The mission of the English as a Second Language (ESL) Department is to enable students to function successfully in both academic and non-academic English speaking environments. The mission includes providing high quality instruction that is innovative and challenging and meets the language needs of our diverse non-native English speaking student population as they pursue their educations, build their careers, and interact in the community. It emphasizes the development of critical thinking and the sophisticated language and literacy skills that enable students to be engaged citizens. Students who complete this certificate will demonstrate the ability to understand entry-level college texts and to write unified, coherent essays clearly and effectively, will demonstrate the ability to understand academic lectures, and will demonstrate the ability to express themselves orally on a complex topic, incorporating research and/or secondary sources.