This book is designed around experience-based learning, drawing on adult learners’ prior knowledge to make new learning more accessible and relevant. It emphasizes using language as a tool for achieving real-life goals—social, educational, community, and work-related—through research-informed, learner-centered instruction. The goal is to foster self-directed learners equipped for authentic problem-solving and critical thinking. Each chapter follows a consistent structure to support predictability and learner autonomy, including sections on vocabulary, reading, grammar, real-world application, writing, and self-assessment.

This book contains three levels of interactive grammar lessons and reading activities for beginning students of ESOL. The grammar section includes a select set of YouTube videos, and the three original readers include short picture or chapter stories. Each lesson is accompanied by self-correcting exercises.

Business English for Success addresses the common challenge of balancing written and oral communication in business courses. For classes emphasizing both equally, instructors are encouraged to use the free online text Business Communication for Success.

Summary of main punctuation marks – chart with illustrations.

Created for low-intermediate ESL students, this OER writing textbook covers writing sentences, summaries, opinions, and narratives, as well as improving spelling and grammar.

This lesson invites students to craft a meaningful personal narrative—one that captures a moment, memory, or message worth preserving and sharing.

This comprehensive grammar and writing textbook is designed for high-intermediate and advanced English language learners. It builds academic writing skills by progressing from sentence structure and grammar fundamentals to effective paragraphs and larger academic assignments.

This book provides students with a foundation in academic reading and writing. It introduces extensive reading, paragraph writing, sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, sentence fragments, run-together sentences, and the use of simple, compound, and complex sentences to improve writing variety and sophistication.

The following open source material is being provided as a free and common resource for students in First-Year Writing courses at the University of Minnesota. These chapters cover elements of sentence construction, punctuation and word choice, and also include optional topic and end-of-chapter exercises that you can complete on your own or with a partner to check for understanding.

A digital textbook with a classic paragraph-to-essay approach, serving as a solid reference guide for academic writing—including paragraph and essay structure, transitions, punctuation, and more.

A site with very short explanations of low- and low-intermediate-level grammar and composition types.

This open textbook brings together a variety of resources that guide college students in introductory communication courses. Communication Essentials for College focuses on fundamental academic skills, including: studying and note taking, writing and researching, using APA style citations, presenting, and working in teams. Chapter 15 specifically focuses on “Help for English Language Learners.”

The most common punctuation marks used in English. It is surprising how few people know how to use punctuation marks correctly. Being able to use them properly is not simply an exercise in jumping through academic hoops; using punctuation marks correctly can greatly enhance both the clarity and the power of your writing.

Basic rules of punctuation. CEFR Activity: Production / Writing

A composition-focused textbook designed for students at grammar levels 4–6. It emphasizes paragraph and five-paragraph essay writing and includes targeted grammar instruction with practice exercises to reinforce key concepts.

This courses presents grammar and composition skills for upper-level ESOL students using the social justice themes of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Building Academic Writing Skills” provides carefully targeted and sequenced instructions in academic writing and editing for intermediate level English as a Second Language (ESL) students.

1, 2, 3 Write! provides step-by-step instruction to build college writing skills. It combines comprehensive grammar and mechanics review with sentence, paragraph and essay writing techniques and practice. Links to example essays from professional and student writers demonstrate the skills studied and provide reading and critical thinking opportunities.

This writer’s reference condenses and covers everything a beginning writing student needs to successfully compose college-level work, including the basics of composition, grammar, and research. 

Applied Grammar and Composing Strategies for Success is a comprehensive grammar and writing e-text designed for high-intermediate to advanced ESL learners. It begins with an in-depth look at sentence structure, progressing from basic components to effective academic writing. The text includes instruction in paragraph and essay writing, offering opportunities for both foundational review and advancement to more complex assignments.

This text focuses on a variety of academic essay types—logical order, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and argumentative essays—supported by level-appropriate model essays, grammar instruction, and composition guidance. It also includes a review of paragraph structure and sentence types, along with targeted grammar and language practice.

When and how to use various marks of punctuation. CEFR Activity: Production / Writing

College ESL Writers: Applied Grammar and Composing Strategies for Success is a comprehensive eText designed for high-intermediate to advanced English language learners. It builds grammar, writing, reading, and critical thinking skills through step-by-step instruction—beginning with sentence structure and progressing to paragraph and essay composition.

The Excelsior College OWL is a free, comprehensive writing resource offering multimedia support. The OWL covers topics such as the writing process, documentation, grammar, critical thinking, and more.

A textbook focused on explanations of and tips on writing the various modalities of essay composition that students may be assigned.

Welcome to the Provincial English textbook, designed to meet the requirements of the Adult Basic Education (ABE) Provincial English course. This text offers step-by-step instruction to build writing, reading, and critical thinking skills, combining a thorough grammar review with guidance on paragraph writing and composition.

Writing for Success offers step-by-step instruction to build writing, reading, and critical thinking skills. It combines grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition, providing clear examples, exercises, and opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery. The book’s incremental approach supports a range of writing levels and prepares students for future academic writing courses.

Building Blocks of Academic Writing introduces developing academic writers to key writing stages—from prewriting to online expression—through focused practice in paragraph types. Aligned with British Columbia’s Adult Basic Education (ABE) Intermediate English level, it includes review questions with a Canadian context to support skill development.

This is a collection of interactive Google Forms to complement a series of instructional videos by Shaun Macleod and Mark Roberts of SmrtEnglish. Each exercise includes a short video along with original, self-grading comprehension questions and analysis of contextual grammar examples.

This text emphasizes engaging with academic and popular sources through paraphrasing, summarizing, and argument response, while building skills for using sources effectively. Each chapter focuses on a specific writing task, offering scaffolded practice to support skill development.

The goal of this textbook revision was to adapt the open educational resource Writing for Success to better meet the needs of California Community College students. The updated version includes additional scaffolding for developmental and ESL learners, materials for multiple learning modalities, teacher resources, and expanded content on the reading and writing process. This comprehensive revision integrates pre-collegiate English instruction with first-year composition materials, broadening its focus to support all learners in first-year college composition courses.

Though intended for students (both native and nonnative speakers of English) at College of the Sequoias, this podcast about college writing touches on a many topics that are of interest to an English language learner. Transcripts can be found for each episode.

Whatever varieties of English you speak currently, I hope you will begin to see all varieties as real Englishes. As you engage in the writing projects in this book, the primary objective is not to write with grammar that perfectly matches the variety of American English typically used in academia. The primary purpose of the activities and writing projects in this book is to help you gain confidence in expressing yourself in English

This 90-minute module introduces students to the concept of Academic Integrity, guiding them in applying APA formatting to their work and recognizing academic dishonesty, along with its potential consequences.

This resource offers strong topics for college-level writing, including how to cite sources and write professional emails. It features instructional videos on the writing process and serves as a clear, accessible guide to academic composition—particularly useful for research writing. It can also function as a reliable reference tool.

Offers a wide range of strong topics suitable for higher-level classes, with a focus on developing skills such as paraphrasing and critical thinking. However, much of the material relies heavily on metalanguage, which may require additional support for some learners.

This set of social justice writing prompts introduces students to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which can serve as a course theme or inspire individual assignments. Students engage with the UDHR in English and their first language, choosing topics to explore through various essay formats. The prompts help students understand the UDHR’s purpose, recognize global and local human rights issues, and connect abstract ideals to real-life contexts. Through writing, students reflect on personal and societal issues while developing empathy and awareness of their classmates’ experiences and cultures.

This self-paced course helps students build the academic writing and critical thinking skills needed for college or university. Through readings, videos, and guided assignments, students learn to write clearly, paraphrase, summarize, avoid plagiarism, and develop strong written arguments and literary analyses.

This resource introduces the fundamentals of MLA style for academic writing. It covers source integration, in-text citations, and works cited entries, providing students with practical guidance for using and documenting sources correctly.

This thematic, integrated-skills textbook supports the development of writing, reading, and research abilities. It covers reading strategies, essay structure, research techniques, critical reasoning, and revision skills, providing a comprehensive foundation for academic success.

This open educational resource helps students develop academic research and writing skills. It focuses on evaluating sources, summarizing and synthesizing information, and applying critical thinking in research-based writing.

This instruction manual is designed primarily for new composition instructors and serves as both a core textbook and a practical reference guide. It focuses on various approaches to teaching essay composition, offering foundational strategies and insights for effective instruction.

A textbook structured around five core essay types, thoughtfully selected to align with the styles most commonly taught in first-year, first-semester composition courses. The text includes a diverse range of essays, such as narrative, expository, and argumentative, covering key topics like personal transformation, the impact of rituals, and the effects of misinformation in the media. It also provides critical instruction on identifying thesis statements, claims, and evidence, and understanding academic assignments, making it a comprehensive guide for new composition instructors.

An interactive, multimedia text that introduces students to reading and writing at the college level.

Whatever varieties of English you speak currently, I hope you will begin to see all varieties as real Englishes. As you engage in the writing projects in this book, the primary objective is not to write with grammar that perfectly matches the variety of American English typically used in academia. The primary purpose of the activities and writing projects in this book is to help you gain confidence in expressing yourself in English.

This lesson is part of a thematic unit in world history. Students will analyze and discuss the topic of human conflict, exploring the questions: Why does conflict occur, and how can it be prevented?

The theme-based approach uses professional content to help students develop annotation and critical thinking skills, encouraging active learning and collaboration without requiring the instructor to be a content expert.

This text prepares students for college-level reading and writing and meets the requirements of the Adult Basic Education (ABE) Advanced English Course, offering examples, exercises, and definitions on key academic literacy topics.

Different journals require different formats. This resource from the LaGuardia’s library site provides guidelines for APA, MLA and Chicago styles.

The APA Style Citation Tutorial is created by staff at the University of Alberta Library to support students and faculty. The tutorial covers why it is important to use citations, elements of common source types, and how to create reference and in-text citations based on the 7th edition APA guidelines. This tutorial can also be used a reference resource.

A college writing textbook from Howard Community College. It is written for use in a specific course, but a lot of its contents can be adapted to any high-level writing class.

This college-level writing textbook was developed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and covers a range of advanced academic writing skills. Although designed for a specific course, much of its content can be adapted for high-level writing classes.

This textbook introduces students to college-level reading and writing skills. Designed for Advanced Adult Basic Education learners, it provides explanations, examples, and practice activities covering key academic reading and writing concepts.

This OER textbook has been designed for students to learn the foundational concepts for English 100 (first-year college composition).

A college writing textbook from UMass Amherst that can be adapted to an advanced-level ESL class.

A guide for international students and learners of ESL to the demands and process of writing research essays in a North American academic institution. Includes a discussion of plagiarism.

This advanced ESOL writing course integrates metacognition, critical thinking, research and source evaluation, academic vocabulary, and composition skills. Instructional materials include videos, H5P exercises, Quizlets, and comprehension checks. Each unit follows a consistent structure: warm-up writing, vocabulary development, college-level writing concepts adapted for ESOL learners, grammar focused on clauses, composition lessons that move beyond the five-paragraph essay, research and formatting preparation, and both essay and self-reflection writing prompts.

Writing in College is designed for students who have mastered high-school academic writing and are advancing to more complex college-level tasks. Ideal for composition courses or first-year seminars, it provides a clear, approachable introduction to professors’ expectations and academic norms. Each chapter features exercises and “Student Voices” from real students, offering practical insights and strategies for successful college writing. The text aims to help students view writing as a meaningful tool for thought and communication.