Multilingual Students

Bryn Mawr College offers specialized writing courses for multilingual students. 

• WRIT 120: Workshop for Multilingual Writers
  • This full-credit course is offered in the fall. It is a great companion course for first year students as they write for their Emily Balch Seminars. The course covers the basics of college level academic writing in English.
  • Placement: Before entering their first semester in college, international students complete a placement process, which includes a Reading & Writing Task and a Writing Inventory. The Reading & Writing Task is an analytical response to a short reading. Students have 2 hours to write and no preparation is required. The Writing Inventory is a short survey to be completed after the Reading & Writing Task. It will ask you to reflect on questions related to your writing and language skills and experience. After Writing Program faculty have reviewed your Reading & Writing Task and Writing Inventory answers, the Program Director will email students about their placement. There are three placement options: Workshop for Multilingual Writers (WRIT 120), regular scheduled meetings with a peer Writing Partner through the Writing Center, or as-needed meetings with writing center tutors and the Director of Multilingual Writing.
  • The window to complete the placement (Reading & Writing Task and Writing Inventory) for incoming international students in the summer 2026 is listed below:
    • Online (Moodle) | Tuesday (June 30th) - Friday (July 10th)
  • Three Placement Information Sessions will be offered in June, and incoming multilingual students are highly encouraged to attend at least one of them:
    • Tuesday, June 16, 8 PM EDT
    • Wednesday, June 17, 9 AM EDT
    • Monday, June 22, 1 PM EDT
  • All international students will receive an email from the Director of Multilingual Writing by June 15. This email will share important information about Placement.
  • WRIT 120 is open to all multilingual students. If you are a multilingual student who is not required to attend International Student Orientation and you would like to be considered for admission to WRIT 120, please email the Director of Multilingual Writing.
  • Incoming multilingual students are also encouraged to schedule a one-on-one meeting with the Director of Multilingual Writing for introductions and to discuss writing goals for the upcoming year.
• WRIT 220: Multilingualism in the US
  • This full-credit course is offered every other spring. This writing course is intended for multilingual students, and it explores contemporary topics on multilingualism in the US with an intersection of perspectives from linguistics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and education. It is designed for students interested in gaining a deeper understanding of some of the linguistic and cultural groups that make up US society and the issues that surround and confound them.
• WRIT 230: In Other Words: Editing for Multilingual Writers
  • This course is offered every other spring. It introduces students to the theory and practice of editing, publishing, and writing in multilingual contexts. Focusing on the work of multilingual writers, students will develop skills in developmental editing, copyediting, and revision while examining how language, identity, and audience shape written communication across cultures. Through hands-on editorial work, students will collaboratively produce an issue of In Other Words, a digital publication featuring multilingual translations. Course topics include language difference and World Englishes, code-switching, translation, peer review, genre conventions, and professional publishing practices. Students will compose, revise, and edit texts for diverse audiences while gaining experience in the full process of publication, from proposal to final piece. 

Multilingual students have two options for one-on-one writing support:

• Peer Writing and Speaking Tutors
• One-on-One Consultations with the Director of Multilingual Writing 

There are additional resources for support with classes, assignment beyond writing, and academics in general.

Peer Writing and Speaking Tutors

Specially trained students are available for one-on-one meetings to help with all your writing projects, as well as your oral presentations, thesis defenses, interviews, poster presentations, class discussion skills, visual aids, and more! Make an appointment or walk-in at the Writing Center. Online appointments are available through the Writing Center's online system. Make an Appointment

One-on-One Consultations

Schedule an appointment with the Director of Multilingual Writing, Kelly Frantz, to discuss questions regarding adjustment to the US academic system, multilingual writing, reading strategies, how to participate in class discussion, how to make continued progress in English communication, and any other concerns. You can also email Kelly at kfrantz@brynmawr.edu. 

Stay tuned for announcements about 2026-2027 workshops!

ACADEMIC WRITING CONVENTIONS

•  Writing for Success  "Writing for Success is an open-source text that provides instruction in steps, builds writing, reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition."
• A Writer's Guide to Mindful Reading "[This open-source book offers] a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction by focusing on reading and writing, A Writer's Guide to Mindful Reading supports students as they become more reflective, deliberate, and mindful readers and writers by working within a metacognitive framework."
• They Say/I Blog  A companion site to the book They Say/I Say, which is a core text in WRIT 190. Using templates and thinking about logical moves can help you to master academic style. 
• Purdue’s Online Writing Lab General writing, discipline-specific, and ESL-related content
• Sheryl Holt’s YouTube Channel Academic writing video tutorials created by a TESOL specialist 

DOCUMENTING YOUR SOURCES: CITATION & FORMATTING STYLES

•  Purdue's Online Writing Lab: Research and Citation Styles

VOCABULARY & DICTIONARIES

• Merriam-Webster Monolingual Dictionary
• Dictionary.com
• The Idioms
• Online Collocation Dictionary
• Manchester Academic Phrasebank

GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

• English Grammar Guide 
• Grammar Troublespots: An Editing Guide for Student Writers. 3rd Ed. This book gives a good, quick review of the most frequent errors, and can be found in the reference section of Canaday Library. 

US ACADEMIC CONVENTIONS

• Ways to Participate in Class 

If you can't find what you are looking for, please contact us.

Explore information relevant to multilingual and/or international graduate students specifically.

Multilingual graduate students can contact Kelly, the Director of Multilingual Writing (kfrantz@brynmawr.edu), who can provide support with questions regarding adjustment to the US academia as a graduate student, writing in genres for a specific audience and purpose, reading strategies, how to make continued progress in English communication, and any other concerns. In these one-on-one consultations, you can get support with:

• class assignments
• abstract and journal paper writing
• conference presentations
• thesis and dissertation writing
• scholarship essay and grant writing
• preparing material for the job market
• any other concerns you may have as a multilingual writer

Email Kelly (kfrantz@brynmawr.edu) or schedule a one-on-one appointment. 

Academic Support

• LITS (Library & Information Technology Services) 
• Canday Library
• Registrar
• Writing Center
• Q Center
• Haverford Peer Tutoring 
• Office of Academic Support   
• Peer Mentors
•  Peer Tutors Dean's Office  (Seeing Your Dean)
•  Access Services

Health & Wellness

• Counseling Services 
• Health & Wellness Center 
• Dining Services

International & Multicultural Experience

• International Student and Scholar Advising
• The Impact Center
• Enid Cook '31 Center 
• Global Bryn Mawr Office

Other

• Residential Life 
• Mailroom 
• Campus Safety 
• Career and Civic Engagement Center