The Writing Center
We have many handouts, lists of online writing lab sites, computerized grammar and reading exercises, and videotapes on the writing process. Just ask us, and we will try to locate the right resources to help you.
Helpful Links
EXERCISES (with answers)
ARTICLES:
Grammar and Multi-Skill Sites
Comprehensive list of ESL grammar links with different levels of difficulty: easy, intermediate, advanced.
English Works! at Gallaudet University - Grammar Exercises
GRAMMAR AND PARTS OF SPEECH EXPLANATIONS:
English Works! at Gallaudet University - Verb Tense Examples and Explanations
Comprehensive verb tense chart with explanations and examples.
WRITING PROCESS:
Subscription service with guided planning, development, and assessment of a student’s topic. Presents advice, suggestions, and examples for help with individual questions. Provides documentation help with bibliography tools. Offers other writing strategy tips and “built in breaks” and suggestion for overcoming writer’s block and fatigue.
This site is primarily a resource for home-schooling and tutoring at the K-12 level. The link here is a good basic checklist for both peer tutors and college students to evaluate basic goals of their essays.
Summary of Writing Problems and Strategies from Muskingum College
Writing at Colorado State University
Colorado State University’s Writing Studio, a web-based, open-access learning environment for students and instructors, available without charge. Visitors are supported by a multi-media help system that offers more than 200 brief, how-to videos and text descriptions of key tools, including: shared ePortfolios and a new Wiki-based Class tools, a wide range of planning, composing, and commenting tools for writers, as well as access to writing guides, activities, links, blogs, drafting tools, and more than 200 brief, how-to videos. Teachers who have an “instructor” account can create their own courses, as well as clone courses, copy materials among courses, add co-instructors, and give courses away to other instructors. In the past year, roughly 22,500 writers from more than 900 institutions worldwide logged into their free Writing Studio accounts an average of 35 times.
Dartmouth’s College’s Writing Center site for students, faculty, and writing tutors, including overview of writing pedagogy and methods. For students, includes text-book quality sections on the writing process, tips for ESL students in writing “American” academic essays, separate sections on writing papers across the disciplines (humanities, social sciences, sciences).
Model Documents Gallery
This site provides overviews and examples of the format required for business and technical writing, humanities, and natural and applied sciences writing.(WAC emphasis)
Probably the most comprehensive collection of writing information on the Web, this site provides handouts for students and teachers, exercises (with answers), as well as Powerpoint presentations and hypertext workshops.
THESIS STATEMENTS
Writing Thesis Statements
Interactive visual/audio explanation. Includes test questions.
Thesis Builder
“Thesis builder”. Helps students draft thesis statements.
Writing Center at University of Wisconsin – Madison
Presents “how to” in stages with directive questions and examples.
VOCABULARY BUILDING:
The Longman Vocabulary Website
This companion site to the Longman series on vocabulary offers exercises to build vocabulary.
LEARNING STYLES:
Questionnaire to determine learning preferences in ranked order: (visual, aural, read/write, kinesthetic). Also, has helpful study strategies that apply to each preference, as well as the majority of the population with more than one preference (multimodal.)
ESL STUDENTS – COMPREHENSIVE SITES:
English Language Resource Center
Bergen Community College (NJ) with over 100 links to ESL sites for: all levels and skills, sites by topic (grammar and writing, listening, pronunciation, reading and vocabulary), dictionaries and other tools.
HUGE site with over 200 sites for both students and instructors, categorized by need and topic: Reading (including online books); Listening materials (including interactive quizzes and activities); Vocabulary lists; Spelling and grammar quizzes; online grammar books and dictionaries; ESL blogs, podcasts, and Discussion Forums.
ESL Website for Students and Teachers
An instructor’s website for student and teachers, offering sample essays at various levels and featuring advice fromm international students that can be used to prepare writing center tutors. If you click “For Teachers,” and then “For University Students,” you will find his ESL writing course for undergraduates. It offers several writing assignments, as well as tips for editing papers and for taking in-class essay exams.
ESL Partyland
This site offers some “student pages” and a “teacher side.” Advice is given on teaching grammar, on developing integrated skills, and on using film and the internet to mentor student learning.
This site helps address some of the needs of adult learners. While this site offers links to many lesson plans, the emphasis is on practical and workplace communication. Those in search of vocabulary can read “100 Free Short Stories.” There is a large section dedicated to immigration rules and services. Attention is paid to ESP, English for Special Purposes.
