ESL Instructional Support Materials

Books
Websites

Online Databases

The Online Databases are available to current EPCC students, faculty and staff from computers located on campus or off-campus by selecting the "Off-campus access" link. See more instructions.

eLibrary Formerly called Electric Library. Full text of television and radio transcripts, magazines, journals and newspapers. Also includes maps, pictures and excerpts from books. Off-campus access

EBSCO Middle Search Plus Middle Search Plus provides full text for more than 150 popular magazines as far back as 1990. All full text articles included in the database are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles). Also contains biographies and an Image Collection of photos, maps and flags. Off-campus access

EBSCO Searchasaurus Primary Search Lexiles 200 – 1030. Includes dictionary, encyclopedia, pictures and magazines. Off-campus access

Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia Provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries. Searchable by subject or keywords within the entry. Off-campus access

Galenet - Discovering Collection Includes Discovering Authors, biography, Multicultural America, Science, U.S. and World History; EXPLORING Novels, Poetry, Shakespeare, Short Stories, Newsmakers; and various Worldmark Encyclopedias. Off-campus access

Galenet - Student Resource Center - Gold Contains thousands of curriculum-targeted primary documents, biographies, topical essays, background information, critical analyses, timelines, maps, graphics and full-text coverage of over 1,000 magazines and newspapers. Off-campus access

Newsbank Databases America's Newspapers (Texas newspapers), Newsbank Newsfile (2000-) and Noticias en Español (1992-). Americas's newspapers includes the El Paso Times (1999-). Newsbank Newsfile contains articles from over 500 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada, all with full-text. Noticias en Español is totally in Spanish. Off-campus access

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Websites for ESL Students

Language & Practice | Reference Sources | Citizenship & Immigration Information | TOEFL & GED

Language Practice & Instruction

Dave's ESL Café An interactive site for both teachers and students. It has chat rooms, discussion forums, and places to ask questions of all kinds. You play games, take quizzes, and learn about both academic English and slang.

ESL Pronunciation A site that has videoA site that has video files to practice your spelling and listening as well.

Online Resources for Writers Technical Writing A completely online textbook prepared by David A. McMurrey, at Austin Community College (ACC) in ... ESL Home Page Resources for students.

Selected Links for Students of English as a Second Language A meta-list of links to other ESL Web sites is hosted by the Internet TESL Journal and is Intended for ESL students. Links are organized under such categories as "Some of the Best Sites", "Games", "Grammar", "Communicating with Others", "Listening", "Writing" and "Reading.

The Book of Clichés A great source, all about clichés, how to use them and when to use them. It has extensive lists on different clichés for the same thought. This source has an introduction, lists of clichés, awards the site has won, about the author, links to other sites, and contact information.

The Phrase Finder "The Phrase Finder is a phrases thesaurus and searchable database of a large collection of English phrases and sayings." This site can be used to find phrases related to a particular word, learn the meaning of a phrase, or determine the origin of a phrase. Also includes a book list of dictionaries, thesauri, and word phrase and origin books.

The Key The Key is a newspaper written for new readers and adults with limited reading skills. All material in The Key and on-line is free of copyright for nonprofit, education purposes only. The Key New Readers Newspaper has been published monthly since 1988.

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Reference Sources (Encyclopedias, dictionaries & thesaurus)

Online Free Sources

Britannica Online Britannica Online is a free online encyclopedia, explore art, history, science, and other topics with Encyclopedia Britannica's subject browse or search by keyword its 32 volumes. In addition, you can search the Merriam-Webster online thesaurus and dictionary for definitions, pronunciation guides, world histories, synonyms, and antonyms.

Microsoft Encarta Concise Encyclopedia A free concise encyclopedia that includes 16,000 articles and more than 2,200 photos, illustrations, maps, charts, and tables. (Paying subscribers can access the more complete MSN Learning & Research Plus with Encarta, for which a free trial is also available.)

Your Dictionary A site with links to an unbelievable number of on-line dictionaries, in a wide variety of languages. It includes bilingual dictionaries, and grammar and vocabulary guides.

The Internet Picture Dictionary The Internet Picture Dictionary lets you learn simple vocabulary by matching pictures with words and offers exercises to practice them.

Citizenship and Immigration Information

Immigration Resource Site This site is an extensive collection of immigration self-help resources and references. It lists on-line services, organizations, and immigration lawyers and consultants. This is not a general site for learning about immigration issues; it is a useful resource for those who have particular immigration questions or problems.

The Immigration Portal The Immigration Portal has a directory of lawyers. You can download free immigration forms and subscribe to a free daily or weekly immigration update. There are links to information about various parts of the immigration process.

U.S. Citizenship Info USCitizenship.info provides you with what you need to prepare, complete and file your application for U.S. citizenship.

TOEFL & GED Study Guides and Information

GED Test The official web site of the GED Testing Service has useful information about the test.

The Official TOEFL Homepage
Published by ETS, this page has information on test dates, registration and sample questions.

Research guide created by Lorely Ambriz, lorelya@epcc.edu

Send comments to Rachel Murphree at murphree@elp.rr.com
Northwest Community Library/Jenna Welch and Laura Bush Community Library
6701 S. Desert Blvd. El Paso, TX 79932 (915) 831-8840

The El Paso Community College Northwest Library does not control the content posted on web sites to which it provides links and as such does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such content. The E.P.C.C. Northwest Library does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, services, products or other materials on or available from such sites or resources.