Help! Volunteers Wanted
Where? When? How Long?
The University of Victoria (Uvic) ESL teacher Sherri Williams needs volunteers to help in her Tutorial Room, which is a self-access, drop-in clinic located at the Wallace Lounge (next to Cadboro Commons Cafeteria, above the end of Parking Lot 5). This clinic is offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. every week. ESL students from around the world currently taking Uvic's EIP (English Intensive Programme) attend regular classes for 4 hours every morning or afternoon. In addition, if they wish, they can drop in for as long or as short as they want for extra help in the Tutorial. So we need volunteers to help for an hour or more at a time during this time frame.
What Do Volunteers Do?
The Tutorial handles all sorts of questions and needs. Volunteers in the Tutorial most often have conversations with the students, thereby helping them with grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and general listening/speaking skills. ESL students are often assigned interviews for homework by their classroom teachers, and go to the Tutorial to interview volunteers for their opinions on such things as marriage, dating, taxes, Canadian attitudes, examples of slang or idiom use, etc. The Wallace Lounge is ideal for conversations, as it is big and has an outside patio next to the grass. We encourage our ESL students to come with food or drinks and relax in this comfortable environment.
Volunteers also help run the small lending library by helping students choose abridged books or helping them choose from a variety of magazines, listening or pronunciation tapes. Volunteers sometimes help students make 20-minute appointments at the Pronunciation Clinic, which is a sub-part of the Tutorial. Students can listen to tapes on individual recorders in the Tutorial Clinic, or borrow some of them from the CALL Facility; volunteers help explain how to do this. There is a TV with an 8-headphone listening station in the Tutorial, so a volunteer can work with up to 7 students to help them understand the CBC TV daily news. ESL students also arrive at the Tutorial wanting help with grammar, writing or questionnaires which they've been asked to complete by their classroom teachers. The Tutorial has grammar worksheets, writing information and general resource books which volunteers can use to help students. Volunteers may also work directly with the students' classroom textbooks. There are also vocabulary games such as Scrabble. Sherri is always in the Tutorial to help if a volunteer has any questions.
What's the Commitment and Benefits?
Ideally, Sherri likes volunteers to commit themselves to at least an hour a week on a regular basis for the term, which ends December 6. However, ANY time a volunteer can help is always appreciated. So if you have not signed up, please call, whether you are able to commit for part of the term, or just drop in once in a while. Every volunteer who has worked in our clinic has commented how much fun they have had working there, and how much it has helped them deepen their understanding of intercultural differences, their studies and/or teaching work they may be struggling to master.
How Do Volunteers Sign Up?
Please leave a message for Sherri at the English Language Centre, 721-8469, or come by and talk to her in the Wallace Lounge any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.