ESL
The Writing Center welcomes multilingual writers to attend drop-in conferences with WAs (undergraduate Writing Advisors). In terms of specialized instruction, registration in “The English Language Clinic” (ESL1000/ACSR1020) is recommended for students interested in attending one-on-one coaching sessions with an ESL professor to improve the formal academic writing they do for any undergraduate course. Upon registration in the clinic, an ESL professor can work in detail to help identify second language interference issues (grammar help), develop academic vocabulary in writing, understand organizational patterns common in American essay writing, and format writing using guidelines that pertain to American-style essays. Email mpavlik@bonaprinting.com for details.
Writing Center Resources
Several of our Writing Advisors specialize in working with multilingual writers, and some WAs identify as multilingual themselves. View the drop-in schedule and specialty sheet to find out when they are working.
Our shelves are full of grammar handouts, ESL bootcamp workshop material, dictionaries, style guides, vocabulary-buliding workbooks, and other writing textbooks that are helpful for multilingual writers.
Links
Purdue University’s Guide for ESL Students
This page includes many useful handouts and resources for acclimating to U.S. colleges and universities and understanding writing conventions for global business and academic audiences. One of the resources even includes a helpful glossary of common academic terms.
Writing English as a Second Language, from The American Scholar
William Zinsser, speaking to new international students at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, explains that good writing “depends on what country you’re from” and gives a brief history of the English language.
Faculty Resources
“Techniques for Serving International Students” from Dennis Bricault, North Park University Director of ESL
Grading Multilingual Students’ Papers: A Practical Guide (from University of Toronto)
This source walks instructors through potential challenges they might encounter in grading multilingual students’ papers fairly, presents practical strategies, and considers special challenges of science and social science instructors.
Transfer errors (from Cengage)
Some common errors in multilingual students’ work may be the result of transfer errors. In these, students are thinking logically, applying the grammar of their native language to the grammar of English, and thus providing us with an important starting point for discussion, so that we can help them continue to solve the grammar puzzles they encounter as they become fluent. It is important to note that not all grammatical errors and mistakes are transfer errors; some, for instance, can result from faulty instruction.