If you are planning to use the facilities and services at the Center for English Language Support, it is important that you carefully read and understand the Center Guidelines. After reading the Guidelines, take the quiz on the right to see how much you remember. Be sure to read the feedback.
| ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SERVICES OF THE CENTER FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUPPORT |
| Lab hours are a requirement for students taking EAP 121and 131 to pass course. Students in EAP 121 are required 12 hours or more, while students in EAP 131 are required 15 hours or more. The services of the Center for English Language Support are also available for every John Jay student whose native language is other than English. However, they should be prepared to make a commitment to coming to the Center regularly. |
| FINDING OUT HOW MANY HOURS YOU HAVE SPENT IN THE CENTER |
| The hours you spend in the Center for English Language Support are recorded either on the clipboard at the front desk for computer work, or on the instructors' clipboard if you've had an individual appointment. At the end of each month, these hours are tallied and reported to your professor. |
| MAKING AN APPOINTMENT FOR A TUTORIAL SESSION |
| You can make an appointment with one of the Center Assistants at the front door, or with an instructor who is not seeing students at the time. Try and make your appointment early; this way you are more likely to get the day and time you want. If you can’t find an appointment for the exact day or hour you wish, ask for a different time. Depending on how busy we are, allow 3-5 minutes for making an appointment. |
| MAKING MULTIPLE APPOINTMENTS |
| You can only make one appointment at a time. Once you have come to your tutorial session, you can immediately book the next one – even for the same week. If your circumstances require that you make multiple appointments, you need to talk to Xiomara Rozon, the Assistant Director of the Center, to get permission. If you book multiple appointments without permission, we reserve the right to cancel your second appointment. |
| CANCELING A TUTORIAL SESSION |
| If you can’t come for your tutorial session, call the number on the bottom of your appointment slip (212-237-8231) to cancel. When you leave a message or talk to one of us, give your name, the date and time of the appointment you are canceling and the name of the instructor. Cancel before 9:30 a.m. on the day of your appointment or in the case of afternoon/evening appointments, at least 3 hours before. If you fail to call and cancel your appointment, you will be asked to attend a workshop before you can book tutorial sessions again. In the meantime, you can always take a cancelation posted daily on the notice board. |
| TAKING A CANCELED APPOINTMENT |
| Daily canceled appointments are posted on the notice board at the front desk. You can take a canceled appointment even if you already have an appointment or you have missed an appointment without canceling it. |
| COMING TO A TUTORIAL SESSION ON TIME |
| Make sure you come to your appointment on time. If you are more than 15 minutes late, your appointment might be given to another student who is waiting for a cancelation. |
| PREPARING FOR A TUTORIAL SESSION |
| Come to your tutorial session with an essay, assignment or questions. Bring an essay and we will help you improve it: explain the origin of your errors, help you make changes, or teach you some rules of grammar. Bring an assignment and we will get you started: help you understand the question, direct you to sources, and plan the organization of your paper. Bring your questions, and we will show you how to tackle them: we give you explanations, show you reference materials and provide you with practice exercises. Do not come unprepared to the tutorial session. |
| DURING A TUTORIAL SESSION |
| During a tutorial session, we work with the essay that you bring to us, but we do not re-write it for you. Our goal is to teach you the skills that you need to produce better writing on your own: the skills to plan, structure, develop, edit and proofread your essays. Depending on the amount and the quality of your writing, one tutorial session may address a whole essay or just parts of the essay. Listen to the instructor carefully, take notes and ask questions. The instructor might explain composition principles or grammar rules that help you improve your essay. He or she might also give you further practice exercises in a specific area. At the end of your tutorial session, you will be given a summary of what you have completed during the session and the instructor will also make suggestions for further work. |
| AFTER A TUTORIAL SESSION |
| If you haven’t signed the attendance records at the beginning of the session, do it now. Do not leave without certifying with your signature that you were present for the appointment. After your tutorial, you might want to stay and work on the computers to practice a grammar point or complete your essay. You should also think ahead and book your next appointment now. |
| SIGNING UP FOR A WORKSHOP |
| Workshops are announced during class visits, on flyers outside the Center’s entrance and on our website (http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~esl)You can sign up for workshops at the front door by filling out a registratio form. If the workshop is already full, you can get on the waiting list. If you are on the waiting list, come to the workshop, and you will be admitted in the place of students who cancel or do not show up on time. |
| CANCELING A WORKSHOP |
| If you can’t come to a workshop, call the number on the bottom of your workshop registration form (212-237-8231) to cancel. This allows other students who are on the waiting list to get into the workshop. |
| ATTENDING A WORKSHOP |
| Arrive on time, better yet, five minutes early. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you will not be allowed in the workshop room – this would disrupt the other students. In this case, we can set you up with practice exercises on the computer or if there is a canceled appointment on the board, you may wish to take it. |
| USING THE COMPUTERS IN THE CENTER |
| You can type your papers, do Internet research or practice your grammar or vocabulary on the Center computers. For private email or non-academic Internet searches, use one of the public computer lounges on campus. You don’t have to make an appointment to use the Center computers, but you do have to sign in at the front desk. The assistants will ask you your name and class and also what you intend to do on the computer. They will ask you to inform them if you change activities. They will periodically check to see how you are progressing and to make sure that you are not having problems. If you experience any computer malfunctions, please report it to the Center Assistants. |