ESL

With a team of well-selected, qualified and experienced teachers, TTU is committed to provide students with the best learning experiences. Proven pedagogical approaches are employed to best accommodate students’ learning styles and ensure learning success. To do so, TTU IEP aims at enhancing the four skills by overlapping: Reading and Writing classes, while mainly emphasizing on their said title, will be engaged in the other communicative skills—Listening and Speaking, whereas Listening and Speaking classes will mostly focus on their said titles.

At TTU, a supportive and motivating learning environment, with extracurricular activities, is provided: to engage students in meaningful and effective learning, as well as foster critical thinking.

The TTU IEP Curriculum serves as a standard of reference and guide to instructors. It should be known that variability can occur within levels from one semester to the next, and adjustments should be made accordingly. Instructors are encouraged to use their experience and personal teaching philosophy while maintaining the standards set forth in the curriculum.

**To help keep TTU IEP Curriculum up-to-date in assessment and curriculum use, it is aligned with the CEFR – the Common European Framework of Reference. For more information, refer to http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_en.pdf

Students must meet curricular objectives at the minimum of 70% OR 0.7 / cumulative grade average of D-, in order to advance to the next level for that class.

Students who excelled in their level, with their teacher’s final assessment and approval, will be permitted to skip the successive level and attend the level appropriate to their advanced progress.

Academic-level requirements

In order to start their academic programs, students need to demonstrate the following:

TOEFL paper-based Entrance Test: 500 (Engineering and Biotechnology majors)/520 (for other majors) or TOEFL iBT: 61 (Engineering and Biotechnology majors)/ 65 (for other majors)
The ESL faculty will provide the final assessment and suggestions, should the student score 500/520, but deemed insufficient in their language competence.
Students whose TOEFL scores are from 520 to 599 are required to sit for two EAP courses.
New students who can show their TOEFL iBT test scores of 70 or above or equivalents from other standardized tests will not be required to sit for the TOEFL ITP Test.

The IEP TOEFL Score framework


TOEFL	Semester 1
418-below	Lower Level
419-519	Higher Level
600 100 (TOEFL iBT) IELTS band score of 7	Exit IEP

Students will take university-wide English assessment tests periodically. These tests take place during week 8 or 9 and week 15 or 16 of the semester. The tests are designed to measure learning outcomes and not necessarily calculated in the accumulative grades for the course in which students are enrolled.

Attendance and participation

Attendance and active participation are essential components of the course. Unexcused absences will result in being excluded from the mid-term and final examinations (see Student Handbook). Participation is measured by student involvement in and contribution to the class by speaking, communicating with peers, and engaging in pair and group work. Participation also includes preparation for the class, by doing research, reading, writing assignments, group and individual work.

Learning Center: Students will be scaffolded with additional support in Reading, Grammar, Writing and Speaking.
Conversation partners: Students are invited to become conversation partners with other students/faculty. Students spend at least one hour per week speaking English with their conversation partners.
Language Laboratories: Students spend at least one hour per week in one of the following lab programs:
Reading lab: Students learn to increase vocabulary, reading comprehension and reading speed
Listening lab: Students learn to improve listening comprehension
Composition tutoring: Students work on improving grammar and writing skills
Pronunciation tutoring: Students work one-on-one with a faculty or a peer mentor to improve pronunciation

Lower Level (TOEFL: 418-below)
Higher Level (TOEFL: 419-519)

A1-A2 (Global CEFR Descriptors)
- Can read slowly and understand very short, simple texts by recognizing familiar names, words, and basic phrases.
- Can ask and answer simple questions and respond to simple statements about familiar topics (e.g., family, student life) provided the other person talks slowly and clearly, and manage simple, routine exchange without undue efforts.
- Can write short, simple notes and messages.
- Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type provided text/speech is short, clear and/or slowly articulated.
- Can ask and answer questions and exchange ideas and information on familiar topics in predictable everyday situations and about things in the past.

B1-B2 (Global CEFR Descriptors)
- Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered (e.g., work, school, leisure).
- Can deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken.
- Can produce simple connected text on familiar topics of personal interest.
- Can describe experiences, dreams, hopes, and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
- Can demonstrate a reasonable use of language in writing and speaking.
- Can understand factual information about common everyday or job-related topics, identifying both general messages and specific details, provided text/speech is clear and standard.
- Can communicate with some confidence on familiar routine and non-routine matters related to his/her interests and professional field.
- Can convey information and ideas on abstract as well as concrete topics, check information, and ask about or explain problems with reasonable precision.
- Can demonstrate a sophisticated use of language in writing and speaking.

CEFR	Descriptors for Overall English Proficiency & Academic Readiness
C2	Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarize information from different spok en and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations. C2 is a highly proficient level at which one would be extremely comfortable engaging in academic activities at all levels.
C1	Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns and cohesive devices. C1 is a level at which one can comfortably participate in most post-graduate activities including teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate level.
B2+	Can understand spoken and written language on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Can use the language fluently, accurately and effectively on a wide range of general, academic, vocational or leisure topics, marking clearly the relationships between ideas. Can communicate spontaneously with good grammatical control without much sign of having to restrict what s/he wants to say, reformulating ideas in different ways to ensure people understand exactly what s/he means.
B2	Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects related to my fields of interest and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
B1+	Can understand straightforward factual information about common everyday or job related topics, identifying both general messages and specific details, provided text/speech is clear and standard. Can communicate with some confidence on familiar routine and non-routine matters related to his/her interests and professional field. Can convey information and ideas on abstract as well as concrete topics check information, and ask about or explain problems with reasonable precision. B1+ is the minimum level required by TTU to be ready for admittance to academic studies, after a) successfully completing this Upper-Intermediate class and b) passing the TOEFL PBT with a score of 500 (Engineering major)/520.
B1	Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered (e.g., work, school, leisure). Can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on familiar topics of personal interest. Can describe experiences, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
A2+	Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type provided text/speech is short, clear and/or slowly articulated. Can manage simple, routine exchanges without undue effort. Can ask and answer questions and exchange ideas and information on familiar topics in predictable everyday situations and about things in past. This level is insufficient for academic-level participation.
A2	Can understand short, simple texts containing familiar vocabulary. Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need. This level is insufficient for academic-level participation.
A1+	Can read slowly and understand very short, simple texts by recognizing familiar names, words, and basic phrases. Can ask and answer simple questions and respond to simple statements about familiar topics (e.g., family, student life) provided the other person talks slowly and clearly. Can write short, simple notes and messages. This level is insufficient for academic-level participation.
A1	Can recognize familiar written names, words and phrases and use them to understand very simple sentences if there is visual support. Can ask and answer simple personal questions with very basic words and memorized phrases (e.g., “What’s your name?” “How old are you?”) provided s/he can repeat, repair and get help. Can fill in forms with personal details (e.g., name, nationality and address on a hotel registration form). This level is insufficient for academic-level participation.

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TAN TAO UNIVERSITY

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Overall CEFR Descriptors

Descriptors for Overall English Proficiency & Academic Readiness CEFR