American (Western) educators' assumptions about the cognitive and expressive basis of reading, thinking, and writing skills are immediately challenged when international students show up in the classroom and the writing center. Written discourse presented by non-native speakers of English reveals marked variations to what we consider acceptable as academic writing. The sincere, intelligent international student may at first be baffled at our insistence that college essays demonstrate the following elements of "good" academic writing:
A writing style that requires a clear thesis
Adequate, logical development of ideas; persuasive evidence
Articulated connections between ideas
Evidence of personal critical thinking and logical reasoning; of clearly stated opinions based on sound conclusions
Appropriate attribution of published authority
Accurate understanding and interpretation of reading material
This tutorial offers basic information about tutoring students who are non-native English speakers. By the end of this tutorial, you should have some new and effective strategies for helping students deal with situations like that described above or other complications stemming from being an ESL student. In addition to the material meant for you, your students can also benefit from going to the 'student-friendly' sites included in this tutorial.
Overview
Included in this tutorial are two main headings, General Principles for Tutoring and Resources for Students and Tutors. By clicking on each of these terms below or on the buttons on the left, you will find subsections: Readings, Points to Ponder, Activity, and a Quiz.
The 'Resources for Students and Tutors' pages contain many valuable online resources to assist instructors, tutors, and students to grow in many ways as they facilitate students' learning of English as a second language.
Introductory Questions
Before you get started, take a minute to think about the following questions:
What are your goals for tutoring?
What are your students' goals in seeking tutoring?
What are the difficulties that you've noticed or anticipate in achieving these goals?
How does tutoring ESL students differ from teaching non-ESL students? How is it similar?
Once you have answers, continue on in the tutorial. By the end, hopefully you will have answers, ideas, and new perspectives for these questions.
