"Most ESL students learning to write an English passage have a hard time understanding the purpose of a thesis statement.
Here’s a simple approach: one thesis sentence pattern suitable for intermediate+ level students.

Part 1. What’s a Thesis?

A thesis has a few important features:

• usually one sentence
• tells the reader the main idea
• is the focus of the essay or story

Everything in the story, passage or essay explains and proves the thesis. If someone asks what your essay is about, the best answer is to say the thesis.

To continue reading about Thesis Statements on eslwriting.org, click HERE. 

Here are some other sites that have some very helpful information on writing thesis statements:

• ESL: Thesis Statements
• The Writing Center: Thesis Statements

And, to practice identifying good thesis statements, click here. 

Finally, click on the video below to review your understanding of writing a good thesis statement. 

When you are writing a paper and need help, where do you turn? You may turn to your instructor. But what if your instructor is not available? You are likely to turn to the internet to find help. The internet is full of great resources for academic writing. One of those resources is called Purdue Owl. 

Take some time and review the many resources found on this website. From the writing process and research helps to comma usage, basic grammar and spelling rules, the Purdue Owl has so much to offer. There is even some specific help for ESL students and job-seekers. 

The OwL does provide some exercises to practice various grammar and punctuation rules; however, to my knowledge none of them are interactive. In other words, to use them, one must print out a handout. 

To explore all that the Purdue Owl has to offer, click on the image below. 

Note: To find the comma rules, go to "General Writing." Then, click on "Punctuation." Then, click on "Commas." 

The excerpt below comes from an online publication entitled The Writing Cooperative (www.writingcooperative.com). It is written by a native English speaker who has learned to speak and write in other languages; however, I think the writer offers some valuable tips and insights into how to improve your writing in English. 

One Sunday afternoon last year, I thought it would be fun to try to write a poem in Spanish. I think I must have been reading too much Pablo Neruda.
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I hadn’t written a line of poetry since high school, and I’d only been studying Spanish for about five years (my native language is English). Needless to say, the poem ended up being much more difficult to write than I’d originally thought.

Despite the nagging worry that a native speaker would laugh at anything I put on paper, I finally managed to finish the poem after several hours. (You can read it here.) It didn’t come close to Neruda’s poetry, of course, but to me it felt like a monumental achievement just to have written it.

You’ve probably had a similar experience if you’ve ever written in a foreign language (maybe English is that foreign language for you). It’s discouraging when you keep making mistakes, and it can be a struggle to figure out which words to use to express yourself correctly. But it’s an incredibly rewarding feeling when you keep pressing forward and finally have a finished piece of work that you can be proud of.

I believe that with practice anyone can improve their writing skills. As a writing tutor, I’ve seen my students (some who have spoken English as a second language) make incredible progress when they put in the time to write each week.

The same is true for me when I keep practicing writing in a foreign language. Five years ago, I wouldn’t have even dreamed of attempting to write a poem in Spanish. But now, after years of study, I can write not only in Spanish but also in Italian and French.

(To be honest, though, I’ve only been studying French for about two years so I still need a bit of practice before I can write poetry. 😉)

If you’re looking to improve your writing skills in a foreign language, here are eight tips that will help you make the most of your practice time:

To continue reading this article, click HERE. 

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Prewriting is the first step in the writing process. It's where we gather ideas about the topic we are assigned (or that we want to write about). There are several different ways that we can effectively gather these ideas including brainstorming, clustering, questioning...just to name a few. 

Below you will find some links which explain more about the different types of prewriting. Take some time to read through each one before working on your writing assignment. Not all of them work for everyone. You should try to find one that fits you.

• Definitions and examples
• Prewriting Strategies
• Clustering 
• Prewriting

What is a Summary? 
[the following is an excerpt from eslactivities.com]

A “summary” is the author’s ideas in your words. Two common errors that students make when they write a summary are: • Including their ideas and thoughts about the topic, but the author did not say these things {the problem here is it is not the author’s ideas} • Copying sentences from the article and making no changes to them or only very small changes (changing a vocabulary word, changing active voice to passive voice, etc.) {the problem here is it is not the student’s words} 

To read more about writing summaries click here
To see some of the original articles from which the sample summaries on that page are based, click on the links below: 

• High Quality of Life
• Lay off Juice 

To see more Writing Tips on the skill of summarizing, click here. 

Want to improve your writing? Well, there are some common errors that you might want to look for as your revise and edit your writing. Here's the first one:  

Error #1: Run-on Sentence or Comma Splice
A run-on sentence is a sentence that joins two independent clauses without punctuation or the appropriate conjunction. A comma splice is similar to a run-on sentence, but it uses a comma to join two clauses that have no appropriate conjunction.
Fixing a run-on sentence or a comma splice can be accomplished in one of five different ways:

• Separate the clauses into two sentences.
• Replace the comma with a semi-colon.
• Replace the comma with a coordinating conjunction--and, but, for, yet, nor, so, or.
• Replace the comma with a subordinating conjunction--after, although, before, unless, as, because, even though, if, since, until, when, while.
• Replace the comma with a semi-colon and transitional word--however, moreover, on the other hand, nevertheless, instead, also, therefore, consequently, otherwise, as a result.

For example:

• Incorrect: Rachel is very smart, she began reading when she was three years old.
• Correct: Rachel is very smart. She began reading when she was three years old.
• Correct: Rachel is very smart; she began reading when she was three years old.
• Correct: Rachel is very smart, for she began reading when she was three years old.
• Correct: Because Rachel is very smart, she began reading when she was three years old.
• Correct: Rachel is very smart; as a result, she began reading when she was three years old.

Read more at 18 Most Common Grammar Mistakes 

Editing is a critical part of the writing process. Learning to edit your work is very important and takes a great deal of practice. It is always good to have someone else look over your paper for mistakes and errors, but sometimes that is not a possibility. So, how do you become more skilled at proofreading and editing?

I'm glad you asked!

Some of the links below offer information on how to become better at self-editing. Others will give you an opportunity to practice your editing skills. There are both online exercises found below  and links to worksheets that can be printed out and completed. (Answers are available for these if you look carefully on the page.)

For more information on how to proofread  and edit, go to one of these sites:
Editing and Error-Correction
Proofreading

For online practice click on these links:
Editing Practice 1
Editing Practice 2
Editing Practice 3

To print out worksheets that will give you editing/proofreading practice, click HERE.

So, you are writing a long paragraph or maybe an essay, and your instructor says that you need to write an outline. You say: “But I don’t need to write an outline. I have all the ideas in my head, and I know exactly what I want to say.”

Okay, then let me ask you this: if you decided to take a trip to a place you’d never been before, would you just start driving and hope that you'd be able to find the place you are looking for? No. You would most likely look at a map (or use a GPS), right?

Well, think of an outline as a map. It helps you make sure that you arrive at your destination,  which, in this case, is a well-written (well-organized) paper. Also, it helps you know where you are in the process so that you can make good decisions on what to do next.

For example, let's say that you have written an outline, but after reviewing it you realize that you don’t have enough support for one of your main points. Well, now you have a decision to make. You can come up with a different main point, you can brainstorm for more ideas (things like examples or facts) to support that point, or you can start all over again. 

Say what? Start all over again. Why would I do that?

Exactly! You don't have to.

However, if you had begun your paper and then realized that you needed to come up with another main point, then you might have to toss your paper and start again. By outlining first, or planning ahead, you have saved yourself some time and energy. All you have to do is identify a different main point or come up with additional support. Neither of which are likely to add too much time to your writing.

To read a real-life example of someone who discovered the value of outlining, click here.

For more on outlining, click here.