Development and Implementation of a Dedicated ESL Tutorial Stream in Level One Engineering
In response to concerns about the written and oral communication skills of the growing number of non-English speaking background students, the Monash University Engineering Faculty for many years provided a weekly language and academic writing adjunct class linked to a level one unit, Engineering Profession. This unit is a project based introduction to the engineering profession with a strong focus on the development of communication skills. In 2006 the adjunct ESL class was expanded into a full credit bearing tutorial within the unit. In addition to the mainstream tutorial content, students receive an extra two hours of intensive coaching in report structure, academic writing, English grammar and oral presentation skills. Teaching materials and learning activities are based on actual assessment tasks and examination requirements. In this paper, the development, structure and core activities of the ESL stream tutorials are described, and student feedback is reviewed to identify factors essential to success.