The English Program in the Yachay Tech Language Center has six levels. Levels A1, A2, B1.1, B1.2, and B2.1 are devoted to develop general communicative English skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Level B2 is designed to develop academic English skills. In total, students receive 900 hours of direct instruction, 150 per level. All levels are aligned with the CEFR standards. All six levels have to be completed in the first four semesters. From the fifth semester on, all coursework is only taught in English
ELP courses are integrated skills courses which include topics that focus on sciences, humanities, and current events in order to expose students to a variety of subjects while providing a solid foundation for later studies. Levels 1 – 4, English for Communicative Purposes, are foundational courses for communicative English, with a focus on grammar, speaking, listening, writing, and reading. Levels 5-6, English for Academic Purposes, assume that students possess basic communicative skills but need to align their abilities with academic expectations. These classes encourage students to apply their previous linguistic knowledge on academic writing assignments and group projects that encourage collaboration and critical thinking.
This course aims to help students develop receptive and productive communicative English skills in order to understand and use familiar and everyday expressions and basic phrases, introduce themselves and others, ask for and give basic personal information, and interact in simple communicative situations provided scaffolding is offered by the most advanced speaker. Emphasis is placed on vocabulary, grammar, functions, reading, listening, speaking (pronunciation/intonation), and writing.
This course aims to help students continue developing their receptive and productive communicative English skills in order to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance, to be able to use English in simple and routine tasks requiring a direct exchange of information on familiar routine matters, as well as, to be able to describe in simple language aspects of their background, immediate environment, and matters in areas of immediate need. Emphasis is placed on vocabulary, grammar, functions, reading, listening, speaking (pronunciation/intonation), and writing.
This course aims to help students continue improving their receptive and productive communicative English skills in order to maintain English interaction and convey their wants as well as deal with everyday life problems. Oral and written communicative skills are developed in a range of scenarios. This course utilizes an integrated approach to all four macro language skills and employs communicative language teaching as the main methodology of instruction.
This course aims to help students continue mastering their oral and written communicative skills in order to use the English language with a level of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party; understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of study; and produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on different topics and subjects. Emphasis is placed on vocabulary, grammar, functions, reading, listening, speaking (pronunciation/intonation), and writing.
Level B2.2
Level B2.2 is meant to develop academic English skills in all four language skills. In this level, students have to write academic research papers, write article critiques; read, summarize, and synthesize published information, collect and analyze data through surveys, and give academic presentations.
Students applying to Yachay Tech University will have meet one of the following two options to enter the English Language Program:
- Take the Placement Test administered by the Yachay Tech Language Center
All students, except those who present English proficiency certificates, will take a placement test to decide in which level of our English program they will be placed. Those students who score B2 and higher, will need to take just Level B2.2. This level will have to be taken by all students.
- Present a English Proficiency Certificate
Those students who possess English proficiency certificates as a result of standardized tests such as TOEFL iBT, TOEFL iBT, IELTS, CAE, PET, FCE, or PTE, can present those certificates, if they do not want to take the placement test. English proficiency certificates will be valid for two years after the date the respective standardized tests were taken. The Yachay Language Center will examine the certificates to decide which level students will be placed in.