English Language Institute
2002Newsletter
From the director's desk . .
  ELI joins CHEP  
  Scholarships for Peace  
  Scholarship designated for Central American students  
  Conditional Admissions Program provides linguistic and legal bridge  
  Congratulations to CAP graduates  
  Federal grant partnership with U.S. and Ecuador law schools continues  
  ELI trains Ukrainian legal and business professionals  
  American Law and Legal Institute  
  Special programs  
  PreMBA program  
  New class: Broadway Musicals  
  Sewin' at Shoin  
  Corporate tutoring  
  Evening program steams ahead  
  Profiles  
  Classroom notes  
  A typical day in the tutoring center  
  ELI founder to retire  
  Professional activities  
  Graduation 2002: as good as it gets  
  Two countries, maybe more, under one roof  
  New faces in the Christina School District ESL program  
  Evaluation of the Christina School District bilingual program  
  Personnel notes  
  In memoriam  
  Greetings to our alumni  
  Alumni news  

A typical day in the Tutoring Center

The Tutoring Center, providing one-on-one or small group instruction, remains a popular place for ELI students to get help.

cooking lesson
Students from Brazil, Japan and Korea created a colorful antipasto with Linda Bigler, Tutoring Center Coordinator and occasional cooking workshop teacher.

"Sometimes it's hard to ask [a question] in class," said student Chie Kitakami, "so we can ask our tutors."

Students usually have clear ideas of what they would like to work on each hour, frequently dividing the time between different tasks in order to take advantage of the individual time with a trained instructor. But just what kinds of questions do students typically ask in the Tutoring Center? To find out, tutors were asked to document the kind of assistance students requested during one day last summer.

Of the 47 students who visited the Tutoring Center that day, four were beginning level (I and II), 24 were intermediate (Levels III and IV) and 21 were advanced students (Levels V and VI).

The four beginning level students all needed help with homework, primarily with grammar.

The most common questions from the intermediate-level students also concerned grammar (9), with smaller numbers of students asking for help with writing revisions (4), oral presentations (5), reading and vocabulary (4) and cultural questions (4).

Advanced students were most likely to spend time revising an essay they had written (7), with the second most frequent activity speaking and pronunciation practice (5). Other questions concerned grammar (4) and preparation for presentations or debates (3), and a few wanted some personal counseling (3).

"I'm always impressed by how hard the students work," said tutor Isabel Whitaker.