Services and Resources

ELSP 1-on-1 Language-Focused Writing Consultations

One-on-one sessions focusing on sentence-level language issues (e.g., grammar, word choice, punctuation).

Students should come to each session with a specific writing assignment as well as a list of aspects of language they wish to work on. The goals of the sessions are to help students identify their individual language issues and to develop and apply self-editing strategies. The consultations are not an ELSP editing service, but students can expect to improve specific language issues in their writing with the consultant’s guidance.

ELSP 1-on-1 Speaking Consultations

Individual appointments focusing on course presentations, conference talks, oral exams, and interviews. Students should come to each session with a specific speaking task as well as a list of aspects of language they wish to work on. Students may receive feedback on pronunciation, word choice, grammar, and presentation skills.

To schedule a writing or speaking consultation, contact Brad Teague.

ELSP Pronunciation Videos

 The English Language Support Program has developed a collection of videos introducing various aspects of English pronunciation that contribute to clear communication (i.e. word stress, phrase level stress and intonation). 

Youglish.com

This site allows you to search a large collection of YouTube videos for the use of a term or phrase. When you search, the site will find videos containing the term or phrase, and you can then listen to pronunciation of the term in a variety of clips. (See tutorial video posted in the DukeWrites Enrichment Suite.) 

Baruch College’s Tools-to-go 

This site provides a variety of interactive activities for practicing pronunciation for both individual sounds and phrase level features (i.e. word stress and connected speech) of English. 

Rachel’s English

This site is an extensive collection of videos for working on both individual sounds and phrase level aspects of American English pronunciation.

Specific Grammar Issues (Duke TWP)

This site provides handouts on specific grammar issues, such as rules for comma usage, passive and active voice, sentence fragments and run-ons.

George Mason University Writing Guides and Tools

This resource provides brief guides to grammar and style points that students may find challenging or need a quick review (i.e. The Three Common Tenses used in Academic Writing, Parallel Structure, and Reducing Informality in Academic Writing). To find these guides, scroll down the Writing Resources page to the final category, “Grammar & Style”.

Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)

This writing resource includes guides to common challenges in academic writing (i.e., prepositions and their standard uses, count and non-count nouns, and verb tenses).

Google Scholar

This search engine can be used for finding books and articles, but also for improving word choice in writing. A screen capture tutorial on how to do this can be found in the DukeWrites Enrichment Suite.

Academic Phrasebank

This is a resource developed by the University of Manchester containing common phrases found in journal articles and dissertations. This resource is especially helpful when writing to report your research work. A screen capture tutorial for using this site is provided in the DukeWrites Enrichment Suite.

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)

This is an extensive corpus of American English and be used for making word choices in academic writing. The English Language Support Program has created a series of videos designed to help students use COCA to make informed decisions related to choosing words and phrases that are appropriate for their academic writing.

Working with Sources (Duke TWP) 

This site includes links to advice and resources for evaluating sources of information, incorporating sources into your writing, and citation guides.

Academic Integrity

This three-part module from the DukeWrites Enrichment Suite contains screencasts that explain what plagiarism is and introduce strategies to avoid it, including a system for taking notes and incorporating citations into your writing. 

New Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence

This free downloadable guide from Elon University and the ACC&U offers practical advice to students who are using AI in their studies. It includes the chapter “Academic Integrity in the Age of AI” and explains how to attribute the role of AI in your work.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

This site provides principles and guidelines for conducting research responsibly and avoiding plagiarism.

Duke International Student Center (DISC)

The Duke International Student Center offers services designed to help all international scholars feel connected and supported at Duke. DISC hosts social and cultural events, offers transition support & orientation programming, and provides guidance on navigating life in Durham.