Prerequisite Challenge Process

The prerequisite challenge is for students who have been placed into ESOL 840 or equivalent or ESOL 400 or equivalent and who wish to challenge their placement and enter ESOL 400 or ENGL 105. There is no challenge process for ESOL 830 or 840 which do not have prerequisites. If a student has placed into 830 or lower and would like to challenge into ESOL 400 or ENGL 105, we recommend that they see the ESL Connect.

Process

• What:
• For the ESOL 400, the challenge consists of an in-person reading and writing sample that can take, at minimum, 50 minutes (at the Assessment Center). Students may attempt the 400-challenge only once.
• For ENGL 105, the challenge consists of an in-person or Zoom meeting with an ENGL faculty member.
• How:
• For the ESOL 400 challenge, make an ESOL 400 challenge appointment with the Assessment Center. Please send an email to the Assessment Center (skyassessment@smccd.edu) with the following student information:
  1. Full legal name
  2. Student ID (G number)
  3. Current English/ ESOL placement
  4. English/ESOL level you wish to challenge
  5. Preferred email address for further communications
• For ESOL students interested in ENGL105, please submit a Prerequisite Challenge Petition

Course Comparisons

	ESOL 840	ESOL 400	ENGL 105
Writing	3 take-home essays (2-4 pages each) 2 in-class essays	3 take-home essays (3-5 pages each)	4-5 text-based essays (totaling 20-24 pages)
Reading	1 book (250-350 pages) 3-5 articles (2-3 pages each)	1 book (250-400 pages) 4-6 articles (3-9 pages each)	2-3 books (250-400 pages each) 5-8 articles (3-12 pages each)
Grammar	Lots of ESL grammar instruction Students learn to edit grammar in own writing	Very little grammar instruction Students edit grammar in their own writing with some in-class help	No in-class ESL grammar lessons (instructors may note patterns of error on individual papers). Students edit grammar in their own writing with no in-class help