English for Communication (EC)
East Coast Language College is an official IELTS Test Centre.
Purpose: The purpose of the courses in English for Communication is to assist students in becoming effective communicators in English in a variety of real-life situations. Using an assortment of techniques such as community integration, team projects, formative assessments, interactive activities, self-assessments, peer evaluation, and teacher feedback, the students will learn practical language and vocabulary that will help them in any environment in which English is necessary, including—but not limited to—professional situations, educational settings, and international travel.
Description: The courses in EC focus on building students’ abilities in many different areas including accuracy, pronunciation, intonation, fluency, reciprocal conversation, negotiation, turn taking, presentation delivery, floor holding, and polite debate. Objectives depend on the class and level. The program also has subsidiary aims of building interpersonal skills, increasing cross-cultural awareness, and improving critical thinking skills. The students rely heavily on problem-solving and team-working skills in order to successfully meet the requirements of the program and each of its courses.
There are five courses within the EC program.
1. Communications Basics (CB): This course gives students a foundation in speaking, listening, and writing in English. The course is tailored to the needs of each student. The students in this course are at a beginner level in their English-language learning.
2. EC 100: This course builds on the foundation set by Communications Basics. These high-beginner students increase their confidence and fluency in this course, working towards drawing from more language structures and vocabulary than in CB. They can function in many social situations in an English-speaking context. The students expand on the language, themes, and skills that they learned in CB.
3. EC 200: This course encourages low-intermediate students to improve their lexical resource, fluency, accuracy, comfort level, and confidence when using English in realistic situations. They can function in most social situations in an English-speaking context. The students expand on the language, themes, and skills that they learned in EC 100.
4. Dynamic Speaking: This course enables intermediate and advanced students to become adept at spoken communication in a variety of contexts. Using different themes, the course gives the students practice in role plays, debates, presentations, discussions, interviews, and other activities in order to develop better pronunciation, intonation, accuracy, and fluency. Students will also improve in areas such as persuasion, relationship building, and negotiation.
5. Creative English: This course enables intermediate and advanced students to become adept at communicating and thinking in English. Through four themes—music, media, art, and food—that run for five weeks each, the students will improve their communication skills through unique, and creative discussions, activities, and field trips.