English language support

The English language support programme (ELSP) is a series of lectures, classes, tutorials and online essay feedback for students whose first language is not English.

The English language support programme is free of charge and is designed to develop your existing academic language skills to help you complete your day-to-day academic tasks.

For more information on any of our ELSP workshops, please contact us at elsp@brighton.ac.uk.

The programme includes the following areas:

Semester one - 6 October 2012 to 1 February 2013

• intensive English lecture weekends
• academic support drop-in tutorials
• academic writing and style classes
• writing advisory service.

Semester two - 11 February 2013 to 17 May 2013

• intensive English lecture weekends
• academic support drop-in tutorials
• writing advisory service.

Click here for full workshop timetables for both semesters.

For the ELSP programme resources, please vist our studentcentral page here and look for the ELSP icon. 

More about the programme

Intensive English lecture weekends

The intensive English lecture weekends are for undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University of Brighton. They will be held over two weekends, one at the beginning of each semester. The first lecture weekend will be held on 6 and 7 October 2012 and the second will be held on 9 and 10 February 2013.

The programme is delivered in a lecture format with interactive activities for you to engage with. The aim is to focus on the productive skills, this being academic writing and academic presentations, as well as critical thought. These lectures will provide you with a general idea of academic study and prepare you for your first semester.

Click here for the intensive English lecture weekend syllabus.

Academic support drop-in tutorials

The academic support drop-in tutorials are for both undergraduates and postgraduates, and will be available for 10 weeks throughout both semesters. Dates are:

ELSP semester one: 6 October 2012 to 1 February 2013 

ELSP semester two: 11 February 2013 to 17 May 2013

They are designed as one-to-one tutorials with an ELSP tutor to answer any academic queries that you may have. For example, you may like to ask about how to structure an essay, how to choose a title for your essay, how to summarise an article or even how to prepare a presentation. This is not a class and you will be seen in order for an allocated amount of time, so please drop-in and see us at any time throughout the session. Details of session times and locations can be found on the workshop timetables available to download above.

Academic writing and style classes

The academic writing and style classes are a series of eight interactive classes for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the first term only. These classes are designed to cover every aspect of writing that you may need during the completing of academic tasks in your degree programme. For example, this may include structuring an essay, referencing, academic style and many more. You will participate in various activities to enhance your learning. The aim is to provide a more detailed and thorough understanding of the writing process with lots of practice.

Click here for the academic writing and style class syllabus.

Writing advisory service

The writing advisory service is our new online service for personalised essay feedback and takes place throughout both semesters. You are able to email your essay to an ELSP tutor for feedback, and they will return it with an audio recording of the major and minor points that may need revising before you submit your essay to your course tutor. The specific piece of technology used to provide your feedback is called Camtasia and it allows you to see a video of your essay with highlighted parts, at the same time as the tutor provides feedback. You can then arrange a short tutorial via Skype as a follow up if you wish. This is not a proof-reading service, but is more of a learning process in which you participate. You should allow one week for the essay to be checked by a tutor. You can send up to two essays per semester to the writing advisory service. For all undergraduate essays please email Nancy Carter on n.carter@brighton.ac.uk; for all postgraduate essays please email Alex Golding on a.golding@brighton.ac.uk.