Unit 12- Reading Practice

Unit 12 Reading Practice (9)

Reading Passage One

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 Tues-
days, 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.

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Basic IEL TS Reading

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 vo-
cabulary 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 com-
mented 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.

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