Each UC has a course for “independent” or “special” study units that are also used as placeholders for courses that earn credit but do not directly line up with any other course. They are usually numbered as 98, 99, 198, or 199 in the course catalogs. (Here are [url=<a href=“http://guide.berkeley.edu/search/?P=ENGLISH%2099%5DBerkeley%5B/url”>http://guide.berkeley.edu/search/?P=ENGLISH%2099]Berkeley[/url] and [url=<a href=“http://catalog.ucdavis.edu/programs/ENL/ENLcourses.html%5DDavis%5B/url”>http://catalog.ucdavis.edu/programs/ENL/ENLcourses.html]Davis[/url] for example.)
The issue is most international institutions that offer curriculum past the 13 year system are classified as “post-secondary education” and have to be evaluated as such. Terms such as “college”, “vocational school”, “collegiate institute”, or “educational institute” are not accepted for face value and one simply can’t make the determination that it isn’t the equivalent of a US university and go from there. Because of this, it’s highly recommended to report such international elements to your first American institution (De Anza) to set a precedent. In your case, since there is no precedent, the UCs will have to evaluate it separately and will likely give you the aformentioned “self study” credit for those ESL courses.
Regardless, while I do think your ESL courses will be considered, I don’t think it will “highly” affect your admissions application for the reasons @TheVisionary stated.