Electives are specialized courses that full-time students choose in addition to their core classes. Part-time students may also register for most of them.
Not all electives are available in all semesters or in all programs. Electives are targeted at specific levels, so we might not place you into your first choice of elective.
Beginning to Low | Intermediate| Intermediate to Advanced | Advanced
Beginning to Low Intermediate Levels
Active English
(beginning to low intermediate)
Fall and Spring
In this project-based course you will improve your speaking and listening and develop your vocabulary. You will learn actively with other students doing presentations about your country and culture, taking field trips, practicing English in real life situations, and learning about American culture and customs through holiday-based projects and other activities.
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Intermediate Level
iBT TOEFL Preparation: Intermediate
(intermediate)
Fall, Spring, and Summer II
This course is designed for intermediate-level students who are preparing to take the internet-based TOEFL examination (iBT) for university admission. Using intermediate-level material, you will practice the test-taking skills you need to increase your score. You will prepare for all four sections of the examination: reading, listening, writing, and speaking. You will do test-type exercises and sample tests. This is an intensive exam-preparation course, and you will be required to do regular homework assignments.
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Intermediate to Advanced Levels
Academic and Professional Writing
(intermediate/advanced)
Fall, Spring, and Summer I & II
This course will help you improve your writing skills by teaching you the elements of clear, coherent, and grammatically correct English writing. You will review organizational techniques for developing and presenting your ideas and learn how to combine sentences effectively. Advanced students will also learn how to paraphrase without plagiarizing and to attribute material from other sources. You will also work on the overall writing process, learning to revise your writing, so that the final draft is sophisticated and accurate. During this course you will write, edit, and rewrite three essays.
Note: The activities in Summer 1 and Summer 2 are varied, to permit students to register for one or both courses.
American Culture Through Movies
(intermediate/advanced)
Fall and Spring
American movies reflect the values, attitudes, and habits that characterize U.S. culture. They also reflect the way that Americans speak today. Using critically acclaimed American movies, we will look at American culture by focusing on contemporary American life and concerns. Critical viewing and discussion will build listening and speaking skills, with emphasis given to modern everyday speech and idioms. Students can also expect some reading and informal writing.
Listening, Speaking and Vocabulary Development
(beginning/intermediate/advanced)
Fall, Spring, and Summer I & II
This course will help you use English comfortably and with confidence in academic, business, or social settings. You will improve your English communication skills by listening to recorded materials from a variety of sources, including radio, television, websites, and video. Speaking activities will allow you to practice communicating your thoughts fluently and more accurately. You will also increase your knowledge of English vocabulary, including slang and idiomatic expressions, so that you can better understand Americans and American culture. At the beginning and intermediate levels, vocabulary will focus on common and essential everyday English words and expressions. At the advanced level, vocabulary will focus on academic, professional, and cultural words and expressions.
Students who take this class in Summer 1 must choose a different class in Summer 2.
Reading, Speaking and Vocabulary
(intermediate/advanced)
Fall, Spring, and Summer 2
This course will help you improve your English communication skills through readings and discussions from a variety of sources, including books, magazines, websites, and newspapers. The readings will expand your vocabulary as well as stimulate discussion. You will develop the skills you need to improve your overall reading comprehension. The speaking part of the class will provide you with many opportunities to practice speaking in English. You will also learn a variety of methods to help you understand unfamiliar vocabulary. At the intermediate level, vocabulary will focus on common and essential everyday English words and expressions. At the advanced level, vocabulary will focus on academic, professional, and cultural words and expressions. This class will prepare you to feel more confident in academic, business, and social settings.
Pronunciation, Speaking, and Listening
(intermediate/advanced)
Fall, Spring, and Summer I & II
This course will help you pronounce English more clearly and fluently in social and professional settings, while also improving your listening comprehension. You will study the rhythm, stress and intonation patterns of English, individual vowel and consonant sounds, and how to finish words and syllables. You will receive personal attention, to help you identify and work on your specific pronunciation problems. Class activities will include small group discussions for practice expressing yourself clearly and with confidence, learning strategies that will help other speakers of English understand you better, and listening to authentic materials to improve your understanding of spoken English.
Students who take this class in Summer 1 must choose a different class in Summer 2.
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American Culture, Conversation. and Colloquial English
(high intermediate/advanced)
Summer II
Learn to interact fully with Americans in both formal and informal social, academic or workplace settings by improving your conversation skills and fluency and by learning about U.S. culture. Viewing film and video clips, you will examine such topics as: social forms and customs, U.S. government, law, health, personal relationships, and speaking styles. This course will give you an insight into these and other aspects of contemporary U.S. culture, while also helping you improve your conversation and build your vocabulary through lively in-class activities and discussions. In addition, you will build your knowledge of colloquial, informal English, including slang and idiomatic expressions.
The American Legal System
(high intermediate/advanced)
Fall, Spring, Summer II
This course examines the American legal system and its impact on American society and business. You will learn how the legal system functions, looking at both criminal and civil law, the jury system and significant cases, which have shaped American society. You will do substantial work in the areas of vocabulary building, listening, speaking, reading, and critical thinking while gaining a broad understanding of American culture and history. You will also evaluate and prepare oral arguments on different topics. Course activities and materials may include readings, discussions, debates and simulations, legal news stories from tape and print sources, and videos of actual or fictional cases. There will be some written work.
Business Communication
(high intermediate/advanced)
Fall, Spring, and Summer I & II
This course is for students who want to learn to communicate effectively in oral and written English in business settings. You will take a closer look at idioms and expressions commonly used in American business, so that you can interact comfortably with native speakers. You will learn strategies for effective oral communication in the workplace, including presentations, meetings, interviews, and telephone calls. Written work may include a business plan, letters, faxes, memos, résumés, e-mails and reports.
Note: The activities and materials in Summer 1 and Summer 2 are varied, to permit students to register for one or both courses.
iBT TOEFL Preparation: Next Generation TOEFL
(high intermediate/advanced)
Fall and Spring
This course is designed for students preparing to take the internet-based TOEFL examination (iBT) for university admission. You will work on improving test-taking skills to help increase your score. You will prepare for all four sections of the examination: reading, listening, writing, and speaking. You will do preparatory exercises and sample tests. This is an intensive exam-preparation course and you will be required to do regular homework assignments. Some attention may be given to the paper-based TOEFL.
iBT TOEFL Preparation: Listening and Speaking
(high intermediate/advanced)
Summer I & II
If you are preparing to take the iBT TOEFL examination for university admission, this course will help improve your test-taking skills, so that you can increase your score. You will prepare for the whole examination with practice tests and other activities, but the specific focus of the course will be the listening and speaking sections of the test. This is an intensive exam-preparation course, and you will be required to do regular homework assignments. In addition, you will have the opportunity to take the paper-based institutional TOEFL examination given at CELOP at the end of the summer.
Note: Students who take this class in Summer 1 may not repeat it during Summer 2, but they may take iBT TOEFL Preparation: Reading and Writing. The same textbook will be used in both classes.
iBT TOEFL Preparation: Reading and Writing
(high intermediate/advanced)
Summer I & II
If you are preparing to take the iBT TOEFL examination for university admission, this course will help improve your test-taking skills, so that you can increase your score. You will prepare for the whole test with practice tests and other activities, but the specific focus of the course will be the reading and writing sections. This is an intensive exam-preparation course, and you will be required to do regular homework assignments. In addition, you will have the opportunity to take the paper-based institutional TOEFL examination given at CELOP at the end of the summer.
Note: Students who take this class in Summer 1 may not repeat it during Summer 2, but they may take iBT TOEFL Preparation: Listening and Speaking. The same textbook will be used in both classes.
Media News
(high intermediate/advanced)
Fall and Spring
This course will focus on all types of current events: politics, social issues, science, health and psychology, the environment, arts and entertainment, humor, etc. Specific content will be determined by student interest and relevance during the semester. Certain current events will be one-time topics, while others may be followed throughout the term. Media sources may include the Internet, newspapers, television, radio news and “news magazine” programs on video. Oral work will include discussions of topics and other speaking projects, such as news panels, debates, role-plays and interviews. One of the three weekly sessions will be held in CELOP's Multimedia Language Lab.
Video Production
(elective only; not open to part-time students) (high intermediate/advanced)
Fall and Summer I
This course will get you out of the classroom and into the many neighborhoods of Boston to meet other students, Bostonians, merchants, restaurant owners, etc. You will develop your English skills working in teams to learn the basics of video production: planning, research, interviewing, scripting, shooting, logging footage, and editing documentary-style short films. While producing your videos, you will do both in-class and out-of-class assignments: watching documentaries, interviewing people, writing scripts, and learning new vocabulary from extensive reading. The goal of this course is to have each team produce a video segment related to any of the many aspects of the city of Boston: ethnic neighborhoods, politics, social and environmental issues, education, etc.
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Advanced Level
Grammar Review, Speaking Accuracy, and Vocabulary Development
(advanced)
Fall, Spring, and Summer II
In this class you will practice communicating in English with more confidence by reviewing a range of grammatical structures, which you need to speak more accurately. You will learn to minimize the mistakes you make you speak while taking advantage of many opportunities to use and reinforce your improved skills through lively in-class activities and discussions. You will receive individual help with grammar problems and learn error-correction strategies. You will also learn a variety of methods to build your vocabulary for use in social and professional settings. Vocabulary will focus on academic, professional, and cultural words and expressions.
SAT Preparation
(advanced)
Fall
This course is designed for students preparing to take the SAT for admission to an American university. You will prepare for all three sections of the SAT: critical reading, math, and writing. You will work on the language skills needed to succeed and on improving test-taking strategies to help increase your score. Work on the math section will focus on English vocabulary on the test, not on math instruction. This is an intensive exam-preparation course and you will be required to do regular homework assignments. Note: Before selecting this course, students should check whether the colleges they are applying to require that they take the SAT.
Introduction to American Culture
(advanced)
Fall
You will be introduced to various aspects of U.S. culture, including societal values, education, family life, politics, the media, race and gender relations, and social relations. You will also be introduced to U.S. academic culture, including modes of communication, classroom expectations, the organization of the academic institution, and relationships with professors and other students. The course objectives are to provide students with a foundation of knowledge about U.S. culture in order to smooth the progress of their experience in the United States and to improve speaking and listening skills.
Introduction to Environmental Studies
(advanced)
Fall
You will be introduced to the study of environmental science. We will examine the basic physical, biological and ecological concepts underlying the relationship between human society and the natural environment. The course will be particularly useful to anyone interested in better understanding the pressing science and technology issues of our day or planning to take college science courses. Through study and application of the scientific method, students will develop not only basic scientific literacy but also the critical thinking skills necessary for further college study. Discussion will include the role of science in policy-making and will cover issues such as global climate change, water pollution, and other topics of particular interest to students.
Introduction to Political Science
(advanced levels)
Fall
You will be introduced to the study of political science, which explores the concerns and issues that animate public life and studies how political communities attempt to reconcile claims of justice, power, liberty, and authority. Political science is divided into five sub-fields: political theory, American politics, public policy, comparative politics, and international relations. The course will address specific concerns and issues in each of these sub-fields and will also focus on larger and broader questions of each. The course is designed to give you a solid base upon which to build a body of knowledge towards becoming an informed and involved citizen of the world.
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