Library Resources For ESL / International Students

Key Databases

Peterson's Test Prep (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Formerly known as Testing and Education Reference Center (TERC).

Provides access to comprehensive information related to colleges and universities, financial aid, and test preparation. Features interactive online practice tests for preparatory examinations in PDF format, including the ACT, CLEP, GED, LSAT, GMAT, GRE, SAT and others.

Users must create an individual account to take tests and track progress.
Transparent Language Online This link opens in a new window
Interactive language learning software. Includes vocabulary flash cards, pronunciation practice, activities/games, language and culture blogs, online social communities, video-based grammar lessons. Basic to intermediate level. More than 90 languages offered, including ESL.

Users MUST create an account when they first use this online tool - that is how it tracks your learning progress. Access is available on or off campus AFTER creating an account. For mobile access, in the Transparent Language menu click on “Get the App” for the most recent version, and use the login and password provided to activate the app once downloaded.

Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) This link opens in a new window
Dictionary of 60,000 entries, audio recordings, interactive maps, and survey data focusing on the regional language of the United States.
Oxford English Dictionary - OED (2nd ed.) This link opens in a new window
Premier resource for etymological studies containing the meaning, history, and derivation of over half a million words in the English language. Provides examples of both current and historical word usage through more than 2.5 million quotations from a variety of sources. Includes etymological analysis, pronunciation, and variant spellings.
World Atlas of Language Structures Online (WALS) This link opens in a new window
A database of maps and bibliographical references on the structural properties (phonological, grammatical, lexical) of languages. Includes information on location, linguistic affiliation and basic classification features of more than 2,650 languages. A joint project of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Max Planck Digital Library.

Alexander Street This link opens in a new window
Cross-search a multidisciplinary suite of streaming video and audio, music scores, film scripts and text collections. Videos can be linked or embedded and include full, searchable transcripts. Use Advanced Search to specify collections or choose parameters such as language or format.

Collections include:
Academic Video Online Premium (Alexander Street) This link opens in a new window
A large multidisciplinary streaming video collection in subjects as diverse as art & architecture, history, ethnography, theater, dance, music, criminal justice, education, counseling and therapy, science, business, political science and more. Includes the ability to save playlists and to create video clips for presentations.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Digitally streams thousands of educational videos in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Science & Engineering, Technology, and World Languages, as well as films on current newsworthy issues. Includes distributors such as Films for the Humanities & Sciences, BBC Worldwide Learning, NOVA, PBS, and HBO.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Digitally streams thousands of popular films and documentaries, as well as educational videos in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, Business, and K-12 Education. Includes distributors such as PBS, Criterion Collection, Film Movement, Flicker Alley, and California Newsreel.

Access World News (NewsBank) This link opens in a new window
Selected full-text news articles from thousands of U.S., African, Asian, Australian, and European newspapers, newswires, and blogs. Most sources are in English with some Spanish-language sources from the Americas. Does not include paid advertising, photographs, or images.
-- Texas newspapers
-- Access Business News
Newspaper Source Plus (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Features full text for some 200 regional U.S. newspapers, 30 international newspapers, newswires, select newspaper columns, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Los Angeles Times. Coverage of Middle Eastern and Asian-Pacific newspapers, such as the Jakarta Post, the Hong Kong Standard, Jordan Today, and The Australian, is particularly notable. Also contains full-text television and radio news transcripts.