Welcome to English for Multilingual Students
The English for Multilingual Students Program offers courses for undergraduate and international graduate students for whom English is not the first language. These courses help students develop English proficiency for academic and professional contexts.
Undergraduate Courses
Four levels of lower division academic English provide instruction and practice in reading and writing for various purposes and audiences in the American academic community. Instruction also focuses on strategies for developing academic vocabulary and grammatical accuracy in writing. Students placed into the EMS undergraduate courses through the English Language Placement Exam (ELPE) or the Analytical Writing Exam (AWPE) complete these courses prior to taking courses in the Writing Program. All EMS undergraduate courses confer credit toward degree.
Notice to New Undergraduate Students:
If you have been placed in an EMS course, we recommend that you enroll in the appropriate course during your first quarter. Enrolling as soon as possible will provide you the best chance of getting into a course. Some courses may be impacted; students are urged to use the course wait lists and observe the course crash policy. See our Undergraduate FAQs page for details.
Graduate Courses
The graduate EMS Program includes both writing and oral skills courses for international graduate students in all disciplines. Students are placed into EMS courses through the written and oral English Language Placement Exam (ELPE), administered every quarter prior to the beginning of classes. Students also place into oral skills classes through the TA English Language Exams required of all prospective international Teaching Assistants whose home language is other than English.
EMS graduate courses include two levels of writing and two levels of oral skills for academic and professional purposes. The Program also offers a workshop course specifically for international TAs who are not yet certified for teaching. In addition, it offers a tutorial course for individual and small group focus on areas of academic English or English pronunciation.
For more information on courses, examinations and answers to frequently asked questions, please see our links for undergraduate courses or graduate courses.