<p><b>Courses</b><br />
Our Department offers all five levels of English as a Second Language. Students newly arrived to Canada are tested and then placed in the appropriate level by assessors at the York Region District School Board’s Reception Centres. &nbsp;These courses are designated according to levels of proficiency in English and literacy development, not necessarily by grade. They are intended for students whose first language is a language other than English.<br />
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Other departments in our school offer ESL subject specific courses at the applied and academic levels in the following compulsory courses: &nbsp;grade 9 and grade 10 science, gr. 9 geography, gr. 10 history, and grade 10 civics and careers. &nbsp;We also offer optional courses in business and family studies.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Course Strands</strong><br />
The content in each of the English as a Second Language courses is organized into four interrelated strands or broad areas of learning:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>listening and speaking,</li>
	<li>reading,</li>
	<li>writing,</li>
	<li>socio-cultural competence and media literacy.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>ESL Curriculum Expectations</strong>&nbsp;-Strands and the Ministry of Ontario Expectations</p>

<p><b>Listening and Speaking</b></p>

<p>The Listening and Speaking strand has three overall expectations, as follows:</p>

<p><b>Students will:</b></p>

<ul>
	<li>demonstrate the ability to understand, interpret, and evaluate spoken English for a variety of purposes;</li>
	<li>use speaking skills and strategies to communicate in English for a variety of classroom and social purposes;</li>
	<li>use correctly the language structures appropriate for this level to communicate orally in English.</li>
</ul>

<p><b>Reading</b></p>

<p>The Reading strand has three overall expectations, as follows:</p>

<p><b>Students will:</b></p>

<ul>
	<li>read and demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts for different purposes;</li>
	<li>use a variety of reading strategies throughout the reading process to extract meaning from texts;</li>
	<li>use a variety of strategies to build vocabulary;</li>
	<li>ocate and extract relevant information from written and graphic texts for a variety of purposes.</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Writing</b></p>

<p>The Writing strand has four overall expectations, as follows:</p>

<p><b>Students will:</b></p>

<ul>
	<li>write in a variety of forms for different purposes and audiences;</li>
	<li>organize ideas coherently in writing;</li>
	<li>use correctly the conventions of written English appropriate for this level, including grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation;</li>
	<li>use the stages of the writing process.</li>
</ul>

<p><b>Socio-cultural Competence and Media Literacy</b></p>

<p>The Socio-cultural Competence and Media Literacy strand has four overall expectations, as follows:</p>

<p><b>Students will:</b></p>

<ul>
	<li>use English and non-verbal communication strategies appropriately in a variety of social contexts;</li>
	<li>demonstrate an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship, and of the contributions of diverse groups to Canadian society;</li>
	<li>demonstrate knowledge of and adaptation to the Ontario education system;</li>
	<li>demonstrate an understanding of, interpret, and create a variety of media works.</li>
</ul>
