Sample Letters of Recommendation
A letter for a student who successfully completed a one month
conversation culture program.
To Whom it May Concern:
Burcu Gulcan has been a student in the American Culture and Language Program at
California State University, San Bernardino for Summer Quarter 2001. She studied
in our program from June 28-July 27. I have had the privilege to be her
instructor in the Advanced TOEFL Preparation Level Five class. During this time,
I have watched Burcu draw on her language learning experience coupled with
intense motivation and a desire for success to help her solve language problems
related to speaking, writing, and reading. All of this was done in Level Five,
an intense and difficult level of ACLP designed to prepare students for future
undergraduate and graduate study. According to her placement results (i.e.,
Michigan Test, writing test, and speaking test), her English proficiency skills
are high-advanced, which suggests that she has near native speaker fluency of
English.
Burcu has good organizational abilities with writing. She worked hard on her
writing assignments treating the organizational and grammatical aspects of the
essay competently. She has developed an awareness of writing for an audience
with all of its imposed constraints. The result is that she understands how to
view writing as a process.
Above all, aside from her high language skills, Burcu has leadership qualities.
She contributed to the making of knowledge in my classes as she often lead
discussions talking about how we (students) could prepare ourselves for future
undergraduate study.
A letter for a graduate student who did her student teaching in
my ten week English Grammar class for international students.
To Whom It May Concern:
I have had the privilege to have ________ as both an observer and a teaching
assistant in my Level Four English Grammar class. Also, she was an observer in
my Level Four TOEFL preparation class. She was well received by my students and
me.
_________ observed twenty-three seventy minute Grammar classes. She also
observed seven seventy minute Level Four TOEFL classes. But unlike many
observers that I have had in the past, she took a very active approach to the
process by helping my students as they worked on different grammar skills within
the classroom. In addition, she gave twenty-two hours of tutorials to _______, a
student from Saudi Arabia who was struggling with language transfer and cultural
problems. Because of _________'s individual attention, help which I would not
have been able to give, ___________ made remarkable progress this quarter.
In addition to her observations, _____________ taught two seventy minute
classes for English Grammar. She discussed correlative conjunctions and sentence
connectors, important subjects which helped the students to learn parallel
structure and cohesion in writing. Each of her class sessions was
well-organized; she elicited a lot of interaction while giving appropriate
feedback to the students. Feeling that she had been able to explain a difficult
subject in easily understandable terms, my students told me they enjoyed her
presentations.
It is my pleasure to give __________ the highest recommendations for her
observing, tutoring, and teaching role in my ESL classes. I am sure that
__________ will continue to be respected by both students and colleagues alike
in whatever position she chooses to fill.
A letter for a TESL professional intending to teach a university class at
Cal State University, San Bernardino:
Memo
Mr. Washington has made significant contributions to the ACLP which have
innovatively affected the placement of students into our program as well as the
development, design, and implementation of a process approach to academic
reading and writing. A lead instructor, teacher mentor, and developer of the
ACLP PreMBA curriculum, Steve has always been extraordinarily well received by
both the faculty and students in our department.
Mr. Washington is an integral member of the placement committee specializing
in the coordination of the writing section of our placement test. He has
designed the writing prompt, has normed the teachers on holistic scoring, and
administers the writing test each quarter to all incoming international
students. The writing prompt applies a discourse hierarchy, a criteria necessary
for holistic scoring; his holistic scoring procedures allow the placement
committee to make accurate global distinctions between the lower level (1,2,3,
and C) and the higher level incoming students (4,5, and PreMBA).
In addition to his work on the placement committee, Mr. Washington has
developed a sound reading and writing curriculum for the ACLP. "A Design
for Writing Curriculum" was developed by Mr. Washington. In writing this, Mr. Washington
has given the instructors in our program a systematic and process approach to
writing which equips our international students with expected patterns and
rhetorical conventions required by academic discourse. His PreMBA curriculum has
achieved similar results in both reading and writing. In particular, Mr. Washington's
PreMBA curriculum equips advanced ESL students with the reading and writing
demands imposed by the typical MBA program. As a result of his instruction and
academic counseling, many international students have completed MBA degrees,
many of whom have graduated with special distinction.
Mr. Washington's versatility to teach Grammar, Reading, Writing, and Study
Skills at the intermediate and advanced levels make him the most valued faculty
member in our program. His evaluations from both students and administration are
consistently above average with students praising his organization, speedy
return of work and his eagerness for all students to learn and understand what
is being taught. Steve has a genuine care for his students, and he has helped
hundreds of students to academically and socially make the transition from the
ESL environment to the undergraduate and graduate university classroom.
It is my privilege to write this recommendation for Mr. Washington. I hope
that you will consider Steve as a candidate to teach Education 306. Steve will
be a valuable asset to your Expository Writing program for the College of
Education. On a personal level, he is a good friend, and I value him for his
experience and expertise as a compositionist. I am sure that Mr. Washington
will continue to be well received and respected in whatever faculty positions he
occupies.
________________________________________________________________
A letter for a graduate student intending to take out a Master's in Mechanical
Engineering:
Memorandum
To:
Graduate Office Admissions Committee, San Francisco State University
From: Michael John
Buckhoff, Instructor, CSUSB
Subject: Hideki Onitsuka
Date:
I have had the privilege of being an instructor to Hideki Onitsuka in TOEFL
Level Three, American University Level Three, Adjunct Level Four, TOEFL Level
Four, Advanced TOEFL Preparation Level Five, Oral Language Level Five, and
Advanced Study Skills Level Five classes in the American Culture and Language
Program (ACLP) at Cal State University, San Bernardino for Fall Quarter 1996,
and Winter and Spring Quarters 1997. During this time I have watched Hideki draw
on his language learning experience coupled with intense motivation and a desire
for success to help him solve language problems related to speaking, writing,
and reading. All of this was done in the level Three, Four and Five programs,
intense and difficult levels of ACLP designed to prepare students for future
undergraduate and graduate study.
Even before coming to the US, Hideki has had extensive experience with the
English Language. He studied English during his Junior and High School years.
Upon graduation of high school, Hideki attended a Japanese university where he
completed a BA Degree in Education.
From the first time I observed Hideki in the ACLP program, I knew that he
would go on to be one of the most motivated language learners that I have ever
met. Hideki prepared outstanding oral presentations in my Study Skills and Oral
Language classes. As a result of his strong organizational abilities combined
with a sound command of the English Language, he received superior marks on
these presentations.
Hideki is able to transfer these organizational abilities into his writing
assignments as well. He worked hard on his writing assignments treating the
organization and grammatical aspects of the essay competently. Hideki has
developed an awareness of writing for an audience with all of its imposed
constraints. The result is that Hideki understands how to view writing as a
process. He has received superior marks in his writing assignments.
In addition to his strong writing abilities, Hideki is a comprehensive and
analytical reader. His high ranges of 55-56 on the TOEFL Reading Section
indicate that he can read rapidly while retaining high comprehension.
Above all, aside from his high language skills, Hideki has leadership
qualities. He contributed to the making of knowledge in my classes as he often
lead discussions talking about how we (students) could prepare ourselves for
future graduate study. If given the chance, Hideki will be able to make valuable
contributions to the Cinema Department in both theory and practice.
Without hesitation, I recommend Hideki as a candidate into your MA Film
Studies program at San Francisco State University. I hope that you can see that
Hideki has the intellectual and leadership abilities necessary to succeed in
your program. If you have any questions regarding Hideki’s qualifications,
please call me at your earliest convenience at (909) 880-0332.
________________________________________________________________
A letter for a graduate student intending to take out a Master's in
Mechanical Engineering:
To: Tennessee
Technology Graduate Admissions Committee
From: Michael John ,
Placement Specialist
Subject: Hooray Ishii
Date:
I have had the privilege of being an instructor to Hooray Ishii in TOEFL
Level Three, TOEFL Level Four, Advanced TOEFL Preparation Level Five, Oral
Language Level Five, and Advanced Study Skills Level Five classes in the
American Culture and Language Program (ACLP) at Cal State University, San
Bernardino for Spring, Summer, and Fall Quarters for the 1997 academic year.
During this time I have watched Hooray draw on his language learning experience
coupled with intense motivation and a desire for success to help him solve
language problems related to grammar, writing, reading, and speaking. All of
this was done in the level Three, Four and Five programs, intense and difficult
levels of ACLP designed to prepare students for future undergraduate and
graduate study.
From the first time I observed Hooray in the ACLP program, I knew that he
would go on to be one of the most motivated language learners that I have ever
met. Hooray prepared outstanding oral presentations in my Study Skills and Oral
Language classes. As a result of his strong organizational abilities combined
with a sound command of the English Language, he received superior marks on
these presentations.
Hooray is able to transfer these organizational abilities into his writing
assignments as well. He worked hard on his writing assignments treating the
organization and grammatical aspects of the essay competently. Hooray has
developed an awareness of writing for an audience with all of its imposed
constraints. The result is that Hooray understands how to view writing as a
process: he has received superior marks in his writing assignments.
In addition to his strong writing abilities, Hooray is a comprehensive and
analytical reader. He has worked hard on developing the vocabulary and reading
fluency skills necessary to succeed in an academic program.
Above all, aside from his high language skills, Hooray has leadership
qualities. He contributed to the making of knowledge in my classes as he often
lead discussions talking about how we (students) could prepare ourselves for
future undergraduate and graduate study. If given the chance, Hooray will be
able to make valuable contributions to your graduate program.
Hooray has the drive and hunger for knowledge that most students never fully
desire ,yet a quality all professors hope to teach. Without any hesitation, I
recommend Hooray as a candidate into your graduate program in Tennessee. I hope
that you can see that Hooray has the intellectual and leadership abilities
necessary to succeed in your program. If you have any questions regarding Hiroya’s
qualifications, please call me at your earliest convenience at (909) 880-0332.
________________________________________________________________
A letter for a graduate student intending to take out an MBA:
Memorandum
To:
Graduate Academic Admissions Committee, CSUSB
From: Michael John
, Instructor, CSUSB
Subject: Ling-Li Wang
Date:
I have had the privilege of being an instructor to Ling-Li Wang in Advanced
TOEFL Preparation, Oral Language, and Advanced Study Skills classes in the
American Culture and Language Program (ACLP) at Cal State University, San
Bernardino for Winter and Spring Quarters 1997. During this time I have watched
Ling-Li draw on her language learning experience coupled with intense motivation
and a desire for success to help her solve language problems related to
speaking, writing, and reading. All of this was done in the PreMBA program, an
intense and difficult level of ACLP designed to prepare students for future
graduate study.
From the first time I observed Ling-Li in the ACLP program, I knew that she
would go on to be one of the most motivated language learners that I have ever
met. Ling-Li prepared outstanding oral presentations in my Study Skills and Oral
Language classes. As a result of her strong organizational abilities combined
with a command of the English Language, she received an A on the presentation.
Ling-Li is able to transfer these organizational abilities into her writing
assignments as well. She worked hard on her writing assignments treating the
organizational and grammatical aspects of the essay competently. Ling-Li has
developed an awareness of writing for an audience with all of its imposed
constraints. The result is that Ling-Li understands how to view writing as a
process. She has received superior marks in all of her writing assignments.
In addition to her strong writing abilities, Ling-Li is a comprehensive and
analytical reader. Her ranges of 54-55 on the TOEFL Reading section indicate
that she can read rapidly while retaining high comprehension.
Above all, aside from her high language skills, Ling-Li has leadership
qualities. She contributed to the making of knowledge in my classes as she often
lead discussions talking about how we (students) could prepare ourselves for
future university study. If given the chance, Ling-Li will be able to make
valuable contributions to the MBA program at CSUSB in both theory and practice.
Without hesitation, I recommend Ling-Li as a candidate into your MBA program
at CSUSB. I hope that you can see that Ling-Li has the intellectual and
leadership abilities necessary to succeed in your program. If you have any
questions regarding Ling Li’s qualifications, please call me at your earliest
convenience at (909) 880-0332.