PEOI wants to develop language training courses in several languages, English is one of the major languages and its development is perceived as a priority. The goal of the language training program is to help individuals gain employment as a professional in English speaking firms. The language training program complements the professional courses PEOI also offers. Language training courses are to be offered free of charge.
The proposed curriculum will include five courses of increasing
difficulty
- essentials level: to acquire verbal skills to deal with bare
necessities of daily life;
- introductory level: to interact in verbal and written form with
short text and fundamental grammar;
- intermediate level: to become functional in a work or studies
environment with skills to write a letter;
- professional level: to be fully operational in any business
environment with ability to write full length reports;
- proficiency level: to be immersed in culture (formal and informal)
of the country and make full use of language.
Completion of each level is verified with a set of PEOI tests.
(The language training may allow a student to prepare for some
of the popular language proficiency tests such as TOFEL or SELT,
but is not specifically aimed at any such test.) In addition to
the text of each module of a course, a large data base of exercises
and questions needs to be written.
Darcy Christianson is the ESL project coordinator, and has prepared the following "Explanation of PEOI ESL Project".
The PEOI ESL project began in 2004 and has been developing since. The purpose of this project is to provide online interactive English as a Second Language courses to individual around the world who are learning or want to learn English as a Second Language. The objective of the courses is to be comprehensive in nature, in that each level and subsequent unit builds upon previous skills. Volunteers of the project include 1) Course Writers, 2) Voice Recorders 3) Illustrators 4) Editors/Consultants. Following is a break down of each role:
Course Writers:
Course writers develop activities and lessons for each unit. They
are provided with a structure of what is to be included in the
unit and then create subsequent activities and lesson.
Voice Recorders:
Voice Recorders develop recordings for any listening aspects of
the units. All vocabulary words and phrases and various dialogues
have recordings. Thus, the student can both read and listen to
the English language.
Illustrators:
Illustrators develop images for the units. Images are included
in all vocabulary sections as well as for various activities throughout
the unit. Thus, the student can both read and see images to understand
a concept that is being introduced.
Editors/Consultants:
Editors and Consultants are individuals who have an extensive
background of the American English language and teaching English
as a Second Language. They develop the structure of the units,
include what vocabulary words, dialogues, grammar skills and review/testing
questions are to be included in each unit. They also oversee the
entire development of the unit. Thus, they review the works of
the course writers, recordings and illustrations to ensure that
the units are coherent, cohesive and comprehensive.
There are five PEOI ESL courses proposed: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5. Following is a further break down of these five levels.
Level 1
Level 1 is a basic introduction to the English language. There
are 15 units. Students learn basic rules of the English language
and are exposed to around 1500 words - approximately 100 words
per unit. The purpose of Level 1 is to introduce the student to
the English language and allowing them the opportunity to practice
and recognize common, useful phrases. It is ideal for the student
to have developed a core vocabulary of 500 words upon completion
of Level 1. Units are thematic (e.g. jobs, family, neighborhood)
and the content is simple (simple present, past, future tense,
simple sentences). For Level 1, there are eight sections to each
unit:
1) Vocabulary
2) Listening/Speaking
3) Grammar
4) Reading
5) Writing
6) Pronunciation
7) Review
8) Test
Following is a break down of each section:
Vocabulary
The vocabulary section includes nouns, verbs, and useful phrases
that are used throughout the unit. Only words/phrases used in
the vocabulary section are used throughout the unit. However,
any words/phrases used in a previous unit are also include. The
vocabulary section has follow up exercises allowing the student
to become familiar with the new words before moving on to another
section.
Listening/Speaking
The Listening/Speaking section includes set phrases and words
from vocabulary section, showing any grammar skills to be introduced.
Only simple sentences are used and repetition of previously learned
words/skills from earlier chapters are generously included. Students
click on each line to both read and hear the dialogues. As well,
pictures correspond to the dialogues for further explanation.
Listening/speaking sections have follow up exercises allowing
the student to become familiar with the phrases before moving
on to another section.
Grammar
The grammar section provides explanation for the useful phrases
and words introduced in the unit Though explanations are in English,
explanations are simple and provide examples from the listening/speaking
section. (Translation of explanations to learner’s language
has been proposed but is not available at this time.) . Grammar
sections have follow up comprehension exercises allowing the student
to become familiar with the new grammar skills before moving on
to another section.
Reading
The Reading section consists of dialogues and passages that use
the vocabulary and grammar skills introduced in the section as
well as previously learned vocabulary and grammar skills. Again,
only simple sentences are used. Reading sections have follow up
comprehension exercises allowing the student to check his/her
knowledge before moving on.
Writing
Writing activities vary from filling in blanks, unscrambling words,
writing responses to open ended questions or having the student
share his/her thoughts on a subject. All writing sections in Level
1 are basic comprehension exercises rather than introducing writing
skills, such as penmanship, paragraph development or essay development.
Pronunciation
Much like the listen/speaking section of Level 1, the pronunciation
section of Level 1 consists of listening to recorded phrases.
However, illustrations do not accompany the pronunciation section.
Furthermore, the phrases that are chosen for review are those
that may be difficult for a learner to comprehend and/or say (thirteen
versus thirty). Currently, the pronunciation sections are completely
self-paced sections in that the student is simply to listen and
repeat the phrases. There is no accompanying lesson or activity.
However, it is proposed that accompanying lessons/activities be
integrated and the technology to develop them is being researched.
Review
The review section includes review exercises for the particular
unit. Though some information from pervious units might be included,
the main objective with the review exercises is for the student
to review the main points addressed in the unit being taught.
Test
The test section includes exercises for both the unit being taught
and all previous units. Though some information from previous
unit might be limited, the main objective with the text exercises
is to ensure that the student has enough comprehension of the
unit and all previous units to continue on with the next unit.
Level 2
Level 2 is an extension to Level 1. Beginner-intermediate English
language skills are introduced. There are 15 units. Students review
basic skills from Level 1 and are introduced to some additional
skills of the English language. Students are exposed to around
1000 words - approximately 75 words per unit. The purpose of Level
1 is to allow the student to apply the English language as it
is used in everyday life. It is ideal for the student to have
developed a core vocabulary of 500 words upon completion of Level
2. Units are thematic (e.g. Applying for a job, Having a party,
Ordering services) and the content is slightly more advanced than
Level 1 (compound and complex sentences, sentence development,
present/past/future perfect, past/future continuous). As with
Level 1, in Level 2, there are eight sections to each unit.
1) Vocabulary
2) Listening/Speaking
3) Grammar
4) Reading
5) Writing
6) Pronunciation
7) Review
8) Test
Following is a break down of each section:
Vocabulary
The vocabulary section includes nouns, verbs, and useful phrases
that are used throughout the unit. Only words/phrases used in
the vocabulary section are used throughout the unit. However,
any words/phrases used in a previous unit are also include. The
vocabulary section has follow up exercises allowing the student
to become familiar with the new words before moving on to another
section.
Listening/Speaking
The Listening/Speaking section includes set phrases and words
from vocabulary section, showing any grammar skills to be introduced.
Only simple sentences are used and repetition of previously learned
words/skills from earlier chapters are generously included. Students
click on each line to both read and hear the dialogues. As well,
pictures correspond to the dialogues for further explanation.
Listening/speaking sections have follow up exercises allowing
the student to become familiar with the phrases before moving
on to another section.
Grammar
The grammar section provides explanation for the useful phrases
and words introduced in the unit Though explanations are in English,
explanations are simple and provide examples from the listening/speaking
section. (Translation of explanations to learner’s language
has been proposed but is not available at this time.) . Grammar
sections have follow up comprehension exercises allowing the student
to become familiar with the new grammar skills before moving on
to another section.
Reading
The Reading section consists of dialogues and passages that use
the vocabulary and grammar skills introduced in the section as
well as previously learned vocabulary and grammar skills. Again,
only simple sentences are used. Reading sections have follow up
comprehension exercises allowing the student to check his/her
knowledge before moving on.
Writing
Writing activities vary from filling in blanks, unscrambling words,
writing responses to open ended questions or having the student
share his/her thoughts on a subject. Writing sections in Level
2 begin to introduce students to writing skills, such as penmanship
and sentence development.
Pronunciation
The pronunciation section of Level 2 consists of listening to
recorded phrases. However, illustrations do not accompany the
pronunciation section. Furthermore, the phrases that are chosen
for review are those that may be difficult for a learner to comprehend
and/or say (thirteen versus thirty). Currently, the pronunciation
sections are completely self-paced sections in that the student
is simply to listen and repeat the phrases. There is no accompanying
lesson or activity. However, it is proposed that accompanying
lessons/activities be integrated and the technology to develop
them is being researched.
Review
The review section includes review exercises for the particular
unit. Though some information from pervious units might be included,
the main objective with the review exercises is for the student
to review the main points addressed in the unit being taught.
Test
The test section includes exercises for both the unit being taught
and all previous units. Though some information from previous
unit might be limited, the main objective with the text exercises
is to ensure that the student has enough comprehension of the
unit and all previous units to continue with the next unit.
All the work can be performed at home on one's own computer. Additional explanations of the course file structure and the work to be performed can be found in "Authors" section. The Edit text and Edit questions are the major procedure which will be used by authors to create the module text and questions data banks.
The ESL language courses can be found in courses under construction in the "Courses" section.
Volunteers should join in forum or group discussions on issues of common interest, however, registration is necessary to participate in a forum. Volunteer course authors should register as authors in the Authors section, and make sure to join the ESL training course development team. Other volunteers are invited to register as volunteer staff members. For more details, please write a short message indicating the volunteer opportunity interests you, attach a recent resume, and email to John Petroff, PEOI executive director, whose email address is shown in contact information.
To see the members of the ESL team, use the Authors list in "Authors" section. Note that you must be registered and logged in to make full use of the procedure, for instance, to view the work completed in ESL courses and what remains to be done.
To ask questions, and to offer your comments, criticism or suggestion, please find the relevant person and email address in contact information.