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Bilingual Writing Centers


The Bilingual Writing Center (BWC) expands upon the English and Spanish Writing Center Pilot projects (EWC and SWC respectively) and the Writing in the Disciplines Initiative (WID) that began in 2005, 2007, and 2004 respectively. The BWC components have an emphasis in the development of writing as a professional and global skill. To meet the needs of the university student population, both the EWC and SWC effectively use peer tutoring to help students with their writing needs. Student tutors work with students on individual and group bases by providing one-on-one, group, and referral tutoring services to help students create coherent texts in all disciplines. Professors can elect to send individual students or groups to the Center for group tutoring whenever necessary. Both centerVision:
Writing in the Disciplines endeavors to contribute to the academic and professional growth of the institutional community of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and furnish them with the necessary resources to enhance their skills in effective communication.
 
Mission and Goals:
Writing in the Disciplines (WID) is aware that the majority of students at UPRM speak English as a Second Language (ESL) and therefore, its mission includes the following objectives:
  • To enrich the students’ academic and professional growth in communication skills.
  • To facilitate interdisciplinary activities focused on reading critically, organizing thoughts, writing concisely, listening constructively, and orally conveying ideas successfully.
  • To offer workshops for students to cultivate communication skill in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
  • To offer training workshops to professors, graduate students, and tutors in a variety of communication strategies.
  • To create and promote relevant communication (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) modules for the ESL community.
Modules Developed for Writing in the Disciplines
  • Evaluating and Distinguishing Primary and Secondary Source Material: http://cnx.org/content/m40972/latest/ 
  • Prepositions of Time and Place: http://cnx.org/content/m38593/latest/ 
  • Pronoun Antecedent Agreement:  http://cnx.org/content/m38606/latest/
  • The Six Tenses of Simple and Perfect: http://cnx.org/content/m38628/latest/ 
Links to other recommended websites, blogs, etc. 
  • Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL):  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ 
  • Writing @ CSU: http://writing.colostate.edu/ 
  • National Writing Project: http://www.nwp.org/ 
  • Dave’s ESL Café: http://www.eslcafe.com/
  • Activities for ESL Students: http://a4esl.org/ 
  • Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab: http://www.esl-lab.com/