West Valley College
14000 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga, CA 95070 • Phone (408) 867-2200

The WVC ESL Department

General Information

students speaking West Valley College offers 17 different ESL courses, ranging from beginning level (960) to advanced (65). Our six-level program begins with a basic 4-skills course.  For the other five levels, there are three courses at each level: grammar/ writing (GW), listening/ speaking (LS), and reading/ vocabulary (RV).

 

NEW WORLD LANGUAGES CENTER

The ESL and World Languages Departments are proud to announce the installation of a new multimedia Language Lab, called the World Languages Center, located in the Language Arts Building, Room LA27. Come meet Irene Morrison, the Lab Supervisor, and view the new computers and workstations. students in language labBetter yet, register for a listening/speaking course and use the new Lab every week!The ESL program is supplemented by the new language lab, an independent study Skills Lab (975), the Writing Center Lab, and a specialized course for advanced students in pronunciation (68).

 




ESL Program Courses

[To view a course description, click on the desired course number or name.]
**West Valley does not offer every class every semester.
Please check the Schedule of Classes (see below) for current offerings.**

960
Foundations in ESL

 

961LS
Basic Listening & Speaking 1

962LS
Basic Listening & Speaking 2

963LS
Oral Communication 1

964LS
Oral Communication 2

65LS
Academic Listening & Speaking

961GW
Basic Grammar & Writing 1

962GW
Basic Grammar & Writing 2

963GW
Sentence Development

964GW
Paragraph Development

65GW
Composition in ESL

961RV
Basic Reading & Vocabulary 1

962RV
Basic Reading & Vocabulary 2

963RV
Intermediate Reading & Vocabulary 1

964RV
Intermediate Reading & Vocabulary 2

65RV
Academic Reading & Vocabulary


Supplemental ESL Courses

68
Pronunciation Skills

975
ESL Skills Lab


General Procedures

All ESL students should take the placement test to determine which level is appropriate for them. They then check their placement results online or with the Assessment Office. Students can then simply register for classes at that level that fit their schedule and their needs. We recommend that students take all three components, for example 961 Grammar/Writing, 961 Listening/Speaking, and 961 Reading/ Vocabulary. All ESL classes may be repeated three times.


ESL Orientation and Placement Test
Registration and schedule information


Next, students should plan to attend the first day of class. The instructors will provide a greensheet (syllabus) in the first week. It will then become clear what the class expectations and content are.


Students can buy their textbooks at the Bookstore before or after the first day of class, but it is recommended that all receipts be kept in case the books need to be returned. For textbook information, call the Bookstore at (408) 741-2015.


For important dates, check the school calendar.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the ESL Department Chair, Ann Marie Wasserbauer (408) 741-2486 in Office LA 3e.

 

last published: 12/3/12 • validate xhtml css 508