Academic Year Courses

English Courses for International Students

The Center for ESL offers sequential courses on the undergraduate and graduate levels in both reading/writing and speaking/listening, as well as other stand-alone courses.

The courses are subject to availability, as not all courses are offered every semester.

Please visit One Stop to see the specific courses offered in the given semester and to register online. Please note that some courses have prerequisites, and you will not be able to register for those courses until the prerequisites have been met.

  • Reading and Writing Courses
  • Speaking and Listening Courses
  • Other courses

Reading and Writing Courses- Undergraduate Level Courses

Reading and writing courses emphasize the reading-writing connection and are designed to gradually prepare students for college academic writing, from basic writing genres such as summary, narration, and description, to advanced genres including rhetorical analysis, synthesis, and research report.

This course is designed familiarize international students with the basic genres of academic writing at the university level. At the end of the course, students will be able to apply vocabulary and grammatical structures to summarizing, describing, making comparison and contrast, and expressing opinions. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score.

This course is designed to support international students to become competent in academic reading and writing in the style commonly accepted in American universities. At the end of the course, students will be able to summarize various texts, identify and respond to problems, analyze texts, and make strong arguments. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score.

This course is designed to develop international students’ skills in critical reading and thinking strategies, textual analysis, and rhetorical awareness during the composing process. At the end of the course, students will be able to summarize, analyze, and synthesize texts and problems. This course is equivalent to 15ENGL1000. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score.

This course is designed to strengthen international students’ competency in critical reading, writing, and textual analysis with particular focus on argument and research-based writing. At the end of the course, students will be able to employ a variety of modes of discourse to effectively summarize, critically analyze, and selectively implement texts to support their argument-making and research-presenting. This course is the equivalent of 15ENGL1001. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score. 

This course is designed for international students to integrate critical reading and writing, rhetorical understanding of language, and advanced research and argument skills in designing, conducting, and composing research projects. At the end of the course, students will develop a better understanding of data-based research writing process through first-hand experience. This course is specifically for non-native writers of English and is equivalent to 15 ENGL2089.

Graduate Level Courses

This course is designed to familiarize international students with the basic genres of academic writing across the disciplines. At the end of the course, students will be able to apply vocabulary and grammatical structures to summarizing, describing, making comparison and contrast, and expressing opinions. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score.

This course is designed to familiarize international students with writing genres commonly required at the graduate level.  Skills in critical reading and thinking strategies, rhetorical awareness, and textual analysis will be emphasized. At the end of the course, students will be able to employing a variety of modes of discourse to analyze, summarize, and synthesize texts and respond to problems. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score.

This course is designed to assist international graduate students to recognize, analyze, and utilize academic criticism practices in discipline-specific research articles. Focusing on the pragmatics of conducting, evaluating, and reporting research projects, this course will support students in their research writing process.

Oral Communication Courses

Oral communication courses prepare students to deliver effective presentations in both academic and professional settings while familiarizing them with content knowledge in various topics. Students will develop oral proficiency as well as presentation skills through practices from basic skills as note-taking to advanced skills as discourse analysis and application.

This course is designed to assist non-native English speaking students to develop their conversational English fluency. It focuses primarily on perfecting the vocabulary and fluency necessary to execute speech acts that are basic to everyday conversation and also touches on intonation, emphasis, and reductions. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS or Oral English Proficiency Test (OEPT) score.

The goals of this course are to increase oral fluency and to improve listening comprehension in both academic and everyday conversation. Students will work on improving their recognition and use of idiomatic English while participating in class discussions, as well as to express opinions, debate, and negotiate conversation. Content information will be provided through lecture, readings, discussion, role-play, interviews and observations for the purpose of learning oral communication skills that include both speaking and listening. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or CESL Placement Test score.

This course is designed to assist students to achieve intermediate academic communication skills. Students will broaden their academic vocabulary through the exploration of collocations and idioms. Students will enhance critical thinking skills through negotiation, expression of opinions and speech persuasion. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Oral English Proficiency Test (OEPT) score.
This course is designed to strengthen students’ academic presentation skills necessary for presenting in academic seminars or professional meetings. Students will learn techniques for audience analysis, selection and organization of materials, developing and supporting arguments, dealing with questions, and effective oral delivery. Several videotaped oral presentations are required. 
Improving Pronunciation is a classroom-based course that focuses on comprehensible articulation of vowels and consonants as well as the rhythm, stress and intonation of North American English speech. This course should be taken by students who are already fluent in English, but who want to improve their pronunciation skills for more effective communication through practice activities that include speech/sound analysis, dialogue generation, role-play, and simulation and ethnographic assignments.

Other Courses

This course is designed to familiarize international students with the basic genres of academic writing across the disciplines. At the end of the course, students will be able to apply vocabulary and grammatical structures to summarizing, describing, making comparison and contrast, and expressing opinions. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score.
This course is aimed at preparing first year international undergraduate students for a successful transition into an American University.  This course introduces essential aspects of the U.S. college culture.  It helps international students to adjust their expectations and to increase understanding of the key elements of the U.S. college culture through awareness raising activities and communicative practice.  At the end of the course, students will acquire important skills that lay the foundation to become successful in an American university.
This course is designed to assist international students to recognize, analyze, and utilize academic criticism practices in discipline-specific research articles. Focusing on the pragmatics of conducting, evaluating, and reporting research projects, this course will support students in their research writing process. 

This course is aimed at raising and developing ESL students’ pragmatic awareness and competence in academic contexts through awareness raising activities and communicative practice. The course will integrate interactive learning techniques such as discussions and role-plays; activities using video and audio recordings; written texts; authentic and relevant web-based materials; and practical assignments.

This course is designed to familiarize international students with writing genres commonly required at the graduate level.  Skills in critical reading and thinking strategies, rhetorical awareness, and textual analysis will be emphasized. At the end of the course, students will be able to employing a variety of modes of discourse to analyze, summarize, and synthesize texts and respond to problems. Placement into the course will be determined by TOEFL, IELTS, or Writing Placement Test score.

This course is designed for visiting scholars who need to further develop English proficiency in order to better participate in various academic activities during their visit at the University of Cincinnati. This course will focus on communication styles and cultural aspects in both academic and professional settings.  Four components under discussion include improving pronunciation, communication skills, cultural awareness, and presentation techniques.

 

This course is designed to (1) prepare international students for the kinds and purposes of professional writing they will do in professional careers in technology, science, and engineering; (2) strengthen students’ academic presentation skills necessary for presenting in academic seminars or professional meetings. Students will learn to develop strategies and techniques to analyze audience, select and organize materials, develop and support arguments, respond to questions and comments, and effectively present information in both written and oral formats.