Bryn Mawr College

For Students

Self-Help

Online Guide to Writing and Research

Resources for Non-Native Speakers of English

Consultations with Betty Litsinger, Lecturer in Writing, available Fall 2008 on Wednesdays from 7pm to 10pm.

Below are some resources for non-native speakers of English. The first three sites are likely to be the most useful for students at Bryn Mawr, but the others are included as additional resources.

Free tutorials for Bryn Mawr students who are non-native speakers of English.

Common ESL Errors Workbook

This site offers an explanation of several of the most common ESL errors found in writing, including singular and plural verb agreement, verb tenses and forms, passive voice, conditionals, articles, gerunds and infinitives, and adjective clauses. Each section explains the error in detail and provides three short self-correcting quizzes to give you practice in identifying and correcting these common errors. In addition, the site offers an overview of “The Elements of Academic Argument” and “Seven Strategies to Improve Your Grammar.”

 

ESL Blues

This site offers both diagnostic tests to determine your problem areas and self-correcting practice quizzes to give you the opportunity to work on common errors in writing.

Georgetown University ’s Writing Center Resources for ESL Students

This site starts with an introduction that discusses the challenges often faced by non-native English speakers in learning to write the traditional American academic essay, including differences in ways of presenting and explaining ideas and differences rhetorical patterns used to express those ideas.

The site also includes handouts on “Sentence-level Errors and How to Fix Them,” “Specific Writing Skills” and “Lessons in Grammar.” The “Resources For ESL Students” page offers a list of links to other ESL writing sites students may find helpful.

 Parts of Speech Review by Gallaudet University

This site provides a review of nouns, pronouns, verbs, conjunctions, adverbs, prepositions, adjectives and interjections, as well as charts that show correct usage of each.

LEO (Literacy Education Online)

This site allows you to search for further information based on the specific ESL problems you are having.

Guide to Grammar and Writing

The following links offer a guide to grammar and writing, as well as over 170 interactive quizzes.

Additional Online Quizzes