English as a Second Language

The mission of the ESL Division at Norwalk Community College 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.

NCC offers a variety of ESL classes to meet the academic, professional, and personal goals of our students, who come from over eighty countries. Classes 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 classes in reading/writing, listening/speaking and grammar. There are numerous elective courses such as business, computers, TOEFL preparation, and conversation. Many non-credit students eventually pass into credit ESL and pursue academic coursework.

The Language Lab in East 208 promotes language learning inside and outside the classroom. Credit ESL 022, 132, and 142 courses have required labs each week that focus on academic listening, note-taking, grammar, and vocabulary. We encourage all students to practice when they have time – check the lab schedule for our Open Hours. The Lab has a variety of software, books, and films for students and instructors.

High-intermediate and advanced ESL courses (ESL 142, 152 and 192) can be counted as foreign language/humanities electives toward graduation with the following stipulations: Students may apply up to 10 ESL credits toward the degree in General Studies; all other degrees and programs will accept no more than 6 ESL 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 ESL sequence, students progress to Composition (ENG 101). Language and computer labs as well as portfolio assessment may be required in four and six-credit courses.

For more information on the ESL credit program, call 203.857.7093. For more information on the non-credit ESL program, call 203.857.6881.