Articulation Guide for English as a Second Language Programs in the British Columbia Post-Secondary Transfer System Seventh Edition 2007/2008 Prepared for the Province of British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education Produced by the Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Advanced Education Copyright © August 2007 Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Advanced Education Permission is granted to photocopy. For further information on English Language Training Programs, contact: Education Officer, Developmental Programs Learning Programs Branch Ministry of Advanced Education PO Box 9882 Stn Prov Govt Victoria BC V8W 9T6 Telephone: (250) 356-7738 Fax: (250) 387-0878 For more information on the work of articulation committees see: http://www.bccat.bc.ca/articulation/index.cfm i Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................iii HISTORY OF ESL ARTICULATION ......................................................................................................... 4 ESL ARTICULATION PROCESS AND COMMITTEES ...................................................................... 6 STRATEGIES FOR USING THE GUIDE .................................................................................................. 9 ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES ................................................................................................ 10 Equivalency Guide: University Transfer Level ................................................................................ 11 English for Academic Purposes Level IV ......................................................................................... 12 English for Academic Purposes Level III ........................................................................................ 16 English for Academic Purposes Level II .......................................................................................... 20 English for Academic Purposes Level I ........................................................................................... 23 Miscellaneous Adjunct and Elective Courses and Integrated Programs ........................................ 26 Course Outcomes for Subskills – Level IV ....................................................................................... 30 Course Outcomes for Subskills – Level III ...................................................................................... 32 Course Outcomes for Subskills – Level II ........................................................................................ 35 Course Outcomes for Subskills – Level I ......................................................................................... 37 Sample Textbooks/Materials Used ................................................................................................... 40 ENGLISH FOR ACCESS ............................................................................................................................... 44 English for Access Equivalency Guide: Levels 8 –1 ........................................................................ 46 English for Access Level 8 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 50 English for Access Level 7 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 52 English for Access Level 6 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 54 English for Access Level 5 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 56 English for Access Level 4 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 58 English for Access Level 3 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 60 English for Access Level 2 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 62 English for Access Level 1 Descriptors ........................................................................................... 64 English for Access Adaptive Skills ................................................................................................... 66 Sample Textbooks/Materials Used ................................................................................................... 67 ENGLISH FOR WORK .................................................................................................................................. 72 English for Work Course/Program Descriptors .............................................................................. 74 Employability Skills 2000+ .............................................................................................................. 75 English for Work Courses/Programs Listed by Type ...................................................................... 77 English for Work Courses/Programs Listed by Content Area ......................................................... 81 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................... 83 Process for Adding or Making Substantive Changes to a Course or Program in this Guide ......... 84 English for Academic Purposes Course Description Form ............................................................. 86 English for Access Course Description Form ................................................................................. 89 English for Work Course/Program Description Form .................................................................... 92 Provincial ESL Articulation Steering Committee ............................................................................ 93 English for Academic Purposes Working Committee ...................................................................... 97 English for Access Working Committee ......................................................................................... 101 English for Work Working Committee ........................................................................................... 104 ii Introduction Message from the Co-Chairs This edition of the ESL Articulation Guide is the result of another year’s work and a lively two days of meetings of the Adult ESL Articulation Committee. Both public and private member institutions of the BC Transfer System were well represented at the meetings, and the members again demonstrated their passion for integrity and professionalism in the treatment of the adult English learners of BC. We especially appreciate the atmosphere of mutual respect in the discussions of the steering committee and working groups; without it, provincial articulation cannot work. Along with course name changes and additions, this edition notes the re-alignments of the Canadian Language Benchmark levels with the English for Academic Purposes outcomes. This realignment of the outcomes is the result of the completion of a project supported by the BC Council on Admissions and Transfer, and completed in December 2006 by Elizabeth Templeman, Ross Barbour, Elizabeth West and Catherine Ostler. We thank our fellow members of the committee for their hard work on this successful project, the results of which are documented at http://www.bccat.bc.ca/pubs/ESL.pdf. Catherine Ostler, Capilano College Elizabeth West, Camosun College ESL Steering Committee Co-Chairs iii HISTORY OF ESL ARTICULATION In 1998, the ESL Articulation Committees of the British Columbia post-secondary system published their groundbreaking first edition of the Articulation Guide, where institutions identified for articulation a number, if not all, of their ESL course offerings. This work made it possible for the first time to use a single system-wide document to facilitate student transfer among adult ESL programs in the BC post-secondary system. Two years earlier, across the country in Ottawa, the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks had published its original set of language benchmarks, the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB). The view at the time was that, after some exposure, the original CLB would need some (possibly extensive) revisions. However, the work continued to hold up well and there was no pressing need for a revised set of Benchmarks. But the promise to revise had been made and improvements were suggested, and a revision process was begun in early 1999. In September 2000 the new edition was released, Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000. The culmination of this nation-wide initiative meant that adult ESL students would now be able to transfer more easily and accurately among ESL programs from province to province, as well as within provinces, without repeating costly and time-consuming placement tests. ESL Articulation Committees in BC were aware of the work being done on the national stage, and early in 2000 the time was right for BC to formally align itself with this latest version of the national ESL standard. For post-secondary institutions in BC, such a correlation would improve the facility of transfer for Canadian adult ESL students not only within, but also outside the province. We needed to tailor as close a fit as possible between our own Guide and the new Benchmarks 2000. At the same time, the original Guide needed to be updated to reflect additions and changes that had taken place since the publication of the 1998 edition. Process, Challenges and Choices In February 2000 the provincial government announced that it would provide the necessary financial resources for the provincial Articulation Committee to carry out a revision of the Guide that would include the correlation of that document with the CLB. The work began at a special meeting held at Vancouver Community College (VCC) during the BC TEAL 2000 conference. Faculty volunteers agreed to meet and begin matching the BC EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and Access Levels to the new CLB document. By 2001, this work was complete and the CLB Correlations were added to the 2001 Articulation Guide. However, as a result of more extensive work done with the CLBs in 2004-2005, it became apparent that the alignment was not, in many cases, accurate. Greater familiarity with the CLB revealed the task of alignment to be more complex than initially recognized. The correlations were withdrawn from the 2006-2007 edition of the Articulation Guide, in order to review them and make changes as required. At the November 2005 Articulation meeting, a subcommittee was tasked with re-aligning the ESL Articulation levels with the CLB. The BC Council of Admissions and Transfer supported this project, and the work for EAP realignments was completed between May 4 and December of 2006. This edition of the guide includes these re-alignments. It was not possible to re-align the Access course outcomes with the CLB, but the Access Working Group has expressed interest in attempting this task. (Details of the process and results of the CLB realignment project are described fully in the final report, “An Alignment of the Canadian Language Benchmarks to the BC ESL Articulation Levels,” http://www.bccat.bc.ca/pubs/ESL.pdf .) The next major project for the ESL Articulation Committee is the benchmarking of first year English, using the Canadian Language Benchmarks. The goal of the project is to research the minimum language competencies required for entry into first year English. This project is also supported by BCCAT, and should be complete by July 2008. Key Issues Still to be Addressed In recent articulation meetings, there have been recurring discussions about the desirability of articulating the placement tests used across the BC system. There has also been discussion around including in the Guide the English language entrance requirements for non-native speakers of English for entry into non-ESL programs at various post-secondary institutions. Another issue is whether ESL courses may be accepted for credit in university programs, as they are in some institutions across Canada. Given these discussions, it seems certain that future editions of the Guide will continue to adapt to best meet the needs of the ESL learners, instructors, and institutions of the BC post-secondary system. Acknowledgements To the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks In the second edition of this Articulation Guide (2001) some of the phrasing of the level descriptors (especially in the English for Access section) was adapted to conform to the phrasing used in the Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000 document. The British Columbia Adult ESL Articulation Committee wishes to acknowledge that some of our phrasing is identical to that in the Benchmarks, and explain that this was done specifically to facilitate ease of determining transferability of courses among a wide variety of Canadian educational institutions, and in recognition of the Canadian Language Benchmarks as a national standard. To the Conference Board of Canada We also wish once again to acknowledge the inclusion of the document Employability Skills 2000+, developed by the Corporate Council on Education, Conference Board of Canada. The document may be found on the Web in an Acrobat file through: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/education/learning-tools/employability-skills.htm 5 ESL Articulation Process and Committees Purpose The purpose of the provincial ESL articulation process is to maintain high standards of quality in ESL programming at the public post-secondary institutions of British Columbia, as well as to facilitate access to programs at other public institutions for students wishing to transfer. Goals The goals of the provincial articulation process are:  To provide a mechanism for the exchange of information and to enhance cooperation and coordination among those providing adult ESL instruction at British Columbia’s public post-secondary institutions.  To aid in the process of transferring ESL students between post-secondary institutions in BC.  To promote ESL course equivalency among post-secondary institutions offerings where appropriate.  To facilitate inter-provincial transfer among Canadian ESL programs, using the Canadian Language Benchmarks. ESL Articulation Committees Steering Committee  Membership o All publicly funded colleges, university colleges, institutes and universities in British Columbia, plus those privately funded institutes currently admitted into the BC Transfer System --who are engaged in the delivery of ESL-- are entitled to representation on the Articulation Steering Committee. o This representation normally consists of one faculty member familiar with programs at each college, university college, university or institute. Institutions with multiple courses and/or programs may have more than one representative, if the Steering Committee so approves.  Role o The members are expected to act as conduits for information between their institutions and the committee. They are advocates at the committee for changes proposed by their institutions, and, conversely, advocates at their institutions for changes proposed by the committee. 6 Chair The committee chair (or co-chairs) will be elected by the membership of the Steering Committee for a two-year term. An institution whose representative is chosen as chair may send a replacement Steering Committee member since the chair is normally a non- voting member.  Role: The chair is responsible for: o Gathering agenda items from members and preparing the agenda for the Steering Committee meetings. o Ensuring that the host institution has made all room bookings and meeting arrangements. o Conducting the meetings. o Keeping up-to-date on the progress of the working committees. o Representing the Articulation Committee as appropriate. Secretary The secretary is elected from the membership for a two-year term. The secretary remains a voting member.  Role: The secretary is responsible for recording and distributing the minutes of the Steering Committee meetings. Working Committees  Membership o Members of the Steering Committee are simultaneously members of one or more Working Committees. The Steering Committee chair is a non- voting observer at all of the Working Committees. o Institutions are also encouraged to send additional representatives to the Working Committees that their Steering Committee member does not sit on. Such representatives will participate as voting members of the Working Committees.  Role: The role of the Working Committees is central to the articulation process. These committees do the actual work of articulating courses as follows: o Revising generic course descriptions for each level as needed o Articulating their courses by referring to the course descriptors, textbooks, and other resources used, as well as to learning outcomes, as described in this Guide and in Canadian Language Benchmarks. o Producing transfer guides. 7 Working Committee Chair The chair of each Working Committee is elected by the members of that committee for a two-year term.  Role: The chair is responsible for setting the agenda for the meetings of the Working Committees, chairing the meetings, ensuring that notes from the meetings are recorded and distributed as needed, and that changes to course descriptors or to the guide are made, liaising with the chair of the Steering Committee and reporting back developments to the Steering Committee. List of Working Committees  English for Academic Purposes  English for Access  English for Work Current membership lists for each of these committees are in the Appendices. Detailed information on the crucially important role articulation committees play in the British Columbia transfer system can be found on the website of the BC Council on Admissions and Transfer at http://www.bccat.bc.ca/articulation/companion/index.cfm 8 Strategies for Using the Guide  Be aware that there is some overlap in the skill levels between the higher Access levels and the lower EAP levels. If the course you are seeking does not appear on the EAP grid, check the Access grid, and vice versa.  With some learner assessments there may be doubt about correct placement due to more than Articulation Level being involved. In these cases, it may be helpful to glance through the list of sample texts and materials for the relevant EAP or Access levels or both. Some skill levels may suggest a possibility of placement on both grids (i.e., higher Access levels overlap in skill sets with lower EAP levels; it is the purpose of the courses at these levels that determines which grid they are placed on).  According to the individual’s relative skill levels, it may be appropriate to assign a transferring learner to courses at two different skill levels, if your institution provides these (for example, the oral-aural skills may be more or less advanced than the reading and writing skills).  Keep in mind that not all courses fit precisely onto the complete set of course outcomes for a particular level. As a guideline, a course may be considered to “fit” at a level if its outcomes are 70-80% similar to those on the grid.  Many of the courses within the system that have not been articulated for credit appear under the heading “Miscellaneous Adjunct and Elective Courses and Integrated Programs.” This list is by no means comprehensive, but only representative of the changing array of not-for-credit courses offered by the various institutions in the system, based on changing student needs. Students cannot use such courses for transfer credit.  To articulate new courses, use the forms listed in “Process for Adding or Making Substantive Changes to a Course/Program in this Guide.” Refer to the appendices if you are uncertain about the identity of your institution’s current Articulation Committee member(s). 9