The ITA Courses (ESL 504, 506, & 508) at the University of Illinois serve international graduate students who are preparing to become teaching assistants or who already are teaching assistants. The courses are designed to help students develop language and teaching skills, and gain awareness about classroom culture in the U.S. Follow the links in the table below for additional information about the courses.
Required Graduate-level ESL courses qualify for an automatic exception towards the minimum hours for full time status. Students who are required to take ESL classes as a result of the English Placement Test (EPT) or because of teaching assistantship obligations may reduce their course load by four credits for each ESL course taken. Visit the ISSS's Full Course of Study page for more information on visa status and credit load. Courses will appear as "Satisfactory" (i.e., pass) or "Unsatisfactory" (i.e., fail) on transcripts and do not count towards GPA.
| Graduate | |
|---|---|
| ESL | 504 |
| ESL | 506 |
| ESL | 508 |
Admissions
Placement
Registration
Students may pre-register for ESL 504 and 506 until the first day of the semester using UI Enterprise services. Students who are unable to enroll before the start of the semester should attend the preferred section from the first day. Priority will be given to potential teaching assistants taking the EPI that term. Students should continue attending until the enrollment is finalized. This will assure that the student is present for subsequent in-class diagnostic assessment and, if ultimately allowed to enroll, will not be behind in course work. Students allowed to enroll may register for the section when authorized to do so by the section instructor. Enrollment is closed after the third class meeting.
To pre-register for ESL 508, students should contact the course coordinator listed below to verify eligibility to take the course. Further instructions for registration will be provided.
For further information, please contact the ITA course coordinator, Suzanne Franks (scfranks@illinois.edu).