The mission of the ESL Program is to equip students whose first language is not English with the skills and resources they need to achieve academic success, including progressing toward and reaching graduation at GGC, and to provide them with an integrated educational experience that develops the whole student, academically, socially and personally. The ESL program offers courses at the high-intermediate and advanced levels in reading and composition, applied grammar and academic listening and speaking.

 

ESL Classes

 

	Integrated Skills   (Reading and Composition)	Applied Grammar	Academic Listening & Speaking
ESL for Student Success I (High-intermediate level)	ESL 0080: Integrated Skills I 4 credit hours	ESL 0081: Applied Grammar I 3 credit hours	ESL 0082: Listening & Speaking I 3 credit hours
ESL for Student Success II (Advanced Level)	ESL 0090: Integrated Skills II 6 credit hours	ESL 0091: Applied Grammar II 3 credit hours	ESL 0092: Listening & Speaking II 3 credit hours

 

Placement into ESL Classes

 

All entering non-native speakers of English without transferable college level English credit and scores below SAT 480 or ACT 21 will be required to take the COMPASS/ESL placement test to determine at what level of ESL/English they will be placed. Depending on their placement score, students may be required to take one or both levels of ESL before becoming eligible for English 1101 and other college level courses.

 

Students should visit Testing Services or call 678.407.5240 to schedule a test. The COMPASS/ESL placement test consists of a listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and grammar exam.  In addition, there is a required writing sample.  Students must complete all four parts of the exam to register for classes.  It usually takes about a week to get the full results back.  Therefore, students are encouraged to take the COMPASS/ESL placement test as early as possible before the term begins.

 

Exiting ESL

 

To exit the ESL program, students in ESL for Student Success II (90-level) courses must pass all courses with a C or better and score a 3 on the Exit Writing Exam taken at the end of the semester.

 

Students in ESL for Student Success I (80-level) courses may also take the Exit Writing Exam if they have an A average in all ESL courses and are recommended by all of their ESL instructors. These students also need to score a 3 on the exam in order to exit the ESL program.