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ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
Subject guide
This NSI Libraries online subject guide provides links to information available on the web. Some resources require a DEC username and password. Don’t know your DEC username and password? Contact your Campus Student Administration or your teacher.
[More subject guides]
Subject web links |
English language tests
IELTS - International English Language Testing System
Official IELTS website - provides testing centre directory
Occupational English Test (OET)
Language test for health practitioners
PEAT - Professional English Assessment for Teachers
TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language
Official TOEFL website - provides testing centre directory
Government information
About Australia
This site in maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Hot topics (online version)
Plain language series about recent changes and current debates in the law.
NSW AMES
Courses and resources for migrants to learn English and job seeking.
Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)
Provides free English language courses to eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants.
For locations of AMEP Offices within the Northern Sydney Institute click here.
Beginning a Life in Australia
This booklet provides useful national, state/territory and local settlement information for migrants, humanitarian entrants, their sponsors and service providers.
Life in Australia book
Gives information about Australian history, culture, society and the values.
Parliamentary Education Office
Learn about the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia
NSW Refugee Health Service
Legal Aid
Helps people with their legal problems and provides useful factsheets and resources.
Related subject guides
English and literature
Job skills |
Links & directories
Aussie educator
Provides links to ESOL teaching resources.
Australian education system
ESL (English as a second language) links & resources
Famous Australians
Famous Australians, including Indigenous Australians and people linked with Australia provided by Aussie educator.
Guide to government and law in Australia
This book by Dr John Hirst includes a concise description of the operations of the Australian system of government and law.
NSW State library - electronic resources
Gateway to Australian Internet links and database
TAFE Studylinks
English language learning activities and other resources
Activities for ESL students
Vocabulary and grammar quizzes, crossword and other exercises for English as a second language (ESL) students
Aussie English for beginners
BBC - Learning English
Contains exercises, audio, videos and quizzes for English learners.
English for everybody
Free English language courses
Englishlanguageguide.com
Interesting things for ESL students
Word games, puzzles, quizzes, exercises, slang, proverbs and much more.
Owl - Online Writing Lab
English as a second language (ESL) Resources, handouts and exercises
Resources for English as a second language
Sydney sidetracks: history where it happened
You can download it to your mobile and explore the Sydney’s history. Includes audio and videos. |
eJournals, eBooks and other eResources |
eJournals & online news services
Freely available news services
EBSCOhost - Gale - ProQuest
Click the link of one of the selected journals or databases. Log in using your DEC username and password.
Academic Search Complete
ANZRC
ANZRC Newspapers
Gale
ProQuest
Videos
lynda.com (video courses)
Login to the Student Portal using your DEC username and password. Then go to the My Learning tab and click the More option. You can search for a course by keyword or access them by subject or software.
- Learning Word 2010
- PowerPoint 2010 essential training
- Gmail essential training
TVNews
Click the link to one of the selected programs and select year and then the date of the broadcast you wish to view. Click on video and log in using your DEC username and password. You can also search for programs.
TVNews via Equella
vLearn
Login to vLearn or the listed videos using your DEC username and password.
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eBooks
Free eBooks
Open-Access Text Archive (free eBooks)
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg of Australia
Provides resources such as a Chronology of Australian exploration, Australian literature: a bibliography, full-text eBooks relating to Australian history and Australia's greatest books that are in the public domain.
eBooks on Ebscohost
Log into eBooks on Ebscohost using your DEC username and password.
eReference
ANZRC
Login to ANZRC or selected examples using your DEC username and password.
Oxford Reference Online
Log in to Oxford Reference Online using your DEC username and password with @edu at the end of your username. Once you have logged into the database, do a keyword search or click on links to biographies, subject entries, images or links to reference works.
- Australian dictionaries
- English language reference
- Bilingual dictionaries & thesauruses
- Subject reference (e.g. Companions to the High Court of Australia, Australian history and politics)
Free eReference
TAFE learning resources
These training resources contain tutorials, quizzes and resources for your course. Log in using your DEC username and password. You can view or download these resources. A CD-ROM of the packages may be available at your TAFE library.
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Databases covering ESOL subjects
Here is a selection of subject specific databases provided. For the full list of general databases and regarding instructions go to the eResources Portal.
| Name |
Description |
Access |
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Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website. Includes statistics and some analysis of information from the National Census and other sources. Allows for the creation of local area profiles. http://www.abs.gov.au/ |
Freely available |
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Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals.The database is updated daily. |
DEC username and password required. |
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Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre - EBSCO's searchable database provides full text, and index access to many local and international magazines, newspapers and reference books. Most general subjects are covered. |
DEC username and password required. |
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Environment Complete offers deep coverage in applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more. The database contains full text for more than 680 journals and 120 monographs. |
DEC username and password required. |
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This multi-disciplinary database provides more than 1,750 general reference publications with full text information. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest. |
DEC username and password required. |
lynda.com
via
Student Portal
&
Staff Portal |
Contains over 1,500 high quality online courses teaching creative and business skills on about 1,600 subject areas such as MS Office, Adobe programs, digital media, social media, web development, programming, design, smart phones, tablets and computers. These comprehensive courses are available in all levels from beginners to advanced. |
Only for NSI students & staff.
Students: log in to the Student Portal with their DEC username and password. Then go to the My Learning tab and click the More option.
Staff: log in to the Staff Portal with their DEC username and password and click the My training tab. |
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The Facts on File is a set of online reference databases designed to suit the reference requirements of secondary schools, TAFE campuses and undergraduate research libraries. Each database offers hyperlinked full-text records, images, maps, time lines, citation information and more. Titles include:
- Ancient and Medieval History Online (incl. videos)
- Modern World History Online (incl. videos)
- Health Reference Centre (incl. videos)
- Science Online (incl. videos)
- Bloom’s Literary Reference Online
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From home:
Students use your DEC username and password with @edu at the end of your username (e.g. john.smith@edu).
Staff use your DEC username and password with @det at the end of your username (john.smith@det). |
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Gale databases provide access to periodical and news information on a diverse set of topics. The sub-collection General OneFile includes over 6,300 full-text titles and 400 newspaper services (a total of more than 11,000 titles). Also included in the subscription are the Culinary Arts Collection, Environmental Studies and Policy Collection, Fine Arts and Music Collection, Gardening, Landscape and Horticulture Collection, General Reference Center Gold, Home Improvement Collection, Popular magazines & Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Collection. |
DEC username and password required. |
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A searchable collection of 175+ key Oxford reference publications covering 25 subject areas. Includes bilingual dictionaries, encyclopaedias, subject reference, quotations, maps & illustrations and 42 x 20th century timelines - e.g.
- Companion to Australian history
- Companion to the High Court of Australia
- Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary (Spanish-English)
- Encyclopedia of mammals
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From home:
Students use your DEC username and password with @edu at the end of your username (e.g. john.smith@edu).
Staff use your DEC username and password with @det at the end of your username (john.smith@det). |
Oxford Art Online |
This innovative new gateway into art research and access point for Oxford art reference subscriptions and publications includes:
- Grove Art Online
- Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms
- Encyclopedia of Aesthetics
- Oxford Companion to Western Art
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From home:
Students: use your DEC username and password with @edu at the end of your username (e.g. john.smith@edu).
Staff: use your DEC username and password with @det at the end of your username (john.smith@det). |
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ProQuest Central provides access to a set of databases containing more than 125 billion digital pages covering arts, literature, social science, general reference, business, science, technology, and medicine. ProQuest includes the world's largest digital newspaper archive including ANZ Newsstand and periodical databases comprising the output of more than 9,000 titles. |
DEC username and password required. |
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The Sustainability Reference Center is a comprehensive full-text database covering all aspects of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Offering content from more than 800 publications including journals, monographs, magazines, and trade publications. |
DEC username and password required. |
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TVNews indexes and abstracts Australian news items, current affairs and documentaries from free-to-air networks since 2007. You can download video content straight to your desktop or flash drive. Most programs are available the next working day. Coverage includes: Australian story, Behind the news, 60 minutes, Four corners, Lateline and all the major news broadcasts.
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Only for NSI students & staff.
DEC username and password required. |
vLearn via Equella |
200+ vLearn videos are now available via Equella.
Subject areas covered are business, career development, hospitality & food services, anatomy, beauty services, child studies, customer service, English language, health & safety, history, HRM, nursing, nutrition, sport & recreation, tourism and more. |
Only for NSI students & staff.
DEC username and password required. |
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Catalogues
The NSW TAFE Library catalogue lists all the resources held in NSW TAFE libraries. You can search by keyword, author, title and subject and also limit searches to specific types of materials and specific campus libraries. The catalogue has links to, and the addresses and contact details of, all individual NSW TAFE Libraries.
Subject headings
Catalogue links to some ESOL subjects and availability through NSI Libraries are listed below. Please note: the search results are limited to items available in NSI Libraries. Do a new search if you want to find items held by your local library or to get results for all TAFE NSW Libraries.
Macquarie University Library
Macquarie University Library has an extensive collection of resources in the ESOL area. NSI has a reciprocal borrower's agreement with Macquarie University ($44 per calendar year). Please ask your NSI library staff for details on how to access this service.
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Last updated: 02.05.2013
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