Academic Support for Multilingual Students

_{Multilingual support is available to help students develop their writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and reading skills to confidently communicate at Hamilton and beyond. “Multilingual” encompasses a broad range of students, including students with a first language other than English, heritage speakers of other languages, and students who speak marginalized dialects of English. Our goal is to build students' confidence and knowledge in academic communication while instilling the value of linguistic diversity and multilingualism in the greater Hamilton community.}

_{Hamilton’s Multilingual Specialist, Laura, is available to address any questions or concerns you have around communication and multilingualism at Hamilton. Please reach out to them via email or stop by the Writing Center to schedule an appointment.}

Multilingual Student Resources

NEW for Fall 2025! Multilingual Writers Group

This group is open to students who would benefit from consistent writing support and a space to share their ideas, discuss writing, and ask questions alongside other multilingual writers. Email Laura for more information.

NEW for Fall 2025! COLEG: 150W - Understanding Academic Communication

This course is a great option for first-year students who want to develop their academic voice through discussion, collaboration, and experience. Students in the course build their academic communication around three main topics: rhetorical strategies, genre analysis, and argument development. A description can be found in the course catalog.

Multilingual Tutoring

Tutoring appointments with Laura are available to all multilingual students looking for support on specific assignments, projects, and topics. Students can book appointments with Laura through TracCloud by selecting “Multilingual/ESOL Support” in the “choose a service/reason” drop-down menu.

Peer Tutoring

Tutors in both the Writing Center and Oral Communication Center are trained to account for all students’ linguistic backgrounds and experiences with academic communication; many of our tutors are multilingual themselves. You can make an appointment with them on TracCloud.

Writing Resources

Explore our large collection of writing resources, covering a wide variety of writing topics, styles, and concerns.

Faculty Resources

If you would like to learn more about supporting the multilingual students in your class, email Multilingual Specialist Laura Widman at lwidman@hamilton.edu. We have also created resources to address commonly asked questions.

Referrals

If you have a multilingual student in your class who you would like to refer for writing, speaking, listening, and/or reading support, you may do so through Compass or email Laura Widman and cc your referred student.

Contact

Contact Name

Laura Widman

Multilingual Specialist

lwidman@hamilton.edu