International Student Writing Support
What Do Your Professors Expect?
Here at Western, you will be required to write a variety of assignments for your classes. In the Writing Center, we understand that writing in another language is a challenge as you learn what is expected. Here is some of what you need to know:
- You need to write in English for classes.
- You need to write so your professors can understand your language and your content.
- You need to write to American academic standards.
- You need to cite your sources.
- You need writing support.
The Writing Center Can Help
The Writing Center offers one-on-one writing help and skill development workshops to help you improve your writing. We have 12 student tutors, 3 professional tutors, 2 professional staff and 2 faculty members to help you. Our tutors can help you do the following:
- understand the assignment
- brainstorm ideas
- create an outline
- revise your paper
- learn to understand grammatical errors
- learn to self edit
How Can You Make Your Professors Happy?
- Ask questions!
- Make an appointment with a Writing Center tutor
- Attend Writing Center workshops to improve your skills
- Use the following links to improve your knowledge of writing
in English:
- The Online Writing Center at Purdue
- International Student.com
- Build vocabulary
- Check your academic vocabulary
- Improve grammar (use the free tools on this site: do not pay for a subscription)
- Easy Writer: The 20 most common writing errors and other great writing resource
Some other interesting websites
- Al-jamiat.com: A guide for Middle Eastern students attending college in the U.S.
- Study guides and strategies: A very useful website to improve study habits
International Writing Specialist
Jennifer Morris
(503) 838-8259
"Understanding the TOEFL Test: What the Scores Mean" Powerpoint presentation link
Mission
International Students
To help international students adapt to American academic culture, the Writing Center offers the following programs:
- one-on-one tutorials
- developmental writing workshops
- discipline specific writing help through class partnerships
- roundtable discussions
- international First Year Experience course
Faculty
To raise awareness of specific issues related to the writing of international students. we provide resources to promote the success of this student population.
- Partnerships with faculty to plan discipline specific writing help
- Workshops and presentations on issues related to teaching international students
Writing Center
At the Writing Center, we are diversifying our services to accomodate emerging populations at WOU. We are actively researching and focusing our knowledge of international student writing issues to create new directions for writing center theory and practice.