ESL Students – Improve Your Skills

If you are a student in the Chicago area and want to improve your English language skills, Governors State University offers a program you may be interested in through our School of Extended Learning.  The American Language and Culture Institute’s (ALCI) program is designed and taught by a professional faculty to prepare students academically, socially, and culturally for success as university students.

Our Intensive ESL Program is for both international and U.S. students and is available year-round.  It is taught by an ESL faculty that is experienced in assisting students who consider themselves English Language Learners, and the program utilizes cutting-edge teaching methods, curriculum design, and up-to-date research.    

Students are provided with specialized course work that includes Listening and Speaking, Reading and Writing, Integrated Studies, Multimodal Composing, Pronunciation and Cross Cultural Contexts.  Our program is also intended to help student with TOEFL test preparation. 

Regardless of whether you are a beginning learner or a student with more advanced English skills, our program can help to prepare you to do better academically at the university level.   Please keep in mind that students applying to the Intensive ESL Program are not automatically guaranteed admittance to Governor State’s undergraduate or graduate programs.  Students are still required to meet the university standards for admission, and the application process requires a transcript evaluation as well as TOEFL® or IELTS scores.

To apply to our Intensive ESL Program, we offer a convenient online application.  The program accepts students 18 years or older, and for students 17 years of age, they need to submit their school transcripts.  For your convenience, we offer an easy online application.   Please see our website for more information.

Along with our extensive ESL programs, GSU’s Office of International Services is available to assist all international students, international faculty, staff and scholars, study abroad students and their families.  We are proud to be home to a diverse population with representation from countries around the globe. We encourage you to learn more about the rich history, cultural amenities and beautiful campus that contributes to making us one of the top colleges in Illinois.