Welcome to Cornell University from ELSO!
Welcome to Cornell University from ELSO (PDF)
The English Language Support Office (ELSO) provides space for international graduate and
professional students to learn strategies, make progress toward their own writing and speaking
goals, receive feedback from experienced instructors, and from the community with peers.
We are here for you, whether you are writing a seminar paper, seeking to communicate more
effectively during discussions, or working your way through a thesis or dissertation. As part of
the Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines, all of our programs are offered at no
additional charge to you. Below are descriptions of our major programs. Learn more at
knight.as.cornell.edu/elso.
ELSO Courses on Graduate Communication: ELSO’s seven-week courses are small, highly
interactive, and tailored to focus on the writing and speaking challenges of graduate
school. These courses are self-selected by students who want to excel as writers, speakers, and
English users. For course descriptions, visit knight.as.cornell.edu/elso-courses.
ELSO Tutoring on Writing, Presentations, and Pronunciation: This tutoring program is designed to
meet your immediate needs, whether you are working on a paper for publication, preparing for a
conference or job talk, or wanting to communicate more clearly through effective pronunciation. You
can book 45-minute appointments with peer tutors available at various times across the week. To learn
more, visit knight.as.cornell.edu/elso-tutoring.
ELSO Friday Workshop Series: Our 90-minute interactive workshops focus on key strategies and
resources relevant to speaking and writing in graduate school. Workshop topics have included
writing research papers, note-taking, preparing for the career fair, and using online resources to
support pronunciation. For the workshop schedule, visit knight.as.cornell.edu/elso-workshops.
ELSO Speaking Groups Program: This program offers ongoing practice with social English through
small groups that meet weekly for informal conversations. These groups, which are led by fluent
English-speaking volunteers, promote cultural exchange and new friendships among group members
from across Cornell. To learn more about this program, visit knight.as.cornell.edu/SGP.
We hope to meet you during orientations and our 2021 Open Hours ((knight.as.cornell.edu/visit-elso).
You are welcome to email us with any questions you have about our programs:
Michelle Cox, Ph.D.
Director
mtc225@cornell.edu
Nathan Lindberg, Ph.D.
Coordinator, Tutoring Services
nwl26@cornell.edu
Melissa Myers, M.Ed.
Lecturer
mm177@cornell.edu
260 Caldwell Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853