Third Voices for the New Century Conference

The Experimental Ponds Facility is available through rental agreements for both short and long term research projects. The facility is primarily used by Cornell University affiliated teaching and research faculty and staff, although it can be rented by other non-profit, educational and research organizations provided these uses are compatible with the other users.

Speaking Courses

ELSO 6210 Improving Pronunciation: When we think about pronunciation, we often think about individual sounds, but other features of speech are often more important for making oneself understood. These features, such as pausing, intonation and stress, make up the melody of English. By the end of this course, students will increase their awareness of and control over the aspects of spoken English that most affect intelligibility, gain confidence for being understood by listeners, and develop strategies for more self-directed learning beyond the course.

ELSO 6220 Taking Part in Discussions: In academia, students participate in discussions to share knowledge, create new knowledge, and challenge ideas. This course gives students strategies and practice working in range of discussion contexts, from one-on-one to planning and leading class discussions. By the end of this course, students will have learned strategies for preparing for, entering in, responding to, and leading different types of discussions, as well as gain more confidence to assert their voices.  

ELSO 6230 Designing and Delivering Effective Presentations: Whether presenting for seminars, journal club meetings, conferences, or in classes, being comfortable presenting is an essential part of graduate studies. This course will provide students with strategies for preparing and delivering presentations that are clear, compelling, persuasive, concise, and visually effective, as well as offer opportunities to practice delivering presentations in front of a supportive audience.

Writing Courses

ELSO 6510 Writing, Revising, and Editing: During this course, students focus on one writing project while learning strategies for developing a more effective writing process, engaging in peer review, and using features of academic style. By the end of this course, students will be writing in English with more ease, have a range of writing strategies, be more familiar with writing resources at Cornell and online, and be better prepared to face their next writing project.

ELSO 6520 Strategies for Writing in Your Field: One of the greatest challenges of graduate school is learning the writing practices of your discipline: learning how to write with the processes, in the structures and styles, and with the rhetorical moves favored by the field. How do people learn to write as “disciplinary insiders” when writing for the field is so infrequently taught? This course introduces strategies for learning discipline-specific writing: such as learning from experienced writers in the field, identifying resources that support writing in their field, and answering questions about writing through the analysis of published texts in the field.

ELSO 6530 Becoming a Better Editor of Your Writing: This course introduces a range of strategies for identifying and addressing issues related to organization, syntax, style, usage, and grammar.  Students apply these strategies to texts that they have already written or are currently working on (e.g. research paper, thesis, dissertation chapter). By the end of this course, students will have more awareness of the choices writers make as they work at the paragraph, sentence, and word level to communicate clearly to readers.

ELSO 6540 Advanced Academic Writing--Writing with Sources: To write academic papers with sophistication, you must know how to write effectively with sources--how to read papers strategically, take effective notes, integrate source material into your prose, and build an argument based on sources. This course focuses on strategies related to writing with sources, which you may apply directly to a current project, such as a proposal, research paper, or thesis. By the end of this course, you will understand how to effectively use source material in your writing while avoiding plagiarism and keeping your voice in the forefront.

ELSO 6580 Research Paper Writers Workshop: This course is designed to assist international graduate and professional students in making progress on writing a research paper (i.e. articles for publications, dissertation chapters, seminar papers, and conference papers) by providing structured writing time, access to resources, and a supportive peer community. Students will learn strategies for writing about research, writing in English with more ease, and planning a writing project. Each week, writers will set and report on writing goals, participate in discussions about research writing, and have the option to use the rest of the class meeting time to write, learn about specific aspects of research writing, exchange peer review, and/or meet with the instructor for individual consultations —whatever would best help them make progress on their research paper. 

ELSO 6590 Thesis and Dissertation Writers Workshop: This course assists international thesis and dissertation writers in making progress by providing structured writing time, access to resources, and a supportive peer community. Students will learn strategies for writing in English with more ease, writing about research, and planning large writing projects. Each week, writers will set and report on writing goals, participate in discussions about writing, and have the option to use class time to write, learn about specific aspects of research writing, exchange peer review, and/or meet with the instructor for individual consultations —whatever would best help them make progress on their thesis or dissertation. (This course is enrolled by permission of the instructor. To apply for spring 2019, click here.)

Courses on Professional Writing and the Job Search

ELSO 6610 Writing for Professionals: This course is designed for international graduate students who will need to write in English in professional contexts. Students will learn strategies for planning, developing, and editing professional documents, including email communications, memos, and proposals. Students will engage in individual and team projects as well as investigate professional writing practices in their fields. By the end of this course, students will have a better understanding of the cultural and linguistic features of professional writing and better prepared to write in English in the workplace.

ELSO 6620 Preparing for the Professional Job Search: This course introduces a series of professional job application steps, including giving elevator pitches, networking, searching for jobs, interpreting job ads, attending job fairs, making digital profiles, writing resumes and cover letters, interviewing, and becoming familiar with relevant resources. By the end of this course, students will be aware of the different dimensions of applying for professional jobs, including their cultural and linguistic implications.  This course will be useful to students to develop their job application documents and skills.

ELSO 6630 Preparing for the Academic Job Search: This course is designed to assist international graduate students prepare to apply for academic positions. Students will learn strategies for planning an academic job search, developing application materials (i.e. CVs, application letters, teaching statements, teaching portfolios, and research statements), and preparing for first- and second-stage interviews. By the end of this course, students will have a better understanding of the overall academic job search process and drafts of several application documents.  This course would be useful to students who are just starting to become acquainted with the academic job search process as well as those preparing to apply for positions the following fall.

ELSO courses provide space for multilingual and international multilingual graduate and professional students to learn strategies, practice skills, make progress toward their own goals, receive feedback from experienced instructors, and form community with peers from across Cornell in a supportive setting. ELSO courses are not required but are self-selected by students who want to excel as writers, speakers, and English users across academic and professional contexts and fields. 

We encourage students to look over sample course syllabus in our Canvas site (“English Support for Multilingual Graduate and Professional Students”) to determine if a course is right for you.

Questions about ELSO programs may be emailed to the ELSO email account.