., students will focus on developing their listening comprehension and speaking comprehensibility in an academic setting. Students will listen and respond to authentic English content (lectures, films, etc.), give presentations, participate in small and large group discussions, and engage in a variety of other listening and speaking tasks.
IEP 110/115/210/215/310/315
...
Reading, Vocabulary, and Spelling
In this class, students will focus on developing their reading comprehension ability. Students will read and respond to a variety of texts depending on their level (short readings, novels, articles, non-fiction books, etc.), practice reading out loud, journal, learn new authentic English vocabulary, practice spelling, and perform other reading comprehension tasks.
IEP 120/125/220/225/320/325
...
Writing
...
and
...
Grammar
The focus of this class is the development of skills for written communication in the academic English environment. Levels I and II focus on skills for writing at the sentence and paragraph level. Students engage readings from genres such as letters, news reports, and short stories. They begin to explore the research skills necessary for finding reliable information in libraries and on the internet. All levels include an emphasis on learning the writing conventions (spelling rules, punctuation, etc.) necessary for effective written communication. Levels III through VI build on basic reading and writing skills by moving from paragraphs to essays, adding longer academic readings (articles, textbook material, classic works of fiction, etc.), and learning to integrate sources into one's own writing. All levels include an emphasis on learning the writing conventions (spelling rules, punctuation, etc.) necessary for effective written communicationIn this class, students will focus on developing their writing ability. Students will work their way from writing sentences and paragraphs (Levels 1-3) to writing multi-paragraph academic essays (Levels 4-6). Students will learn the expectations of college writing in the United States, practice various genres of writing, and study key grammatical forms of English to improve their own writing clarity.
IEP 170/175/270/275/370/375 Integrated Skills and Pronunciation
In this class students integrate the use of language skills (, students will focus on developing their reading, writing, listening, and speaking , and grammar) with the exploration of interesting content. Students learn about U.S. history and culture and current issues, as well as global issues and challenges. They also acquire common English idioms and expressions. A variety of creative learning activities are used, such as role- plays, field trips, group projects, film, drama, etc. In level VI student learning is fostered through direct observation and experience in the U.S. academic setting. Significant learning happens through direct involvement with people and with "live" issues in the classroom. The course may involve students auditing an undergraduate or graduate class at EMU, meeting twice a week at IEP to reflect on their experiences, and/or expanding their knowledge of academic culture and vocabulary. Students may keep journals, write reports and essays, and/or give oral presentations about their learning experiencesin English, practicing a variety of academic tasks to use these skills in integrated ways. This class will also focus specifically on the mechanics of English pronunciation (vowel and consonant sounds, word stress, intonation, thought groups, etc.) to help students become more comprehensible in their speaking and more knowledgeable of the different variations of English pronunciation.