English Composition

International Students and Faculty

English Composition (ESL)

Help for Writers of English as a Second Language

(On-line Instruction in Writing)

John Bruce Cantrell, MA, PhD

I have been teaching English as a Second Language in Blacksburg for several years, working personally with dozens of international students, both graduate and undergraduate, as well as their spouses and children, post-doctoral graduate students, and visiting faculty. Many of these students have asked that I help them with their writing,

In English Composition (ESL) I provide some basic guidelines and ask that the writer submit via email a five- to seven-paragraph paper, double-spaced, which I then read very carefully, mark, and return to the writer for revision. The writer revises and resubmits the paper, and we continue then to work on problems encountered in this process of writing and revising until we have resolved as many problems as the writer wishes to address.

A retired college English teacher (literature, philology, and classical and modern rhetoric), founding director of the writing laboratory at the University of South Carolina, National Endowment for the Humanities Visiting Humanist, National Teaching Fellow in Composition, Exchange Professor of English (Korea), consultant in writing, and more recently professional text and photo editor, I have lived and worked in Blacksburg for ten years. Though by no fluent in any of these languages, I have studied Greek and Latin,Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, and French, Italian, and Spanish. I do writing and editing and teach Tai Chi and fly-fishing, as well as English as a Second Language. Please visit me on-line at www.17goughsquare.com (professional) and www.sadasae.com (personal). My email address is cantrell@17goughsquare.com.

John Bruce Cantrell

Fall 2008

1st Fall Session: continuous for 7 weeks commencing Aug 25, 2008

2nd Fall Session: continuous for 7 weeks commencing Oct 13, 2008

Tuition, $140 for the entire session