• General skill development: learn strategies for academic writing and self-editing
• Grammar: learn, review, and practice grammar topics
• Cultural conventions: learn about the expectations of a North American / English audience
• Academic vocabulary: develop an academic word bank
• English Proficiency Test (EPT) preparations: practice for Engineering and Applied Science Students

• Presentation practice: get feedback on a presentation for a course or conference
• Pronunciation: review and practice the sounds of English
• Academic discussions: learn and practice strategies for contributing to class discussions
• Vocabulary: build a spoken academic vocabulary with appropriate idioms and expressions

• Lectures: learn and practice strategies for understanding lectures and conferences
• Comprehension: develop skills to understand spoken English and pull out key ideas
• Active listening: find ways to engage with what your peers and professors are saying

• Comprehension: develop strategies to break down complex academic readings and identify key concepts
• Vocabulary: learn about resources for understanding academic language
• Integrating Research: explore how to effectively integrate ideas from readings into your writing for a North American / English audience

Students who speak English as an additional language can meet with the Academic Skills Specialist (EAL) for ongoing skills development. The purpose of this service is to support students in developing their academic English skills over time. Students may be interested in additionally booking writing or learning strategies appointments. The EAL program helps students develop similar skills as these other two programs, but through the specific lens of English skills development.

These appointments are private and confidential. Appointments are free, and they are available to all current domestic and international students who do not speak English as their first language.

“[The EAL Coordinator] explains things really clearly and made me feel more confident about my English skills. SASS and EAL made my graduate studies easier and less stressful. I wish every university had that program.”

The first meeting focuses on discussing your goals for improving your academic English and creating a plan to achieve those goals. You and the coordinator will decide together how many times you should meet and what you will do at each session.

Each appointment is different, to suit each student’s needs, but some typical sessions include:

• Grammar lessons: Students bring in a piece of their writing. The coordinator helps to identify trends of grammatical errors and explains self-editing strategies to fix them. (Note—this is not an editing service.)
• Academic writing development: Students bring in writing and the coordinator helps identify places where meaning is unclear. By discussing word choice, transitions, and sentence structure, students develop their ability to produce writing that effectively communicates critical ideas.
• Pronunciation: Either by going through the sounds of English, one by one, or through speaking exercises, students receive feedback on their English pronunciation.
• Academic reading in English: Students bring in an academic reading and learn, then practice, strategies to support their comprehension of both vocabulary and key ideas.

If you are interested in booking a EAL appointment, please request an introductory appointment. Once you fill out this form, you will receive an email with further instructions on how to access our online booking tool.

You need to fill out this form only once.

Write Nights

• What is it? A chance to learn about and practice English academic writing
• When? Tuesday evenings, 7:30pm-9pm
• Where? Register for Zoom sessions here.

How does it work? Each week, SASS’s EAL Coordinator leads an interactive workshop on a different writing topic, such as articles, critical thinking, or sentence variety. Students can join for the topics which are of interest to them in order to build on writing foundations, evaluate examples, do practice exercises, learn strategies, and ask questions.

“I have benefited a lot from the Write Nights workshops! It was like a course for me. The things I have learned from these workshops helped me to edit the writing myself. Although I still make mistakes, I believe I will be better and better! Everyone there are super dedicated in learning.”

“The Write Nights program was one of the first activities I did after my arrival to Kingston; it really helped me to get engaged in the Queen’s University and to adapt to the new academic environment. It is a perfect space to review the most complex topics in English writing for EAL students and even for practicing conversational English while you are meeting new people. They also provide useful tools and handouts in each class.”

Drop-In EAL Support

• What is it? A drop-in program for academic English homework support
• When? Wednesday evenings, 6pm-8pm
• Where? MS Teams. Drop-in to this program by visiting our events page

How does it work? An EAL assistant will talk with a student for 15 minutes at a time to answer questions, give feedback, and offer strategies. After assisting other students, they will come back to the previous students to check in and answer further questions.

English Conversation Group

• What is it? An opportunity to practice English language conversation skills
• When? Wednesday evenings, 7:30pm-9pm and Thursday evenings, 5:30pm-7pm
• Where? Register for the program here. The Zoom link will be emailed to participants upon registration.

How does it work? Volunteers help guide English conversation with group activities and discussions. There’s a new topic every week. Learn idioms, expressions, and pronunciations in a welcoming environment.

QUIC Social and Cultural Activities

• What are they? Activities at QUIC that offer opportunities to meet other students and practice oral communication skills in a social environment.
• When? Check the QUIC Events Calendar or QUIC Instagram for activities throughout the year
• Where? Activities held virtually

How do they work? QUIC plans social and cultural events throughout the year to engage all students. Examples include trivia and speed-friending.

Grad Writing Lab

• What is it? An opportunity for all graduate students to get writing support
• When? Monday and Thursday mornings, 9am-12pm
• Where? Online (link coming soon)

How does it work? Both domestic and international graduate students can drop in and work on their writing in an online graduate community space. A dedicated academic writing specialist will be available who can help students with writing questions

Oxford English Dictionary: comprehensive, traditional dictionary

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: entries include collocations (i.e. words that go together, like prepositions or common phrases)

Oxford Learner’s Dictionary: entries include definitions, collocations, audio examples of pronunciation, sentence examples, and alternative forms of the word

Linguee: translation tool with concrete examples in both languages, plus examples of the word in external sources

Online Writing Lab, Purdue University: exercises on grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, sentence style, writing numbers, and paraphrasing and summarizing

Punctuation, Oxford Dictionary: explanation of the different punctuation marks and their uses

Grammatical Terms, Grammar Bytes!: printer-friendly explanations of grammatical topics with examples

Exercises, Grammar Bytes!: interactive or printable exercises on various grammatical topics

Verb Tense Chart, Alba English: colour-coded infographic explaining English verb tenses—link automatically downloads PDF of chart

Verb Tenses, Englisch Hilfen: text-based chart explaining English verb tenses—includes conditional tenses

English Spelling, Oxford Dictionary: explanations of tricky spelling trends

Academic Phrasebank, Manchester University: categorized templates of academic phrases to express specific ideas (e.g., “introduce a new topic”)

Understanding Vocabulary in Context, Douglas College: explanation of strategies and corresponding practice exercises

Lexical Notebook, British Council: strategy for creating a new vocabulary notebook

YouGlish: tool that uses YouTube videos on academic / professional / technical topics to show the pronunciation of English words in context

ELC Study Zone, University of Victoria: lessons and practice for English language learners that are categorized by language level—lessons include grammar, reading and listening, and vocabulary

BBC Learning English:

• Intermediate Course: self-guided course with lessons and practice activities on a wide range of English topics
• Tim’s Pronunciation Workshop: short videos explaining pronunciation strategies to become more fluent
• 6-Minute English: short audio clips that introduce new vocabulary through conversation

TED Ed: approximately 5-minute videos with corresponding comprehension questions, discussion questions, and extended reading

Grammar Girl: blog on various grammar and language-related topics

Reading List, Queen’s School of English: suggested fiction for English language learners