How can professional proofreading help ESL students?

ESL, or English as a Second Language, refers to the teaching of the English language to students in countries that use first languages other than English. Many ESL students recognise that professional proofreading, and especially professional proofreading services, play a vital role in the learning process, but how exactly does professional proofreading help?

 

1. Articles

One of the extremely common mistakes that ESL students often make in their written work relates to the difficulties experienced in knowing when to use a definite rather than an indefinite article, and vice versa. There are two indefinite articles in the English language – “a” and “an” – and only one definite article – “the”.

The rules that govern the use of definite and indefinite articles are taken for granted by first language speakers, but for ESL students they can create substantial confusion. This often leads to article-related errors creeping up in the work of ESL students. For this reason, using professional proofreading services can correct the misuse of articles and show ESL students how to stop making these errors in their future writing.

 

2. Wordiness

Writing in a concise way is fundamental, especially in today’s fast-paced world. Therefore, the wordiness that marks much of the work produced by ESL students is a key area for improvement in many lessons. When a professional proofreader looks over your work, they can identify and eliminate wordy sentences, and if you analyse the types of changes the proofreader has made, you can gradually learn how to write more directly, concisely and effectively.

 

3. Adverbs

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb (e.g., “slowly”, “peacefully”, or “dramatically”). When ESL students start practicing their academic writing, a common mistake involves placing an adverb too far away from the verb that is to be modified. Another common mistake is the so-called “split infinitive”, where an adverb is sandwiched in between a verb and the preceding “to” (e.g., “to rapidly move”). Professional proofreaders will spot and correct these errors in your writing, not only improving your grade but also helping you to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

 

4. Adjectives

An adjective is a word used to add some description to a noun. When an ESL student wants to describe a noun using a single adjective, this is generally unproblematic (i.e., it is widely known, and easy to remember, that the adjective is placed before the noun). However, when two or more adjectives are used, diverse mistakes often arise in the written work of ESL students.

For example, when considering the sentence, “She would like a red new car”, a first language speaker of English will immediately sense that something sounds strange. Do you think so? Can you put your finger on the mistake?

In short, the mistake – which would be corrected to “new red car” from “red new car” – relates to the rules governing the order of adjectives. If you consistently make these errors but the proofreader highlights and correct them, you will gradually learn to write in a more natural way in the English language.