English as a Second Language
20 courses · Las Positas College · 2026-2027 Catalog
Classes: Summer 2026 · Fall 2026
ESL 23 Advanced Grammar
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 120B or NESL 220B, or placement through the ESL assessment process; ESL 121B or NESL 221B, or placement through the ESL assessment process
- Transfers to
- CSU
This is a one semester advanced grammar course for academic purposes. The course focuses on sentences, clauses, and phrases, verb tenses and forms, auxiliary verbs and modals, and grammar analysis primarily to enhance reading comprehension. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 23 and ESL 24 or 25.
ESL 24 Advanced Reading and Composition I
- Units
- 6
- Hours
- 108 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 121B or NESL 221B, or placement through the ESL assessment process
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This is the first semester of a one-year advanced reading and writing course for academic purposes. Emphasis is on critical reading techniques and writing expository essays as well as on grammar and vocabulary development.
ESL 25 Advanced Reading and Composition II
- Units
- 6
- Hours
- 108 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 24, or placement through the ESL assessment process
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This is the second semester of a one-year reading and writing course for academic purposes. Emphasis is on critical reading and techniques of exposition, analysis, and argumentation.
ESL 26 Advanced Editing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 120B or NESL 220B, or placement through the ESL assessment process; ESL 121B or NESL 221B, or placement through the ESL assessment process
- Transfers to
- CSU
This course is designed to increase students’ awareness of their own use of written language and give them practice in editing strategies which will enable them to use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully and appropriately in written expression. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 26 and ESL 24 or 25.
ESL 100 Beginning Spelling for English Language Learners
- Units
- 1
- Hours
- 18 hours lecture
This is a one semester beginning spelling class, designed to enable English language learners to recognize and use beginning sound/spelling patterns in English, develop an understanding of the sounds and symbols of English, including open/closed syllables, short and long vowel sounds, consonant and consonant cluster sounds, as well as the spelling of homophones and other problem words in everyday English. The course will also focus on basic dictionary skills to improve student autonomy.
ESL 110 Beginning Vocabulary Skills for English Language Learners
- Units
- 1
- Hours
- 18 hours lecture
This is a beginning level vocabulary skills class, designed to enable English language learners to improve language proficiency by learning new vocabulary and developing vocabulary-building skills. The class will focus on the 0-1000 most common words in English, dictionary skills, and beginning morphology including prefixes, suffixes and roots.
ESL 113 Speaking and Listening Fluency for Academic and Professional Purposes
- Units
- 2
- Hours
- 36 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 123 or NESL 223 or ESL 126 or NESL 226
This is an oral communication course that will enable students to develop advanced speaking and listening fluency for academic and professional purposes. ESL 113 will enable students to fluently use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully and appropriately, emphasizing academic and professional discourse. Students will practice listening and responding to academic lectures and presentations like TED Talks, including note-taking, summarizing, and other forms of critical analysis. Speaking practice will emphasize advanced rhetorical strategies through group discussions, debates, impromptu speeches and oral presentations and cultural norms in academic and professional contexts. It is the fifth and highest level of the ESL Speaking and Listening Fluency Pathway.
ESL 115 Intermediate Vocabulary Skills for English Language Learners
- Units
- 1
- Hours
- 18 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- NESL 231B or ESL 131B, Placement into intermediate ESL through the ESL assessment process.
This is an intermediate level vocabulary skills class, designed to enable English language learners to improve language proficiency by learning new vocabulary and developing vocabulary-building skills. The class will focus on the 1000-2000 most common words in English, dictionary skills, and intermediate morphology including prefixes, suffixes and roots.
ESL 120A Intermediate Grammar for Reading and Writing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- NESL 230B or ESL 130B, or placement through the ESL assessment process
This is the first semester of a one-year course in intermediate grammar for academic writing and reading designed to enable students to identify, comprehend, and use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully and appropriately in reading and writing. The course focuses on types of sentences, clauses, and phrases, word order, verb forms, verb tenses, and on the connection between vocabulary and grammar. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 120A and 121A, and 123 or 126.
ESL 120B High-Intermediate Grammar for Reading and Writing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- NESL 220A or ESL 120A, or placement through the ESL assessment process
This is the second semester of a one-year course in intermediate grammar for academic writing and reading designed to enable students to use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully and appropriately in written expression. The course focuses on types of sentences, clauses, phrases, word order, verb forms, verb tenses, and on the connection between vocabulary and grammar. This course also emphasizes analyzing grammar and meaning and detecting and correcting grammatical errors. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 120B and 121B, and 123 or 126.
ESL 121A Intermediate Reading and Writing
- Units
- 6
- Hours
- 108 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 131B or NESL 231B, or placement through the ESL assessment process
This is the first semester of a one-year course in intermediate academic writing and reading. Classes will focus on writing sentences, paragraphs and compositions, developing strategies for reading comprehension and flexibility, on interactive reading, and on academic vocabulary development. Students will develop cultural understanding, vocabulary, and fluency through a variety of academic writing and reading tasks. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 120A and 121A, and 123 or 126.
ESL 121B High-Intermediate Reading and Writing
- Units
- 6
- Hours
- 108 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 121A or NESL 221A, or placement through the ESL assessment process
This is the second semester of a one-year course in intermediate academic writing and reading. Classes will focus on writing sentences, paragraphs and compositions, developing strategies for reading comprehension and flexibility, on interactive reading, and academic vocabulary development. Students will develop cultural understanding and fluency through a variety of academic writing and reading tasks. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 120B and 121B, and 123 or 126.
ESL 123 Intermediate Oral Communication
- Units
- 2
- Hours
- 36 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 130B or ESL 131B or ESL 133, or placement through the ESL assessment process
This is an intermediate level oral communication course. This course will enable students to use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully and appropriately, emphasizing academic listening and speaking skills: listening and speaking in small groups, listening to short lectures on academic topics, learning academic vocabulary and expressions, making presentations on new topics.
ESL 126 Intermediate Pronunciation and Fluency
- Units
- 2
- Hours
- 36 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- ESL 130B or ESL 131B or ESL 136, or placement through the ESL assessment process
Focused practice on recognizing and producing individual speech sounds, stress patterns, rhythm and intonation patterns, and grammatical signals through activities such as oral presentations, role play, authentic dialogue, and reading presentations.
ESL 130A Beginning Grammar for Reading and Writing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 hours lecture
This is the first semester of a one-year course in beginning grammar for academic purposes designed to enable students to understand and use English accurately, meaningfully and appropriately. The course focuses on the connection between vocabulary and grammar, simple and compound sentences, phrases, verb forms, and verb tenses, especially simple present, simple past, and present progressive. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 130A and 131A, and 133 or 136.
ESL 130B High-Beginning Grammar for Reading and Writing
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- 54 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- NESL 230A or ESL 130A, or placement through the ESL assessment process
This is the second semester of a one-year course in beginning grammar for academic purposes designed to enable students to identify and use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully and appropriately in written expression. The course focuses on simple and compound sentences, word order, verb tenses: simple present, past, and future as well as present and past progressive, verb forms, modals, phrases, and vocabulary development. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 130B and 131B, and 133 or 136.
ESL 131A Beginning Reading and Writing
- Units
- 6
- Hours
- 108 hours lecture
This is the first semester of a one-year course in beginning academic writing and reading. Classes will focus on writing simple and compound sentences in short paragraphs, on developing strategies for increasing reading comprehension and flexibility, on interactive reading, and on developing academic vocabulary. Students will develop cultural understanding and fluency through a variety of writing and reading tasks. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 131A and 130A, and 133 or 136.
ESL 131B High-Beginning Reading and Writing
- Units
- 6
- Hours
- 108 hours lecture
- Prerequisite
- NESL 231A or ESL 131A, or placement through the ESL assessment process
This is the second semester of a one-year course in beginning academic writing and reading. Classes will focus on writing simple, compound, and complex sentences in structured paragraphs, on developing strategies for increasing reading comprehension and flexibility, on interactive reading, and on developing academic vocabulary. Students will develop cultural understanding and fluency through a variety of writing and reading tasks. Students are advised to enroll concurrently in ESL 131B and 130B, and ESL 133 or 136.
ESL 133 Beginning Oral Communication
- Units
- 2
- Hours
- 36 hours lecture
This is a beginning oral communication course. This course will enable students to use English accurately, meaningfully and appropriately, emphasizing conversational skills: listening and speaking in small groups, using new grammar structures orally, learning new words and expressions, comprehending and using idiomatic expressions.
ESL 136 Beginning Pronunciation and Fluency
- Units
- 2
- Hours
- 36 hours lecture
Focused practice on recognizing and producing individual speech sounds, stress patterns, rhythm and intonation patterns, and grammatical signals through activities such as oral presentations, role play, authentic dialogue, and presentations. Students will focus on developing listener friendly pronunciation. Course content includes individual as well as group work.