SCAD Language Studio (SLS)

International students learn linguistic and cultural norms of an art and design university in a collaborative classroom setting. They explore written and spoken conventions, with detail given to vocabulary and structures in preparation for beginning their studies in a creative university environment.

Students have a wide range of language proficiencies and linguistic needs. This foundational course introduces students to reading a variety of short texts, learning and practicing explicit reading skills. Students explore a variety of simple writing tasks such as guided writing, retells and dictation. Students are introduced to simple verb forms, basic parts of speech and simple sentence structure.

Interactive, task-based, situational language functions are explored in this course. Students work on developing their oral and aural communication skills through dialogues, discussions, videos and short lectures. Students build production of segmental sounds and basic stress and intonation patterns in isolation.

Students further develop and acquire reading and writing skills in this course. Students read level-appropriate authentic texts, and are introduced to text analysis as well as basic sentence and paragraph structure. Students work on grammar and vocabulary development with special attention to verb forms and parts of speech.

This course further develops students' oral and aural situational fluency. Students build communication skills in spoken English to maintain a conversation with interlocution and to satisfy uncomplicated social demands and basic living needs. Students build upon phonetic awareness through sound/spelling correspondences and vowel and consonant recognition.

Students are prepared to move towards the development of academic reading and writing skills. Students begin reading intensively and are introduced to expository writing with attention to language use. Students read level-appropriate, authentic academic texts and begin planning and developing paragraphs and short compositions. Their sentences become more sophisticated, with greater grammatical accuracy.

Students receive development in oral and aural conventions necessary for success in an academic setting. Strategies to improve fluency are reinforced through lecture note taking, dictations, discussions, dialogues and presentations. Students build production of stress, intonation and rhythm patterns in both isolation and combined speech.

Students further their development in academic reading and writing through thematic units in the art and design fields. Students work on more advanced academic writing through summaries, responses and analyses with attention to sophisticated grammatical structures. Reading skills such as comprehension, speed and critical thinking are reinforced.

Students build upon their listening and speaking skills for active participation in academic art and design courses. Students develop strategies to appropriately participate in and control academic discourse. Pronunciation is reinforced through extended speaking opportunities. Students expand their practical vocabulary of common English figures of speech and colloquial expressions and incorporate them into their own discourse.

Students expand their communication and critical thinking repertoire by engaging in a range of academic reading and writing exercises. Through communication and collaboration with peers, students become active and engaged participants in a North American classroom setting.

Students further develop speech conventions commonly used in art and design fields through listening to lectures, note taking, discussions, analyses and presentations. Vocabulary, including figures of speech and colloquial expressions, are reinforced. Students extensively develop sound and rhythm production of speech patterns.

Research lies at the core of art and design, guiding pivotal creative decisions. Students gain a solid foundation in academic research through the analysis of sources, inference of meaning, and synthesis of works used to support their ideas and concepts.

This course exposes non-native English speakers to authentic language, following an integrated, task-based approach. Students collaborate to accomplish a wide variety of linguistic tasks, utilizing the necessary functional language to describe, negotiate and persuade. Students work on achieving fluency, clarity and correctness in spoken and written forms.

Academic success in a creative university environment requires students express themselves in a multitude of ways. This course prepares international students for success within an active learning environment focused on dynamic engagement with faculty, peers and university resources. Within the context of language proficiency and communication, this course supports students as the transition into their academic programs of study.

Students further develop those aspects of pronunciation that impede overall oral and aural comprehensibility by identifying, analyzing and monitoring both speech in academic and professional contexts and their own production. Students develop skills and strategies for oral presentations and critical responses. Emphasis is placed on using university-level vocabulary in oral communication.

In this course, students explore and distinguish organizational patterns of various rhetorical modes to heighten critical thinking, interpretive and evaluative skills. They engage in extensive reading and research writing, focusing on the seamless integration of sources and structures and understanding lexico-grammatical choices.