Course Synopsis:

Intermediate ELL is designed for English Language Learners at levels three to five on the provincial ELL Standards. This course will help students to develop academic language fluency in writing, speaking, listening, and reading. Students will learn elements of Canadian culture which includes exposure to First People’s culture. In addition, students will become proficient with academic content and language used in a high school setting.

Goals and Rationale:

All students, regardless of their language and cultural background, will have the opportunity to develop their potential to the fullest.  While ELLs have much in common with other students, they have specific needs in the areas of language and culture.  These needs must be met in such a way that they achieve a level of fluency in English commensurate with their age and ability.

The ELL program, and the courses offered within the program, enables the English language learners to:

• develop and maintain a sense of self-worth
• develop and preserve a pride of heritage
• develop communicative competence at a level commensurate with the student’s potential, in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing
• integrate into regular courses according to the student’s interests, strengths and required academic courses for graduation

Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives:

Links to First Peoples Principles of Learning:

• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
• Learning involves community, language, culture and the natural world
• Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.
• Learning involves patience and time.
• Becoming an English Language Learner involves recognizing that some information is culturally delicate and needs to be shared with permission and in certain situations is sacred