ESL Graduate Students

[catoma]

Hi Everyone, I'm new to this site, and I'm very happy to have found it. I have a question, and I'm hoping to get some feedback.
As a graduate student (first MFA, now PhD) I have been working in writing labs for about five years... mainly with ESL graduate students. I notice a need for some students to obtain help in communicating with their advisors/professors regarding feedback on prospectus/dissertation/academic writing and acceptance in obtaining a teaching assistantship... as well as help in responding to journal editors about necessary changes to their documents. Has anyone else had similar experiences, either as an ESL graduate student or as an instructor or writing lab tutor?

Thanks for your time.

[Tdol]

I have taught pre-sessional courses for post-grads and seen communication issues with their departments before being accepted, though a lot of this is to do with eagerness to get in. What issues have you noticed with feedback?

[catoma]

I'm sure what I've seen has to do with eagerness, too... but I am wondering... and this is just one example... if the informality of the language used, by the graduate student to the advisor, could hinder the advisor from responding as seriously as he/she should. One student I do editing for uses a very cultural-traditional greeting and voice when writing to his advisor. I have tutored this ESL grad student in the writing lab, but mostly I edit work he emails me... and his communicative approaches have not changed even after a year. Again, this is just an example of one situation.

Thanks, Jo