ESL Study Skills academic English support
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Key information
Key information
- Attendance mode
- Part-time, face to face, online
- Location
- Russell Square, College Buildings
Course overview
English as a Second Language (ESL) Study Skills (formerly known as In-sessional) operates from Learning Teaching Enhancement in CG01 (ground floor near the library) from LTE intranet pages.
It helps International Students with Academic English, especially with the four skills of writing, reading, speaking and listening and with grammar. ESL Study Skills works as part of Study Skills which provides academic support to all students at SOAS. It exists to support international students with English as a Second or Additional Language who are new to UK university learning, teaching and assessment approaches.
Some international students may be unfamiliar with the UK argument essay, or newer types of assessment- podcasts, blogs, book reviews or video essays, for example.
There are four main ways ESL Study Skills support is available once a student has enrolled:
- Workshops (open to all)
- 4 week classroom based courses with small class sizes either on campus
- 1-1 tutorials given over 30 minute sessions (by invitation)
- Online materials to access for independent study (open to all)
More information can be found from the LTE intranet pages.
These are free of charge and non-credit bearing and no formal assessments are made. They exist to support international students on their academic journey and are open to all students for whom English is not the first language.
Who should apply
Foundation Year, Undergraduate, taught Postgraduate, Online Learning, Postgraduate Research, Visiting Research are all eligible if the student is ESL (IFCELS students currently do not have access to these courses). At -the start of term, the EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Lead at LTE will contact students who might be interested in taking these courses and invite them to apply.
More about the provision
1. Workshops
The online workshops are advertised on the intranet pages and students are invited to register for these. They will cover the four skill areas of writing, reading, speaking and listening as well as sometimes grammar. These exist alongside the regular Study Skills workshops.
Workshops are a combination of lecture style input and workshop activities. Q&A is encouraged.
2. Classroom-based courses
The classroom based courses run three times a year. These are for smaller groups of about 10 students and take place in person on campus. They are 2 hours per week once a week for 4 week periods.
Classes are designed to encourage free and open discussion with the teacher and other students, to stimulate questioning and critical thinking within a supportive environment. They are a unique opportunity to meet and work alongside students from different disciplines, and backgrounds, which will often cross-fertilize.
Block 1 is semester 1 weeks 2-5 (4 weeks)
Block 2 is semester 1 weeks 6-9 (4weeks)
Block 3 is semester 2 weeks 2-5 (4weeks)
These courses do not run during reading weeks or holidays.
3. ESL 1-1 tutorials
Students can take 4x 1-1 tutorials per semester in focused 30-minute sessions with an Academic Tutor.
4. Online courses
Online self-study provision is self-access and available from the LTE ESL Study Skills intranet pages all year round and are open to all. These are independent self-study lessons which take about 1-2 hrs to complete for each lesson, with 4-6 of these lessons per Moodle module.
Office hours
Neil Robbie is available in CG01 in person at various times on Mondays, Wednesdays and is contactable via Teams either chat or 0207 898 4815. Please contact Neil at lteinfo@soas.ac.uk prior to visiting to be sure of an appointment if you want to talk about what support you may need.
Further reading
Structure
Calendar
They are not timetabled like your other courses, so you need to make a note of any courses you are accepted on in your personal calendar. You need to know your academic timetable in full before applying. The courses aim to support you in your academic programmes so work around their structure.
Important notice
The information on the website reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. The modules are indicative options of the content students can expect and are/have been previously taught as part of these programmes.
However, this information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.
Teaching and learning
Moodle
Moodle offers a variety of online materials for I support which are accessible from the ESL Study Skills intranet pages. These can be accessed once you are enrolled.
Also the Skills for Success Moodle pages and English for Academic Purposes Moodle pages are recommended for your independent learning.
Fees and funding
Free and non credit-bearing ESL Study Skills courses are open to the following part-time and full-time SOAS student groups:
- Certificate and Diploma students (including online learning)
- Doctoral students
- Foundation Year students
- Postgraduate students (including online learning)
- Study Abroad students
- Undergraduate students
- Visiting Research Students
- ESL Study Skills courses are not open to IFCELS students, or SOAS staff (unless they are enrolled on a SOAS course), however the intranet and Moodle based materials are available for any with access to use.
