English as a Second Language > Tutoring

WEEKLY TUTORING APPOINTMENTS AND DROP-IN HOURS:

Working with a tutor gives students the opportunity to get personalized feedback, and to focus on specific linguistic skills and language functions. Many students find that it is particularly helpful to discuss cultural issues in language use during their tutoring appointments. A student may participate in the tutoring program only, or may use the tutoring services in addition to an ESL class.

Students are assigned to meet with a tutor in a small group of up to four students once a week for an entire academic quarter. Each session lasts one hour. At the first session, you will work with the tutor to develop a plan of study for the quarter. You will need to come prepared to discuss your strengths and weakness. Students direct their own learning, choosing the activities they would like to pursue. Activities might include SPEAK test preparation, mock interviews, reviewing written work to find patterns of errors, cultural discussion, or practice in conversation, pronunciation, listening, and giving presentations. All appointments are conducted in the tutoring rooms on the second floor of the Department of Linguistics.

To sign up for a tutoring small group, you must fill out a tutoring application form and submit it to the ESL program. The application forum can be found on our tutoring application page. If a student misses more than one tutoring appointment without notice, or misses more than three appointments total, his or her appointment will be given to another student.

If you don't have time to meet with a tutor every week, try our weekly office hours instead. Our tutors are available during certain hours of the week to work with any student who needs help. No appointment is needed to meet with the tutor, and you do not have to be enrolled in our classes or tutoring program to attend office hours. Students can meet with the tutor for up to 30 minutes at one time. If more than one student is waiting to see the tutor, the tutor may offer to do a group lesson, or meet with students on-on-one for a shorter amount of time. Current times for office hours are posted each quarter on our Office Hours page.

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