The English for Multilingual Students Program offers academic reading and writing instruction for undergraduate students in four lower-division courses. Both U.S.-educated and international students take our courses in partial fulfillment of the Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR) at UCSB. The highest level course, Linguistics 12 (Approaches to University Writing for Multilingual Students), is parallel to the Writing Program’s Writing 1. Students who successfully complete Linguistics 12 satisfy the ELWR and are eligible for enrollment in Writing 2 in the Writing Program.
While all of our four undergraduate writing courses (Linguistics 3A, 3B, 3C and 12) focus on helping students develop proficiency in academic literacy, they differ in the kinds of focus on areas of language instruction, depending on students’ current proficiency levels. For example, Linguistics 3A and 3B have greater focus on helping students develop overall fluency in academic reading and writing; in Linguistics 3C and Linguistics 12, more attention is given to editing strategies for grammatical accuracy and to developing longer pieces of writing. At all levels, instructors offer students individual attention in improving their academic language skills.
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.
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Entry Level Writing Requirement
The Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR) is a University of California requirement that all students must fulfill. Students may satisfy the requirement by any of the means listed on the Admissions website.
Any qualifying test scores and/or official transcripts with transfer courses should be submitted directly to the Office of Admissions.
Notice to New International Undergraduate Students:
Before you take your first courses at UCSB, you must either satisfy ELWR via qualifying test scores and grades or take the English Language Placement Examination (ELPE).