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Heather asked about tutoring ESL students: Here's my reply. M. Maxwell What language/culture is the student from that are you involved in tutoring ESL. There is no general template that will fit all languagesor students. But there are a few helpful hints. For information on conttrastive language analysis and points of interference in learning Englishm for Chinese & Asian languages, Spanish, Black English, , see chapter on writing and ESL AND the APPENDIX in my book "Improving Student Learning Skills" 1997 . The Appendixx contains examples of problems in English thatESL students have difficultiy in including tone, stress, pronunciation, consonant clusters, word endings, grammar, word order, articles, comparative and superlative , spelling and in the chapter I disucss differences in rhetorical organization. Also there in the Appendixx is what I consider to be an invaluable aid to writing for ESL students called "Sentence Combining" - using this chart of conjunctions etc., you can help students write much more sophisticated essays with little effort - but they must learn the conjunctions - a lot easier than sophisticated rules of syntax. .These will be invaluable in giving insights to your tutors about working with Asian, Spanish-speaking and other ESL students. : (Note: They are short enough to be xeroxed and I'll give you permission) (Book order information: M. Maxwell "Improving Student Learning Skills: New Edition. (1997).H&H Publishing Co., 1232 Kapp Ave, Clearwatrer, FL 34625. Phone 1-800-366-4O79 $38.95 plus $6.50 mailing) Also there are a number of case studies in my book "When Tutor Meets Student" written by writing tutors who worked with ESL students. M. Maxwell (Ed.) WHEN TUTOR MEETS STUDENT. Published by the University of Mich. Press, 1994. Their address is U. M. Press, POBox 1104, Ann Arbor MI 48106 phone 313-763-0163 Here are a few descriptiongs: What your tutors need Your tutors will enjoy reading and discussing these tutor stories: ....How Po, a Chines-American tutor copes with a huge and affectionate Samoan tutee who can't keep her hands off him. .....The conflict of culture and values when Rachel tries to tutor Ali. ...A Chnese-American tutor who was raised in South America helps a fourth generation Mexican -American learn about her heritage. The tutor complains that her student can't pronounce her own last name correctly. ...An Afro-American tutor feels that his role is misunderstood and explains why he prefers to work with Black tutees. ...A Chinese-American tutor describes her admiration for a Cambodian tutee who survived unspeakable hardships in her homeland. ....A tutor praises her ESL tutee for improving his paper only to discover that he'd copied his sister's them which she had plagiarized from a textbook. ....A tutor tries to help a Vietnamese girl from a formerly wealthy and powereful family who's failing writing. Her instructor wrote r describing the street people and called it "racist." and many more. They're in "When Tutor Meets Student", University of Michigan Press, 1994. (Ref. M. Maxcwell (Ed.) WHEN TUTOR MEETS STUDENT. . Their address is U. M. Press, POBox 1104, Ann Arbor MI 48106 phone 313-763-0163 Cost: $16.95 plus $3.50 shipping. ########################################################################