English Language Institute, University of Delaware
Founded in 1979, the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Delaware is a leader in the field of English as a Second Language and ranks among the top ESL programs in the United States. The ELI offers a variety of high quality intensive English programs for students, business leaders and professionals, language teachers, and general English language learners.
The institute is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA) and agrees to uphold the CEA standards for English Language Programs. In addition, the ELI is a member of the Consortium of University and College Intensive English Programs (UCIEP) and the American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP), organizations that promote professional standards of quality in English programs.
Currently, there are approximately 50 full- and part-time classroom instructors at the ELI. All instructors are members of the University’s faculty. They are native speakers or have native-like proficiency, hold master’s degrees in English as a Second Language or Applied Linguistics, and have extensive training and experience in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).
The student population numbers 600 – 650. While most geographic regions are represented, the majority of our students now come from China and the Middle East, principally Saudi Arabia. Roughly half of the students are enrolled in the Conditional Admissions Program, which offers an alternate route to university matriculation without a TOEFL test score. The “conditions” are that students must be academically qualified for the university, and they must complete the ELI’s highest level of study with a minimum “B” grade.
About this Project
The ELI is putting the final touches on a new language laboratory that features state-of-the-art hardware. One of the lab’s primary purposes is to give struggling students extra listening and speaking practice outside of normal classes to help them achieve their longer-term goals. This project will focus on the pedagogical considerations in support of this mission, including learning objectives, and examine several Web 2.0 software tools for implementation. One lab “course” will run from 7-8 weeks, or one academic session at the ELI.
The primary medium for delivering course content will be a robust Moodle course management system, ideally from Moodle Rooms. I have chosen Moodle because it offers one-stop shopping — all tools conveniently under one roof — with only one username and password for students to remember.
On the next four pages of this site, I will suggest four learning objectives for a listening lab “course” and and associate one or more activities and assessment tools with each objective. Pedagogically, the activities increase in complexity in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy.