ESL (English as a Second Language) Program

Multicultural Network of Niagara Falls offers an excellent ESL program for newcomers to Canada. Classes run every day from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. We offer classes in the morning and in the afternoon.
The classes are carefully divided into proficiency levels that cover Canadian Language Benchmarks 1 to 8, reflecting our recognition that newcomers are unique individuals who come to us with diverse backgrounds and needs.
Placement Process for ESL Classes

When new students apply to study ESL at the Multicultural Network of Niagara Falls, we use a placement test process that has been compiled especially for our purposes. This test is directly based – like our class divisions and our lesson planning – on the Canadian Language Benchmarks. The result is an efficiently harmonious ESL program to serve newcomers in Niagara Falls. We assess each student in all four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students are then placed in the class that best suits their English level.
Following up on this systematic placement process, each term students receive two reports on their performance in class: a midterm progress report and a final progress report. This kind of ongoing feedback is very important with adult learners because they tend to be very self-aware, so that they need progress information in order to take charge of their own development.
Our Teaching Staff

To support this kind of carefully structured learning environment, our teaching staff has expertise in the application of the Canadian Language Benchmarks and uses that criterion to prepare their weekly lesson plans. Moreover, all teachers discuss their lesson plans with the Education Coordinator on an individual basis every Monday morning. At least once a month the Education Coordinator holds a professional-development group meeting to discuss planning and teaching strategies. These formal meetings create an environment of conscientious professionalism in which, on their own initiative, staff members also arrange informal meetings with colleagues. Advice and collaboration are always promoted with respect to lesson planning, classroom management, and language-teaching methodology.
Elham Meleka
ESL Teacher
emeleka@mnnf.ca