For at least 15 percent of Colby students, English is not the first language. These English Language Learners (ELL) bring vitality and diversity to the Colby campus; they are an asset to our learning community academically, culturally, and socio-economically. Many ELL students come to the U.S. from challenging circumstances and, as a result, provide excellent role models of character and perseverance for their American peers. All have strong intellectual skills that brought them to Colby. For some, however, mastery of academic English is an ongoing process that may lesson their ability to demonstrate their critically thinking skills fully in written assignments, especially if they are struggling with reading comprehension of long and complex course texts. For faculty members, this gap between intellectual and English-language skills can pose pedagogical challenges. The Writers’ Center offers several ELL-related services for faculty and students. Faculty may borrow books on ELL pedagogy from our loan repository; they may discuss ELL issues directly with Director Paula Harrington; they may attend a workshop on ELL pedagogy offered through the Writers’ Center; and they may recommend that ELL students enroll in English 112, a one-on-one non-graded tutoring course available each semester. (See Course and Programs for a complete course description). Advisors of ELL students should also consider recommending English 112 when appropriate. In addition, the Writers’ Center is making it a priority to recruit and train ELL students, and several have joined our tutoring staff.
For more information on any of these services, please contact Paula Harrington or Adan Hussain in the Writers’ Center.
