Academic ESL Lab
The ESL Lab in B-233 is part of the Academic ESL Program of the Department of Education and Language Acquisition at LaGuardia Community College. Attendance at the lab is mandatory for students who are registered in our ESA 099, ESC 099, ESL 097, ESL 098, ESL 099, ESR 097, ESR 098 and ESR 099 classes. During the 12 week session students must come for two hours per week and during the six week session four hours per week. The lab provides activities that support the instructors’ work in developing the four language skills. Activities are implemented by tutors. The lab has resources for instructors, tutors and students, including a Blackboard site. The ESL Lab offers individual tutoring by appointment.
Instructors
Instructors are required to submit a lesson plan for the lab at least 24 hours before the class meets. Our lab is open from 8:00 a.m. to 10:15 pm. Instructors can check our schedule to see what day their class meets in the lab. Instructors are encouraged to meet the tutors who will work with their classes. Each class has two tutors. After each session, the tutors will write a report to the instructors. Instructors using Blackboard for the lab activities can post their lesson plans directly on their Blackboard sites. They can also fill out the lab form and leave it in the lab. Instructors using discussion boards in Blackboard should post their forums ahead of time. In case of emergency, instructors can e-mail their lesson plans. All instructors are welcome in the lab to see the resources that we have.
Tutors
Our tutors are mostly graduate students pursuing a master’s degree or teaching certificate in TESOL. We also hire people from other fields who are interested in teaching ESL and have had some tutoring or teaching experience. All our tutors have a strong commitment to work with our ESL population.
Our tutors lead large groups, small groups and provide one to one tutoring.
They have a continuous interaction with our students. They are also exposed to different teaching techniques and various ESL materials. In addition they may get experience working with computer-based ESL material/instruction. Tutors working in the computer lab receive support from Student Technology Mentors. Information about the resources we have can be found on this site. Tutors are issued an I.D. that gives them access to any CUNY library.
Tutorial sessions are from 8:00 am until 10:15 in the evening, from Monday through Friday during Fall I, Fall II (winter) and Spring I sessions. During the Spring II session (summer) we have tutoring classes from Monday through Thursday.