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English for Academic Purposes Program

Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

Student Resources

The university environment can be challenging, with numerous competing demands and seemingly high stakes. Couple these stressors with being far from home and working in a linguistic and cultural landscape potentially very different from what you are accustomed to. Sometimes, these challenges can affect student learning and success. EAP is here to support you where we can. Explore these resources to help you achieve academic success.

 

10 Tips for Studying Online

A girl working remotely at a laptop by a window

The GW English for Academic Purposes Program developed these tips primarily for international students who were learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic, but much of the information applies to any student taking online classes.
 

10 Tips for International Students Studying Online at GW

 

GW Language and Academic Support

 

  • GW Libraries Resources for International Students
    Explore on-campus libraries and online research databases including academic support, language support, international services and getting involved on campus.
  • GW Libraries Events
    GW Libraries hold free events and workshops for students throughout the semester.
  • Writing Center
    Get free tutoring for writing and research projects. Writing Center tutors help students brainstorm ideas and structure arguments and they teach students how to edit and proofread their own essays.
  • University Writing Program
    Learn more about GW's writing requirements and find related resources and opportunities.
  • Language Center
    Find resources and practice activities for international students.
  • Everyday English Program
    Join weekly meetings with fellow international students and native English speakers to speak and practice English. This program is hosted by the Language Center.

 

  • Language Exchange
    Pair up with one other student to practice. The Language Exchange connects one international student studying English with one American student studying the international student's language.
  • Global Resources Center
    Explore research resources based on regions of the world. The center has print and digital resources like English-language and foreign-language newspapers, journals, magazines, statistical publications, maps, atlases, U.S. and foreign government documents and other materials.
  • Center for Undergraduate Fellowship and Research
    Find research opportunities and national fellowship competitions (open to current students and alumni).
  • Library Guide for International Students
    If you are new to using the GW Libraries website, use this guide as an introduction to GW Libraries for international students.
  • Academic Commons
    Book peer tutoring or review sessions, research and writing help, step-by-step study strategies, language support and more.
  • CCAS Undergraduate Advising
    Get assistance from your Columbian College academic advisor to navigate declaring a major or minor and other academic support.

Resources by Topic

  • Harvard Strategies for Essay Writing: Advice on fundamental elements of academic writing such as essay structure, developing a thesis, outlining, transitioning and revising.
  • UNC Handouts on Academic Writing: This website has resources for writing papers, making citations, specific writing assignments, and how to write for specific academic fields.
  • Writing an Effective Thesis Statement: This handout defines “thesis statement,” how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.
  • Reorganizing a Draft: This handout gives strategies to help you rethink your draft’s organization.
  • Harvard Guide to Using Sources: This website covers the topics: Why Use Sources, Locating Sources, Evaluating Sources, Integrating Sources, Citing Sources, and Avoiding Plagiarism.
  • Research and Citation: Links to resources regarding Conducting Research, Using Research, APA Style, MLA Style, Chicago Manual of Style, and American Medical Association Style.
  • Citing Information: This site is designed to introduce you to citing information in a variety of citation styles.
  • Annotated Bibliographies: This handout explains why annotated bibliographies are useful for researchers, provides an explanation of what constitutes an annotation, describes various types of annotations and styles for writing them, and offers multiple examples of annotated bibliographies in the MLA, APA, and CBE/CSE styles of citation.
  • Citation Chasing: This is a help video from the GW Libraries website that will teach you how to find books and articles through sources you already have.
  • Finding an Article with the Citation: This shows the step by step process of how to find an article in the GW Libraries database.
  • How to Choose a Subject Specific Database: This is a tutorial from GW Libraries showing you how to find the appropriate library databases for your research needs.
  • Research: From Selecting a Topic to Writing the Bibliography: Use this GW Libraries guide for assistance with all aspects of the research process.
  • Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid It: This guide defines plagiarism, shows how avoid it and how to demonstrate academic integrity.
  • University of Manchester's Academic Phrasebank: The Academic Phrasebank is a general resource for academic writers. It provides examples of some of the most commonly used phrases in writing, organized according to the main sections of a research paper or dissertation.
  • Merriam-Webster: The dictionary by Merriam-Webster is America's most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation.
  • Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary: The most popular dictionary and thesaurus for learners of English. It has definitions and meanings of words with pronunciations and translations.
  • The Academic Word List: This list contains 570 advanced word families which will help take your academic English writing to the university level.
  • UEfAP Academic Word List: This is a list of about 3000 academic English vocabulary words grouped into families based on the most frequently used headword in the family.
  • Corpus of Contemporary American English: The corpus contains more than 560 million words of text and it is equally divided among spoken, fiction, popular magazines, newspapers, and academic texts.
  • The Sound of English: Helps ESL students improve their English pronunciation. It is also has great information to help with spelling and reading.
  • English Pronunciation/Listening: This site has links to resources for speaking, listening, and pronunciation.
  • Phonetics: The Sounds of American English: Sounds of Speech provides a comprehensive understanding of how each of the speech sounds of American English is formed. It includes animations, videos, and audio samples that describe the essential features of each of the consonants and vowels of American English.

Open Educational Resources From GW Libraries

Refer to these handouts on common writing guidance.

  • Asking a Professor for a Letter of Recommendation (PDF): See useful advice on how to handle conversations that require you to move outside of the comfort zone with established authority figures like professors.
  • Tips for Emailing Your Professor (PDF): This Inside Higher Ed article offers guidance on email etiquette for students and professors.
  • A Humorous Guide to Emailing a Professor: If you prefer some mirth in your pedagogy, check out this resource about how to email people in authority in a respectful way that facilitates communication.
  • Key Terms About Writing (PDF): Talking about writing can be tricky, especially if you have never taken a class that focuses on the metalanguage of writing. This resource helps explain what professors mean when they talk about concepts like "the writing process" or "editing versus revising."
  • Understanding Writing Prompts: This resource from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab helps de-code writing prompts. While your professors may feel they are being very clear in their expectations and tasks, common jargon can be less clear, especially to multicultural and first-generation students.