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The English as a Second Language Program is designed to assist international and domestic students at UB who are enrolled in degree programs and whose
first language is not English to develop the language skills necessary to succeed in their academic programs.
Undergraduate and graduate students may enroll in credit-bearing ESL courses to improve their English, writing,
speaking, and listening skills for academic and professional purposes and to satisfy the university's undergraduate Writing requirement. In addition, the ELI offers assistance to university departments and the Office of International Admissions
in evaluating students' English language skills, and works with UB's International Student Policy Committee to establish
English language proficiency standards for international applicants, and to ensure compliance with English language
testing and course requirements.
The ESL Program has played a key role in the university's undergraduate conditional admission policy. According to
this policy, international undergraduate students applying to UB who are otherwise qualified but whose TOEFL score is slightly less than 79 may be admitted to the university on the condition that they enroll in two ESL courses during their first semester in addition to two other academic courses.
The English as a Second Language Program is also responsible for the testing and training of UB's international teaching
assistants (ITAs). ITAs may take a credit-bearing course, ESL 512, to improve their classroom communication and pedagogical
skills, their understanding of the culture of American higher education, and their appreciation of the role of
crosscultural communication in teaching effectiveness.
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