Gateways to English Success Program (GESP)
Become a successful graduate student and scholar!
Features of GESP:
- Research paper writing
- Literature review preparation and writing
- Weekly instructor conferences
- Pronunciation and prosody training
- Scholarly text focus in your academic discipline
- Videotaped Presentations
- Technical vocabulary building in your academic discipline
- Academic Lecture Note-taking
- Materials and books included in tuition
“Practicing English skills in the GESP program is advantageous for overseas students, like me. Especially the writing class, I found is very helpful as it guides me the way to structure and write my thesis in my final year. The reading and speaking classes are also good. They all helped improve my English for both studying and daily life.”
-Titti Saksornchai, GESP Student
GESP is an intensive English program for international graduate students. Students who have been accepted by the Graduate School and admitted to a graduate program (either conditionally or provisionally) as well as current graduate students are eligible for GESP.
If students have a low verbal score on the GMAT or GRE, they can meet the UTA Graduate School and most graduate departments’ English proficiency requirements by successfully completing GESP. Occasionally, exceptions are made to this policy; if interested, please contact the GESP Coordinator at atherton@uta.edu.
The workload for each class, Writing, Reading, and Listening/Speaking, is equivalent to a graduate-level class.
Entrance Exams
Students must reserve a test seat at least two days before their chosen test date. Students who test into and register for GESP will have their entrance-exam fee credited to their GESP tuition. Students must bring photo ID and proof of testing fee payment to GESP placement testing.
GESP Classes
Class Content: Each course is discipline-specific and content-based, so students use texts and journals in their discipline for their reading and writing assignments, presentations, accent reduction homework, and their vocabulary assignments.
Writing
- Write 4 persuasive and analysis papers on topics relevant to your discipline
- Read, summarize, and analyze at least 20 articles from scholarly journals in your discipline.
- Use materials from scholarly journals to inform your writing.
- Follow documentation styles most commonly followed in your discipline.
- Write a full-length literature review.
Example Paper Titles
- The Detrimental Role of the IMF in the Recovery of Thailand’s Economy
- The Questioning Method as a Teaching Tool
- BISDN and Future Broadband Communication
- The Optimal Method to Reduce Loss in the Distribution System Systematic Risk in Bond Investments
“All my papers during my first year of graduate school came out great as a result of improved writing skills. The lessons from GESP writing class will remain with me and help me for the rest of my life.”
-Anant Dewan, GESP Student
Reading
- Read, summarize, and analyze at least 20 articles from scholarly journals in your discipline.
- Recognize and use the layout and style of scholarly material.
- Identify the most common collocations in your discipline.
- Increase your reading speed and comprehension of academic material.
- Master at least 100 academic and discipline-specific vocabulary words.
- Increase comprehension by drawing inferences, identifying assumptions and bias, and synthesizing information.
- Build your discipline-specific vocabulary.
- Continuously work on reading speed, reading comprehension, and vocabulary.
- Keep a weekly reading journal: respond in writing and discuss in class a total of 40 articles on various topics.
Example Required Readings
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (chapter) (Thomas Kuhn)
- The Evolution of Management Thought (chapter) (Wren)
- History and the Present Day (chapter) (Braudel)
- “What Is Enlightenment?” (Immanuel Kant)
- The Optimal Method to Reduce Loss in the Distribution System Systematic Risk in Bond Investments
- Selected short stories (Langston Hughes) (Ernest Hemingway)
Listening/Speaking
- Learn pronunciation and how to reduce your accent.
- Work 1-on-1 with your instructor and with pronunciation software to reduce your accent.
- Present (teach) at least 5 lessons on topics in your disciplines.
- Listen to lectures and take notes from videotaped academic lectures.
- Listen to a variety of English accents in a videotaped lecture format.
Example Teaching Lessons
- Total Quality Management
- Continuous Auditing
- Acute Otitis Media
- Asthma
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Cervical Cancer
- The Aging Process and Dementia
- Macrobiotic Diets
GESP Fees
Tuition
| Writing | Listening/Speaking | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | $2000 | $2000 | $2000 |
| Spring | $2000 | $2000 | $2000 |
| Summer | $1300 | $1300 | $1300 |
| Late Registration | $50.00 after 1st day of class $100.00 after 1st week of class | ||
Class Dates and Hours
| Listening/Speaking | Reading | Writing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon. | 10:00 – 1:00 | — | 2:00-4:00 |
| Tues. | — | 10:00 – 1:00 | 2:00-4:00 |
| Weds. | 10:00 – 1:00 | — | 2:00-4:00 |
| Thurs. | — | 10:00 – 1:00 | 2:00-4:00 |
| Fri. | No Class | No Class | No Class |
Important:
- MyMav cannot be used to register for GESP; the GESP Coordinator will directly register students.
- GESP tuition is due the first week of classes and can be paid online.
- GESP registration closes after the second week of classes in Fall/Spring semesters and after the first week in Summer semesters.
