Do you have a Target language Background?
Overview
ISALS language Program offers a sequence of nine language courses at the Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior levels. Each level is covered in two or three sessions (60 hours per session). Students develop speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills vital to successfully performing real-life communicative tasks at the Novice level. At the Intermediate level, students develop ease and confidence in dealing with routine tasks and narrating in major time frames, along with more specialized vocabularies that are appropriate to their interests and areas of professional competence. At the Advanced level, learners will be able to read articles and understand audio sources with a more specialized vocabulary. Also, students will be able to engage in more complex conversations about a number of topics of professional relevance to students who are working or interested in current events and issues in South Asia and around the world.
Curricular enrichments include uses of authentic audio, video, and internet-based materials, along with texts such as news headlines and articles, advertisements, folktales, and classic short stories. Participation in intellectual and cultural events in the area’s vibrant and growing South Asian diasporic community is strongly encouraged.
The Four Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, & Writing
Our language teaching philosophy prioritizes language acquisition in the same way humans naturally learn language as babies. First, we learn to distinguish the sounds we hear, then we begin to make those “sounds” ourselves and form words and sentences. When we reach this level, we can proceed to learn reading and finally, writing.
Your success is our priority! We strive to create a fun, supportive learning environment where you can flourish with confidence. Your instructors care about you and value open communication and feedback.
When you enroll in our program, we will discuss your goals and interests, and you will take an assessment to determine your level in each of the four skills. Based on the results, your instructor will custom design your language course to move you toward your goals which may include professional language proficiency exams or university degree requirements.
Are you a heritage speaker?
Heritage speakers learn to speak a language from their family while living in a society where the dominant language is different. For example, you are a heritage speaker if you grew up in the U.S. with your parents speaking Urdu/Hindi/etc. at home but were surrounded by American pop culture and attended school and interacted with individuals who primarily spoke English. Your limited exposure to your heritage language may make you feel fluent in some situations and completely overwhelmed in others, and you have likely not had formal training in reading and writing.
If this sounds like something you can relate to, you are probably a heritage speaker! Your heritage language is stored and accessed in your brain in a different manner than if you learned the language as an adult. Our instructors are experienced in teaching students in your position and can tailor the program to support your language learning journey where you need it. Typically, heritage speakers advance quickly in our programs because they already possess two of the four skills that we focus on, listening and speaking, and can spend more time focusing on reading and writing.
A Language Placement Test is required if you…
Have studied the target language previously
Are a heritage student
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Language Level Descriptions
Novice Low
Novice Low course is the first in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. In this course, students will begin to develop their listening, speaking,reading, and writing
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skills in a target language. Students entering this course are expected to be beginners with no previous target language background. By the end of this class, students will be able to ask and answer questions on familiar topics with native speakers accustomed to foreigners and extract main ideas from very basic written materials. Students are expected to achieve the Novice High-level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 0+ on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Novice High
Novice High course is the second in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. In this course, students will further develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing
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skills in a target language. By the end of this class, students will be able to more comfortably ask and answer questions on familiar topics with native speakers accustomed to foreigners and extract main ideas from basic written materials. Class activities will revolve around task-based objectives that are necessary for survival on the ground in a target lanaguage-speaking regions in South Asia. Students entering this course are expected to be at the Novice High level. By the end of the course, Learners are expected to achieve the Intermediate Low-level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 1 on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Intermediate Low
This is the third in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. Students entering this course are expected to be at the Intermediate Low level, having completed the Novice High
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course or having placed in the level on the proficiency exam. Course activities are organized into topical themes based on student professional interests. By the end of this course, you will be able to engage in conversations on a wider variety of topics and extract important ideas with greater accuracy from simple aural and written media reports and other texts. Students are expected to achieve the Intermediate-Mid-level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 1 on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Intermediate Mid
The Intermediate-Mid course is the fourth in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. By the end of the course, learners will be able to engage in more complex
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conversations, have the ideas students express to be understood even by native speakers who are unaccustomed to foreigners, and read and understand important points in more complex texts. The use of authentic materials taken from various sources (e.g., periodicals, video, and radio documentaries) is emphasized. The selection of the materials is based on the complexity of the tasks and the student’s professional and personal interests. By the end of the course, you are expected to achieve the Intermediate High-level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 1+ on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Intermediate High
The Intermediate-High course is the fifth in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. By the end of the course, the learners will beable to handle various communicative
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tasks and participate in more formal and informal conversations on school, home, and work-related topics. Also, they will be able to engage in more current events, human rights, and education-related topics and understand important points in more complex texts. The use of authentic materials taken from various sources (e.g., periodicals, video, and radio documentaries) is emphasized. The selection of the materials is based on the complexity of the tasks and the student’s professional and personal interests.
By the end of the course, the learners are expected to achieve the Advanced Low-level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 2 on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Advanced Low
The Advanced Low course is the sixth in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. By the end of the course, the students will be ableto handle many communicative tasks
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with confidence. They will be able to participate actively in most formal and informal conversations on various concrete topics related to work, home, and other individual and personal interests. The students can handle and engage in more topics related to current events, the economy, unemployment, and politics in the South Asia region and around the world.
They can understand important points and main ideas, facts, and many supporting details from texts that are structurally and/or conceptually more complex. The use of authentic materials taken from various sources (e.g., periodicals, video, and radio documentaries) is emphasized. The selection of the materials is based on the complexity of the tasks and the student’s professional and personal interests. By the end of the course, the learners are expected to achieve the Advanced Mid-level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 2 on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Advanced Mid
The Advanced Mid course is the seventh in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. By the end of the course, the students will be able to handle all advanced-level
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communicative tasks with confidence and competency. They will be able to participate actively in most formal and informal conversations on various concrete topics related to work, home, and other individual and personal interests. They can explain in detail and narrate fully and accurately in time frames. They can provide a structured argument to support their opinions, but they are expected to make some patterns of error. The students can discuss some topics abstractly, especially those related to their personal and professional fields of expertise. Overall, the learners will be able more comfortable discussing a variety of topics concretely.
They are able to follow some of the essential points of argumentative texts in areas of special interest or knowledge. In addition, they are able to understand parts of texts that deal with unfamiliar topics or situations. The use of authentic materials taken from various sources (e.g., periodicals, video, and radio documentaries) is emphasized. The selection of the materials is based on the complexity of the tasks and the student’s professional and personal interests. By the end of the course, the learners are expected to achieve the Advanced High-level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 2+ on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Advanced High
The Advanced High course is the eighth in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. By the end of the course, the students will be able to perform all communicative
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tasks with confidence, accuracy, and fluency. They will be able to participate fully and effectively in formal and informal conversations on various concrete and abstract topics. They can discuss their interests and particular fields of competence and explain all complex matters in detail with ease and confidence. They can express their opinions on a number of issues of interest to them, such as politics, environment, development, and human rights around the world.
They can provide a structured argument to support their opinions with no pattern of error in using basic structures. The students will be able to understand texts from many genres that deal with a wide range of subjects, both familiar and unfamiliar. They will be able to understand lengthy texts of a professional, academic, or literary nature. The use of authentic materials taken from various sources (e.g., periodicals, video, and radio documentaries) is emphasized. The selection of the materials is based on the complexity of the tasks and the student’s professional and personal interests. By the end of the course, the learners are expected to achieve the Superior level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 3 on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.
Superior
The Superior course is the ninth in a nine-course sequence at ISALS. By the end of the course, the students will be able to perform all kinds of communicative tasks
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skillfully and effectively with ease, confidence, fluency, and accuracy in both formal and informal ways. The students can reflect on a wide range of global issues and highly abstract concepts in a culturally appropriate manner. The students will be able to understand texts from many genres that deal with a wide range of subjects, whether they are familiar to them or not. The students will be able to comprehend understood and inferred information, tone, and point of view and can follow highly persuasive arguments.
They will be able to understand unpredictable turns of thought related to sophisticated topics. The use of authentic materials taken from various sources (e.g., periodicals, video, and radio documentaries) is emphasized. The selection of the materials is based on the complexity of the tasks and the student’s professional and personal interests. By the end of the course, the learners are expected to achieve the Distinguished level on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) or 3+ and above on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale.