The Writing Center is committed to working with writers of all backgrounds, including those whose first language is not English. Many of our writing consultants are multilingual themselves, so we understand the language learning process and think it’s a valuable resource for writers.
The Writing Center offers three main types of services for Multilingual Writers:
We also have additional language resources on this page.
Read through the descriptions below to learn more about how the Writing Center can help you.
Our appointments are available to all students at OU. One-on-one consultations are a great way to ask questions about and get help with concerns you have about your own individual writing. In addition to appointments in English, our consultants can offer consultations in:
If you would like to make an appointment to speak with a consultant in one of these languages, please contact the Writing Center for assistance. We also have office assistants who speak Sinhala, Tamil, and Urdu, in addition to English.
Many of our events provide skills and advice on topics that may be helpful to multilingual students. These topics can range from citation style resources, to specific genres of academic writing, to grammar and mechanics.
The Writing Center offers writing resources for use by everyone. Some resources focus on grammar-related topics while others focus on larger writing issues. Resources range from printable handouts to video content. We also have downloadable citation style guides for popular citation styles (APA, MLA, and Chicago).
The Writing Center occasionally offers a conversation group dedicated to multilingual students whose first language is not English. The purpose of the group is to provide an informal environment where non-native speakers of English can practice speaking and listening skills while discussing a variety of cultural topics (e.g., sports, weather, food, holidays, education, etc.).
The group runs based upon student interest and the availability of a TESOL-specialist graduate writing consultant. If you are interested in joining an ESL Conversation Group, please contact the Writing Center.
In addition to helping you with your writing, we would like to share the following resources and recommendations. If you have resources you think would be helpful to other members of the OU community, please contact us.
The Writing Center partners with English Training and Certification Services to offer a graduate course: Academic Writing for Multilingual Graduate Students. This free, zero-credit academic writing course invites participants to explore and practice rhetorical approaches for producing written work within U.S. graduate programs. The course is designed for graduate students with multilingual backgrounds at various stages of their master's or doctoral degrees.
Participants will investigate and practice U.S. academic writing conventions and discipline-specific moves, developing their written coherence, individual style, accuracy, and synthesis of sources. Participants will also complete language-focused discussions and analyses of texts, with individual writing time provided to apply learning to authentic writing tasks.
Another element of the course is receiving individual feedback from writing consultants on writing projects (i.e., a dissertation proposal, thesis methodology chapter, conference paper, etc.).
Writing Course Details:
English Training and Certification Services at OU offers many different types of resources for multilingual graduate students and post-docs. They offer certification, training, and support.
Browse their website for language development resources, including resources for: speaking fluency and articulation clarity; listening fluency; and interactional and discourse competence for teaching speech.
OU's International Student Services (ISS) provides advice on issues related to student visas and US immigration regulations, as well as activities and programs to help students get involved in the international, OU, and local communities. As part of ISS, International Community and Programs provides events and cultural activities to support OU’s international student population as well as facilitate cross-cultural exchange on campus.
The Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) offers intensive English language courses on the Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma. CESL prepares students for the university by focusing on English for academic purposes, teaching American culture classes, and practicing American classroom culture. Students who go to CESL are better prepared for all aspects of attending universities in the United States.
There are a variety of resources in and around the Norman and OKC communities related to learning English as an additional language. Below are a few local opportunities.
| Resource | Service | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Norman Public Library | Free English language learning classes and ESL conversation classes | pioneerlibrarysystem.org/library-services/literacy |
| Oklahoma City Community College | Free ESL classes | occcadulted.com |
| OKC Metro Literacy Coalition | Offers free classes at a variety of sites in and around OKC | okcreads.org/esol |
If you know of another local opportunity for multilingual students, please share it with the Writing Center so that we may update this list.
