English Language
NorQuest College is a leader in English as a second language (ESL) training. We provide language training and intercultural education to hundreds of newcomers each year. Our programs assist recent immigrants in settling, adapting and integrating into our communities successfully.
From foundational English language training, to bridging programs for students with international education and credentials, to workplace-specific language and intercultural training, NorQuest's expertise and training provide students with the roadmap and services to reach their potential in Canada. Many of our students continue on to post-secondary programs once they have achieved the English language competency to meet the entrance requirements.
| ESL Intensive Is English a second or additional language for you? Do you need a full-time or part-time program in English as a second language to achieve your personal, academic, or professional goals? Improve your English language speaking, reading and writing skills to prepare for further education or employment. All courses are four months long. Once you apply, free placement testing is available and your program will be tailored to meet your specific needs and level. |
| LINC - Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada Are you new to Canada? NorQuest College supports your settlement in Alberta and Canada by offering courses that will help you develop basic English language proficiency, settlement knowledge, and essential skills. Our community service learning activities are designed to provide learning opportunities while making a meaningful contribution to the community and will prepare you for further education or career options. |
| Teaching English as an Additional Language Professional The Teaching English as an Additional Language Professional certificate is a flexible credit program that prepares graduates to be effective instructors of adult English language learners and certified K-12 teachers to better address the diverse language and cultural needs of their English language learners. |
| Advanced ESL Listening This course helps English language learners improve their listening skills. In this class, students will gain confidence and competency in listening through the use of high-interest content. Advanced-level grammar and pronunciation strategies will be taught. |
| Advanced ESL Reading This course helps English language learners improve their reading comprehension skills. In this class, students will gain confidence and competency in reading through the use of high-interest content. Advanced-level grammar points and vocabulary will be taught. |
| Advanced ESL Speaking This course helps English language learners improve their speaking skills. In this class, students will gain confidence and competency in speaking through a variety of interactive activities. Advanced-level grammar and pronunciation strategies will be taught. |
| Advanced ESL Writing This course helps English language learners improve their writing skills. In this class, students will gain confidence and competency in writing through a variety of interactive activities. Advanced-level grammar points and vocabulary will be taught. |
| Business Careers – Listening and Speaking Improve your listening skills as you focus on note-taking, verbal instructions, participation in meetings and discussions. Listen for the main idea and details. Communicate comprehension of information. Develop oral communication skills for a variety of social and business situations. Select appropriate vocabulary to manage conversation in social interactions. Develop interpersonal competencies in social interactions. Learn strategies for intelligibility and clarity. Learn to participate in group and pair work and presentations and to produce presentations that are successful in a career studies or business environment. |
| Business Careers – Reading and Writing Develop the reading strategies, reading speed, and comprehension of business-related texts that you need for a career in business. Develop critical reading and thinking strategies. Develop exam-taking strategies. Interpret information presented visually in formats such as graphs, charts, and forms. Learn to write for business communication, and become more proficient at using Microsoft Office Suite. Improve your grammatical correctness in writing, develop editing skills, complete business forms, and improve your typing skills to at least 20 wpm. |
| Business Careers – Vocabulary Learn and retain a range of general and business-related vocabulary in order to read, write, speak, and understand effectively in a business career environment. Develop word-recognition skills. Use business terminology correctly in a variety of situations. Develop strategies for understanding new vocabulary and idioms from context. Learn advanced dictionary skills. Use a range of reference texts to improve accuracy in your vocabulary. |
| English for Academic Purposes – Listening and Speaking I This course prepares students with the language and academic skills they need to succeed in post-secondary studies. Students practise and develop their listening and speaking skills. Classroom activities, presentations, and academic lectures will challenge students to express multiple perspectives in their speaking. Students will work on the skills they need to effectively participate in group work and class discussions and to take notes on academic lectures. This course requires students to have completed high-school. |
| English for Academic Purposes - Listening and Speaking II This listening and speaking course provides students with the foundation of language and academic skills they need to succeed in post-secondary studies. Students will strengthen their academic listening and speaking skills. Classroom activities, presentations, and academic lectures will challenge students to express multiple perspectives in their speaking. Students will have the opportunity to practise communication skills in class discussions, group work, and presentations. This course is at a CLB 8 level. |
| English for Academic Purposes – Reading and Writing I This course assists students to acquire the language and academic skills they need to succeed in post-secondary studies. Students learn to read critically, analyze thoughts and ideas in texts, manage ideas and information, and evaluate texts for tone, purpose, style, and effectiveness. Students learn to respond to texts in writing and develop the writing skills needed to write effective essays at the college level. The course covers advanced grammar topics and academic vocabulary. Students wanting to take this course are required to have completed high school. ESLG 1860 can be taken in lieu of English 30-1 to meet academic admission requirements for NorQuest programs and may also be acceptable at other Alberta post-secondary institutions. |
| English for Academic Purposes - Reading and Writing II This reading and writing course provides students with the foundation of language and academic skills they need to succeed in post-secondary studies. Students work on reading critically, analyzing thoughts and ideas in texts, managing ideas and information, and evaluating texts for tone, purpose, style, and effectiveness. Students develop the skills and understanding of how to write effective essays at the post-secondary level. Grammar and academic vocabulary are taught in this course. This course is at a CLB 8 level and can be used to meet certain admission requirements at NorQuest College. |
| English for Academic Purposes - Vocabulary I In this course, students will learn academic vocabulary from the “Academic Word List” using reading, listening, and writing skills. The new academic vocabulary will be presented through a variety of academic texts as well as academic lectures and presentations. |
| English for Health Careers - Listening This course is designed to enhance the listening proficiency of second language learners, enabling them to better prepare to meet the listening requirements of health career programs. |
| English for Health Careers - Reading This course is designed to enhance the writing proficiency of second-language learners enabling them to better prepare to meet the reading requirements of health career programs. |
| English for Health Careers - Speaking This course is designed to enhance the speaking proficiency of second language learners, enabling them to better prepare to meet the speaking requirements of health career programs and workplaces. |
| English for Health Careers - Writing This course is designed to enhance the writing proficiency of second language learners, enabling them to better prepare to meet the writing requirements of health career programs. |
| Health Careers – Intercultural Communication I This course is designed to help participants develop basic intercultural awareness and later competence for working in a variety of Canadian health-care contexts. |
| Health Careers – Intercultural Communication II This course is designed to help second language learners develop the basic intercultural awareness and competence related to health career practice through various language-based activities. Students who take this course can expect to become more knowledgeable about foundational intercultural concepts and competencies. |
| Health Careers – Listening and Speaking I This course is designed to enhance students' listening and speaking skills (academic and functional) to prepare them to be successful in a health related program. Students should be at a CLB 6 (IELTS 5.5) or higher. |
| Health Careers – Medical Terminology I This course focuses on medical terminology and the development of the communication skills needed in the health-care sector. |
| Health Careers – Medical Terminology II This course is designed to assist second language learners to learn the meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of medical vocabulary in English. Lay terms, including slang and idioms, and the anatomy, physiology, and pathology associated with each medical term are also explored. |
| Health Careers – Reading and Writing I This course is designed to enhance students’ reading and writing skills (academic and functional) to prepare them to be successful in the health related program. Students should be at a CLB 6 (IELTS 5.5) or higher. |
| Listening and Speaking 4000 CLB 4. Identify details and inferred meanings in stories, reports, forecasts, dialogues of small talk, and short phone calls. Follow instructions of four to five clauses presented sequentially, relating to movement and position in space, manner, frequency, and duration. Participate in conversations on familiar topics. Ask for explanations if required. Give sets of simple, everyday instructions and directions. |
| Listening and Speaking 4100 CLB 4. Identify details and inferred meanings in stories, reports, forecasts, dialogues of small talk, and short phone calls. Follow instructions of four to five clauses presented sequentially, relating to movement and position in space, manner, frequency, and duration. Demonstrate comprehension when involved in conversations, dialogues, and classroom instruction. Participate in conversations on familiar topics. Ask for explanations if required. Give sets of simple, everyday instructions and directions. |
| Listening and Speaking 5000 CLB 5. Identify details and inferred meanings in dialogues containing compliments, invitations, and offers and discussion of interests, likes, dislikes, and preferences. Identify situations and relationships between speakers. Understand a range of spoken instructions. Demonstrate comprehension of advice, suggestions, announcements, and commercials. Demonstrate an understanding of the gist, details, and some inferred meanings in description and narration. Give an extended set of simple instructions in sequence for daily routine activities. Participate in routine social conversation on familiar topics. Express compliments, congratulations, or invitations in small talk. |
| Listening and Speaking 5100 CLB 5. Identify details and inferred meanings in more complex dialogues containing compliments, invitations, and offers and discussions of interests, likes, dislikes, and preferences. Identify situations and relationships between speakers. Understand a range of spoken instructions of more complexity. Demonstrate comprehension of inferred meanings in advice, suggestions, announcements, and commercials. Demonstrate an understanding of the gist, details, and some inferred meanings in description and narration. Give an extended set of simple instructions in sequence for daily routine activities. Participate in routine social conversation on familiar topics. Express compliments, congratulations, or invitations in small talk. Use the phone to communicate simple personal information. Speak on relevant, familiar topics for three to five minutes. Dialogues in this course more closely approach native speaker speed and vocabulary. |
| Listening and Speaking 6000 CLB 6. Identify specific factual details and inferred meanings in dialogues containing openings and closings, making and cancelling of appointments, apologies, regrets, excuses, and problems in reception and communication. Understand a set of instructions presented in point form, where sequence must be inferred. Demonstrate comprehension of details and a speaker’s purpose in suggestions, advice, encouragements, and requests. Respond to or extend apologies, regrets, and excuses. Make or cancel appointments, indicate partial comprehension, take turns by interrupting, add comments supportive of others, and avoid answering a question. Adjust levels of formality. |
| Listening and Speaking 6100 CLB 6. Identify specific factual details and inferred meanings in dialogues containing openings and closings, making and cancelling of appointments, apologies, regrets, excuses, and problems in reception and communication. Understand a set of instructions presented in point form, where sequence must be inferred. Demonstrate comprehension of details and a speaker’s purpose in suggestions, advice, encouragements, and requests. Identify the main idea, supporting details, statements, and examples in a descriptive or narrative presentation or in a group interaction. Respond to or extend apologies, regrets, and excuses. Make formal introductions. Make or cancel appointments, indicate partial comprehension, take turns by interrupting, add comments supportive of others, and avoid answering a question. Adjust levels of formality. Speak on relevant topics for five to seven minutes. |
| Listening and Speaking 7000 CLB 7. Identify stated and unspecified details, facts, and opinions about situations and relationships of participants containing expressions of and responses to gratitude and appreciation, satisfaction, complaint, hope, disappointment, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, approval, and disapproval. Understand sets of instructions related to simple technical and non-technical tasks. Understand simple directions on the phone, voicemail, and extended description, narration, and reports. Understand directives, requests, reminders, orders, and pleas. Participate in formal and informal conversations to solve problems and make decisions. Respond to and express gratitude, appreciation, complaint, disappointment, dissatisfaction, satisfaction, and hope. Hold the floor, resume after interruption, and change the topic. |
| Listening and Speaking 7100 CLB 7. Develop and consolidate your language skills in listening and speaking and pronunciation in this course that focuses on the language and knowledge needed for careers, the workplace, and further studies. Identify details that are directly stated as well as details that are unspecified. Discriminate facts and opinions about situations, as well as the relationships of participants. Understand sets of instructions related to simple technical and non-technical tasks. Understand simple phone and voicemail directions. Understand directives, requests, reminders, orders, and pleas. Participate in formal and informal conversations to solve problems and make decisions. Respond to and express gratitude, appreciation, complaint, disappointment, dissatisfaction, satisfaction, and hope. |
| Listening and Speaking 8000 CLB 8. Identify stated and unspecified details about mood, attitude, situation, and formality in discourse containing expressions of and responses to formal welcomes, farewells, toasts, congratulations on achievements and awards, sympathy, and condolences. Follow extended sets of multi-step instructions on technical and non-technical tasks for familiar processes or procedures. Identify stated and unspecified meanings in extended warnings, threats, suggestions, and recommendations. Evaluate the validity of a suggestion or solution. Identify facts, opinions, and attitudes in conversations about abstract and complex topics. Use strategies to keep conversations going, speak to large unfamiliar groups, express sympathy formally, and respond to minor conflict by acknowledging a problem and suggesting a solution. Give instructions about a familiar technical or non-technical process or procedure, established by an expert or authority other than the learner. Students successfully completing this course meet the English language proficiency requirement in listening and speaking at Olds College and Lakeland College. |
| Listening and Speaking 8100 CLB 8. Identify facts, opinions, and attitudes in conversations about abstract and complex topics. Follow extended sets of directions involving several steps in both a technical and non-technical context. Provide descriptions, opinions and explanations related to complex concrete and abstract ideas. Ask questions and analyze and compare information in order to make decisions. Use conversation-management strategies effectively. Students successfully completing this course meet the English language proficiency requirement in listening and speaking at Olds College and Lakeland College. |
| Pharmacy Careers – Listening and Speaking Improve your listening and speaking skills for use in the workplace and social situations. Practise your listening and speaking skills using authentic materials and case studies that integrate profession-specific essential skills and intercultural communication skills. You will also work on IELTS strategies to better prepare you for the exam. |
| Pharmacy Careers – Reading and Writing Improve your reading comprehension and writing skills for use in the workplace and social situations. Authentic materials and case studies that integrate profession-specific essential and intercultural communication skills will be used. You will also work on IELTS strategies to better prepare you for the exam. |
| Reading and Writing 4000 CLB 4. Get information from emails, form letters, flyers, instructional text, and a variety of formatted text. Get the gist and key details of simple, explicit text of two to three paragraphs. Write a short note expressing invitation, thanks, and regrets. Copy short text accurately to complete tasks or learn information. Write a short text about a personal or familiar situation or event. Write a short paragraph with topic sentence and three to four supporting sentenc |
| Reading and Writing 4100 CLB 4. Use standard reference texts, read two-paragraph newspaper articles, and get information from notices and brochures. Follow common, everyday instructions of one to six steps and instructional text. Read with increasing confidence at the CLB 4 level. Write short letters expressing invitation, thanks, regrets, cancellations, and apologies. Copy definitions from two to three different sources and fill out simple forms. Write a short text about a personal or familiar situation, event, personal experience, and future plans, and explain reasons. Write a short note with a business message. Write a paragraph with a topic sentence and four to seven supporting sentences. |
| Reading and Writing 5000 CLB 5. Identify factual details and inferred meanings in moderately complex notes, email messages, and letters, containing compliments, invitations, likes, dislikes, and preferences. Understand and follow instructions of 7 to 10 steps and moderately complex text. Demonstrate comprehension of descriptive or narrative text of two to three paragraphs on a familiar topic. Access and locate two pieces of information in CD-Rom ESL educational software. Use email to express or respond to invitations, updates, or feelings. Take phone messages, voicemail messages or prerecorded information with five to seven details. Summarize in point form. Write a paragraph to narrate, describe, or explain reasons. |
| Reading and Writing 5100 CLB 5. Consolidate and expand reading comprehension at the CLB 5 level, using a greater variety of texts, formatted text, and educational software. Make notes in point form from a pre-recorded audio prompt. Write a paragraph with a topic sentence, 5 to 10 supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. Word-process, edit, format, and print text. |
| Reading and Writing 6000 CLB 6. Identify details in moderately complex text, including advice, requests, specifications, cancellations, and apologies. Follow instructions of up to ten steps when sequence must be inferred. Demonstrate comprehension of one-page, moderately complex text on a familiar topic. Fill out moderately complex forms. Write notes regarding a business transaction. Write a three-paragraph composition with transitional and/or concluding sentences. Word-process, edit, format, and print text. Make notes of important ideas with some details from printed or handwritten text. Write personal messages in three formats: informal notes, short formal letters, and email. |
| Reading and Writing 6100 CLB 6. Identify details in moderately complex social text, follow instructions when not in point form, locate information in moderately complex formatted text, demonstrate comprehension of a cycle diagram, flow chart, and time-line. Access, locate, and compare two to three pieces of information in an online database. Fill out moderately complex forms. Write notes regarding a business transaction. Write a three-paragraph composition with transitional and/or concluding sentences and 7 to 12 supporting sentences. Word-process, edit, format, and print text. Make notes of important ideas with some details from printed or handwritten text. Make notes of major points with some details from a pre-recorded audio prompt. Write personal messages in three formats: informal notes, short formal letters, and email. |
| Reading and Writing 7000 CLB 7. Identify factual and inferred meanings in moderately complex text including expressions of appreciation, complaint, hope, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction. Follow written instructions of 10 to 13 steps on simple technical and non-technical tasks. Read and locate information in everyday instructional text and formatted text. Demonstrate comprehension of a moderately complex report or narrative of one to two pages. Access two to four pieces of information in online electronic references. |
| Reading and Writing 7100 CLB 7. Develop and consolidate your language skills in reading and writing in this course that focuses on the language and knowledge needed for careers, the workplace, and further studies. Identify factual and inferred meanings in moderately complex text including expressions of appreciation, complaint, hope, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction. Demonstrate comprehension of a one-to- two page moderately complex report or narrative. Read everyday instructional texts and formatted texts in order to locate information. |
| Reading and Writing 8000 CLB 8. Identify main idea, supporting details, and inferred meanings in increasingly complex texts, including general opinion, assessments of situations, response to a complaint, and expressions of sympathy. Read and interpret graphic information such as flow charts and process charts. Read a greater variety of authentic and adapted texts including newspapers and magazines. Integrate three to four pieces of information contained in formatted text. Write emails with attachments. Make notes from pre-recorded and live presentations, make an outline of a reading, and write a summary of a reading. Fill out unadapted forms. Write short business letters. Draft an academic essay of three body paragraphs consisting of a topic sentence, 7 to 12 supporting sentences, and a transitional/concluding sentence. Rewrite to focus content, clarify structure, and improve mechanics. Word-process, edit, format, and print text. Students successfully completing this course meet the English language proficiency requirement in reading and writing at Olds College and Lakeland College. |
| Reading and Writing 8100 CLB 8. Read increasingly complex texts, including general opinion, assessments of situations, response to a complaint, and expressions of sympathy. Identify the main idea, supporting details, and inferred meanings. Read and interpret graphic information such as flow charts and process charts. Take notes on live and recorded presentations, outline readings, and write summaries of readings. Fill out unadapted forms. Write business letters and academic essays. Students successfully completing this course meet the English language proficiency requirement in reading and writing at Olds College and Lakeland College. |