Bridging the Gap: How English for Professionals courses aid international engineers
As both lecturer and master lecturer, respectively, in the Engineering Writing Program and American Language Institute, I have worked with many international engineering students at USC (home of award-winning engineering publication, Illumin). To my knowledge, engineers sometimes find it difficult explaining key concepts to non-specialists, and speaking English as a second language often adds to...
Read MorePracticing Interview Skills, Staging a Mock Job Interview and Self Evaluation
Finding work is not always an easy thing, particularly in an uncertain economy such as that of the United States. But how does one get a job? Research, self-nomination, and persistence are common paths that lead to job interviews. Our students, naturally, find the prospect of interviewing for a competitive job an intimidating prospect. We can reduce their justified anxiety by teaching a...
Read MoreChanging Work Titles & Greater Equality
“Habits change into character.” ~Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE), Ancient Roman poet Which is correct: fireman or firefighter? The answer is both! But one has been gaining traction lately, along with many other gender-neutral terms for occupational titles. Here’s why: Many professions were traditionally only open to men. As women have gained greater rights and society has become more...
Read MoreFinding more practical materials at CATESOL
Time flies. Or, as the Romans used to say, “tempus fugit.” Two weeks after the CATESOL 2009 convention in Pasadena ended, I’m finally having a chance to sort through the numerous books, doublecheck website leads, and evaluate materials that I picked up. Sometimes “the eyes are too hungry”, and I went a bit overboard in collecting ESL materials and resources for advanced English language...
Read More
