English for Speakers of Other Languages

For new and current credit students (Integrated Skills I, II, III, IV, V), contact:

• Hannah Moeckel-Rieke, Chair: hannelore.moeckelrieke@ctstate.edu
• Mary Ellen Milvid: maryellen.milvid@ctstate.edu
• Luke McCarthy: luke.mccarthy@ctstate.edu

For new and current non-credit students (10 to 76), contact:

• Dan Colon, Non-Credit Program Coordinator: daniel.colon@ctstate.edu   (Spanish speaking)

Welcome to the ESOL Division at CT State Norwalk!
Our mission is to enable non-native speakers to become full participants in their communities, and to achieve their educational, professional, and personal goals through our integrated reading/writing and elective English language courses. Our passionate and highly qualified professional faculty work to empower our students by providing them with a solid foundation in critical thinking as well as oral and written communication skills. Our multi-level credit and non-credit programs and personalized advising help students develop skills that improve their work and personal lives and open paths to career certificates, associate and advanced college degrees that allow them to achieve their long term goals and financial stability.

We offer a variety of ESOL courses to meet the academic, professional, and personal goals of our students, who come from over eighty countries. Courses are scheduled to meet students’ diverse needs, including morning, evenings, and Saturdays. The credit program focuses on writing so that students can succeed in college-level courses. The non-credit program offers courses in reading/writing, listening/speaking and grammar. There are numerous elective courses such as conversation, English for business, and TOEFL preparation. Many non-credit students eventually pass into credit ESOL and pursue academic coursework.

The first three credit-level writing courses (Integrated Skills I, II, and III) have integrated lab practice focusing on grammar and academic listening. All students are welcome to study in the lab, too. See the Language Lab’s schedule.

High-intermediate and advanced ESOL courses (Integrated Skills IV and V) may count as foreign language/humanities elective credits toward graduation with the following stipulations: Students may apply up to ten ESOL credits toward the degree in General Studies; all other degrees and programs will accept no more than six ESOL credits. This is only true for courses taken as credit, not courses taken as non-credit.

Students must demonstrate mastery of writing and reading skills before progressing to the next level. After successful completion of the ESOL sequence, students progress to Composition (ENG 1010). Language and computer labs as well as portfolio assessment may be required in four and six-credit courses.