WLS Services
The Writing and Language Studio (WLS) provides support to all writers and language learners in the DKU community (including students, faculty, and staff). Our main service is one-on-one appointments with our experienced faculty coaches or trained student coaches for writing or for language learning. Our aim is to help our community members become better writers and language learners by providing non-directive feedback and recommending helpful strategies and resources. We also offer workshops and resources on selected topics in writing and language learning, and we host events, including weekly Language Tables and the Hunker Down and Write! with drop-in coaching at the end of each academic session.
Location
The WLS is located in AB 2101. When our large open space is not being used for a workshop, event, or meetings, it is open for anyone to use as a learning space during regular working hours. There are three computers for visitors to use, and many writing and language learning resources.
All of our coaching appointments are in person. They take place in the following locations:
- LCC faculty offices in the Conference Center
- AB 2101 for Ian McNally (Writing Coach), Yuanyuan Feng (WLS Coordinator), and peer coaches
Walk-in coaching for English writing and for a limited number of languages is now available at select times of day in AB2101. Weekly hours are posted in AB 2101 and on the WLS WeChat account.
Classroom Visits
UG and graduate program faculty may request a classroom visit from the WLS to introduce our services to their students. Standard classroom visits are 15 minutes and include the following information, though we are happy to customize the visit to meet your needs:
- Introduction to the WLS team and services
- How to create an account and register for an appointment
- When and why to visit the WLS
- How to prepare for an appointment
- Important WLS policies
- (when available) Student perspective from peer coaches
- Q&A
Follow these simple steps to request your classroom visit!
STEP 1: Submit your request form If you would like the WLS to visit your class, just complete the brief request form from this link: Classroom Visit Request. The WLS does its best to accommodate requests for class visits, but we can’t guarantee availability at all times. Please indicate at least two potential visit times on the request form. You may also request a customized visit (e.g., to focus on writing or language coaching, to address specific stages of the writing process, to limit or extend the length of the visit).
STEP 2: Confirm the schedule Once we receive your request, the WLS coordinator will confirm the time, date, and location with you as well as any special requests to customize the visit.
STEP 3: The WLS visits your class One of our faculty coaches or staff members will visit your class at the scheduled time to introduce the WLS to your students and answer their questions.
STEP 4: Survey After the visit, you will receive a follow-up survey from us. Your feedback is highly valued, and it will help us improve our service in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I require my students to make an appointment with the WLS?
We appreciate it when faculty encourage their students to use the WLS! That said, WLS coaching services, workshops, and events are all voluntary. We promote self-directed learning and believe it is important for students to make the choice to use our services. For this reason and for capacity issues, we ask faculty not to require their students to make WLS appointments.
Can I give my students extra credit for visiting the WLS?
The WLS doesn’t have the capacity for very large numbers of students to make coaching appointments in any given week. Therefore, to maintain equity, we ask that faculty do not award extra credit to students for attending WLS coaching sessions.
Does the WLS have coaches with disciplinary backgrounds in all DKU majors?
WLS faculty and student coaches come from a wide range of disciplinary and writing backgrounds. Though our disciplinary backgrounds don’t cover all the DKU majors and graduate programs, there are many ways that we work with writers whose background don’t match our own. For instance, we help writers evaluate how well they have achieved their aims in their writing, identify gaps in logic or development of arguments, improve clarity and conciseness, and develop strategies to use in different stages of their writing. We are prepared to coach students from all three UG divisions as well as the graduate programs.
I sent my student to the WLS to help with their grammar, but the student still has grammar issues in their writing. Why didn’t the WLS help them?
It takes a lot of time to develop high levels of proficiency and sophisticated language use in a second language. WLS coaches help raise writers’ awareness of language issues (e.g., grammar, word choice, style) in their writing and introduce them to resources and strategies they can use to check and improve their use of English language. The help we provide can take a variety of forms, but it will never include proofreading or correcting an entire piece of writing for the writer.
Can faculty and staff use the WLS?
Yes! We have many faculty and staff members who make appointments for language learning or writing. These faculty serve as great role models of self-directed learning for our students.
Can you tell me when my students have had WLS appointments?
Our policy is to maintain confidentiality for our WLS users, meaning that we don’t disclose who comes to us for coaching or what we discuss in individual coaching sessions. However, WLS users should receive a summary of their appointment via email, and they are free to share those reports with others at their discretion.
Contact Us
Email: DKU_WLS@dukekunshan.edu.cn
WLS Office: Academic Building 2101
