November 25th, 2015

Prepared by Laura Schnablegger, EAL/ESL Specialist

and Kim Garwood, Manager of Writing Services

Report on EAL/ESL Services 2013 2015

International Students in Higher Education in Canada and Ontario
According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education (2014), Canada had over 290,000 international
students in 2013; Ontario alone retained 126,805 of those students (43.3%), 55% of whom were enrolled in universities.
The number of international students is expected to rise dramatically in the next five years; the Canadian government has
recommended that post-secondary institutions double their numbers of international students by 2020. Canadian
universities thus need to further consider how to accommodate increasing numbers of international students, particularly
since more than 85% of these students have English as an additional language (EAL) (CBIE, 2014).

International Students at the University of Guelph

As of fall 2015, the University of Guelph has 1,295 international students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate
degree programs, including visiting exchange students (information provided by the Office of Intercultural Affairs). These
numbers do not include permanent residents, immigrants, or students who are not international but come from other
cultural backgrounds or speak English as an additional language. Although there is no official record of the number of
students who are multilingual or come from other cultural backgrounds, based on the experience of the EAL/ESL
Specialist, this number is likely double that of the number of international students on campus, bringing the total number
of students with EAL/ESL or cultural transition needs to approximately 3,600.

English-as-an-Additional Language Support in McLaughlin Library

To the best of our knowledge, the Library is the only source of academic language-focused learning and writing
programs for EAL students in degree programs at the University of Guelph.1. In 2015, 30% of students who registered for
appointments with Writing Services and Learning Services in the Learning Commons identified themselves as EAL
students. In 2015, 40% of all consultations conducted by Writing Services and Learning Services were with EAL students
(many EAL students attended repeat appointments).
The EAL/ESL Specialist provides the largest proportion
of these appointments, and as indicated by Figure 1, the number
of appointments provided has more than doubled in the past two
years. The number of EAL students we support has been steadily
increasing, especially as awareness of our services grows.
However, providing this level of support is demanding and as
Table 1 shows, not all of the EAL students who request
appointments can be accommodated.
Table 1. EAL students awaiting appointments 2013-14
Year

Number of Students
on EAL Specialists
Waiting List

Number of EAL
Students on all Writing
Services Waiting Lists

2013
2014
2015

43
26
56

183
204
359

Individual EAL/ESL
Appointments 2013-15
600

489

500
400
300

308
214

200
100
0
2013

2014

2015

Figure 1. Individual EAL/ESL Appointments in

2013-15

Courses provided through the English Language Program in Open Ed are for non-degree students in university preparation programs.

Prepared by Laura Schnablegger, EAL/ESL Specialist

and Kim Garwood, Manager of Writing Services

November 25th, 2015

Demonstrating the demand for these services, between the Fall 2014 and Fall 2015 semesters, the EAL Specialist
conducted over 130 academic workshops; approximately 1,500 EAL students participated in those workshops. Some of
the most well attended programs offered by the EAL Specialist include

Talk like an Academic, a 7-week certificate program in which graduate students and Teaching Assistants
practice their oral communication in a variety of academic scenarios;

EAL Graduate Writing Camp, a week-long camp during which graduate students develop their writing and
editing skills with the goal of completing a graduate writing assignment; and

International Student Academic Transition Program, a six-part workshop series that facilitates international
students academic transition to the University of Guelph.

Faculty and Staff Requests for EAL Support

Due to the growing awareness of the EAL Specialist position, units, departments and colleges have requested
dedicated EAL support. Tailoring EAL services to meet disciplinary requirements and departmental needs, the EAL
Specialist has contributed to positive collaborations across campus through the development of specialized, multi-unit
programs with learning activities that support both program-level and course-level curricula. These programs are
summarized in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Department-specific EAL support
Unit/ Department
Department of Hotel and
Food Administration
Department of Food,
Agriculture and
Resource Economics
Department of Food
Science

School of Engineering

Office of Open Learning

and Educational Support
Cooperative Education
and Career Services

Centre for International

Programs

EAL Support
Attendance at select faculty meetings to discuss EAL support
services and to provide training in intercultural pedagogy
Development and delivery of three iterations of the FARE Writing
Camp for all incoming graduate students
Provision of in-depth course-based support for the mandatory,
graduate-level Food Science and Food Safety and Quality
Assurance Seminar course
Meeting with Interim Dean and Graduate Coordinator
Provision of a follow-up report and recommendations for
departmental EAL support
Provision of lessons on intercultural active learning in the
University Teaching: Theory and Practice course.
Provision of a workshop series on EAL Cover Letter and Resume
Writing
Training of Career Services peers on EAL student needs
Workshop-based support for Science without Borders students and
Working in Canada program

A disciplinary approach to service delivery and the provision of faculty and staff training would increase the
impact of EAL support on campus; however, it is increasingly difficult for the EAL Specialist to accommodate these
requests, which are time- and resource-intensive.

Prepared by Laura Schnablegger, EAL/ESL Specialist

and Kim Garwood, Manager of Writing Services

November 25th, 2015

Meeting the Demand

To meet the growing demand of EAL students and the requests for support from faculty and staff, several
adjustments have been made to the manner in which EAL support is provided.
1. Assigning and training a GSWA: In fall 2014, Writing Services dedicated a Graduate Student Writing
Advisor (GSWA) (GSA-1) to EAL support. The addition of this GSWA has allowed for the accommodation
of more EAL students in consultations, and was the reason for the temporary dip in EAL students on waitlists
in 2014. Out of the numbers of Individual EAL/ESL Appointments provided, the GSWA conducted the
following number of appointments:
Year
2014 (Fall only)
2015
2.

Number of Appointments with GSWA

44
182

Moving to 30-minute consultation model: The EAL Specialist shifted from providing 50 minute individual
appointments to providing 30 minute appointments. This has assisted in accommodating a higher number of
EAL students; however, has also resulted in more repeat appointments.

3. Developing short courses and camps: Recognizing that language development requires ongoing,
progressive support, the EAL Specialist moved away from providing one-off workshops to conducting short
courses and camps. These short courses and camps are able to support a higher number of EAL students, and
have had increased retention rates compared to one-off workshops.
4. Transfer of Conversation Partners Program to OIA: In fall 2014, the EAL Specialist transferred the
supervision of the Conversation Partners Program, a non-academic conversation program that pairs EAL
students with native-English speaking students, to the Office of Intercultural Affairs (OIA). This move was
strategic in that the program fits better under the mandate of the OIA, and it allowed the EAL Specialist to
focus solely on academic programming.

References:
Canadian Bureau for International Education. (2014) Canadas performance in international education, 2014. Retrieved
from http://www.cbie.ca/about-ie/facts-and-figures/

Government of Canada. (2014) Canadas International Education Strategy: Harnessing our knowledge advantage to drive
innovation and prosperity. Retrieved from http://international.gc.ca/global-markets-marchesmondiaux/education/index.aspx?lang=eng