Course reflections
1. What did you notice about your writing process during this course? Did your writing process change? If so, how?If your writing process changed, what course assignments/interactions supported that change?
I have noticed that my writing process have changed during this course. I look at writing as a process because writing is a process. What supported this change I believe the fact that we as students/peer tutors have trouble talking about what we are going to say in our paper. So instead of talking about my ideas I instead wrote them down and was able to become more aware of my writing style and voice. The assignments that really showed me how to become more aware of my writing style. Even though no one is perfect about writing, I find that the approach about how I go about writing. I look at all the questions and try to make sense of the question and then I prepare a draft of my essays.
2. What have you noticed about your finished essays?Did the quality of your essays change as a result of this course? If so how?If your final products changed, what do you think led to those changes?
Yes, my draft really change. Not only did my draft change but the structure of my sentences have changed as well. I had to take out information and add more information. I took a more direct approach towards my final essay such as first writing down my ideas, then going to the CAS building to get tutored and I talked with my classmates.
3. What did you notice about the way you coach writing students? Did your approach to coaching change during the term? If so, how? Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning?
Coaching writing students is hard because every student learns differently. I have learned that as a writer coach tutors have to be flexible and have a lot of patience. I would say it changed slightly because when students came into the writting center and had papers due on the same day I had to act as a teacher, a coach and a peer all at the same time.
Describe.4. What have your experiences coaching writing students shown you about effective strategies for talking/communicating to others? Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning?
That every method can work but only if you have a student who is willing to be in thew writing center and wants to work. If the student is in a rush or comes in late during the session then the session does not work at all.
Describe.5. How has your work coaching writing students changed the way you learn? Were any course assignments/interactions useful in facilitating this learning? Describe.
My work has changed in the way that I focus on my thesis. I learned that it is best to =just write constantly and then go back and connect your essays together. I also learned that you should not try to do everything the last minute.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Blog # 22
Talisha Robinson
Eng 4090-01
Peer Tutoring and Writing
Writing center Philosophy
The purpose of the Writing Center is to provide assistance to all students who request help with their writing in all different subjects. A writing center should have reference books for students and the tutors to refer to filled with examples of how to cite the different kinds of papers. A writing center should have at least twenty computers for students to work on in case he or she does not have a laptop. A writing center should have tutors who write at different grade levels. For example, a writing center should be centralized and there should be a balance between talking between the student and the tutors. Therefore, a writing center should have guidelines for everything and a writer should address the following aspects of the student responsibilities, the tutor responsibilities, director responsibilities faculty responsibilities and the institutional responsibilities.
Student responsibilities
Students should come into the writing center with an open mind.
Students should have their assignment with them when he or she comes into the writing center. Students should not come into the writing center when an assignment is due on the same day except in extreme circumstances that may prevent the student from coming in earlier. Students should realize that we as tutors are students too.Students should not expect us to read through your paper and fix it. We will not correct your paper for you. We will make suggestions about style as we come to understand your meaning. In cases where we think sentence structure needs review, we will address specific rules with you. Tutors will not tell you what your idea is or how to read a particular piece of evidence. Tutors will prompt astudents to rethink and complicate your idea, and we will help you to develop ways to clarify, deepen, and refine your readings of evidence. Tutors will not assess the validity of a grade you have received.
Tutor responsibilities
Tutors are expected to create a productive environment. Tutors are expected to help students become independent learners. Tutors are expected to have a positive attitude.
Tutors are expected to adjust to the learner needs and wants.
Tutors are not allowed to write the paper for the student. Tutors are expected to be able to be flexible with every student that comes in for help.
Director responsibilities
· As a director of the writing center, the director should provide a space where the students and tutors can work together in an effective manner.
· The director should evaluate the tutor in a beginning when the tutor starts and than at the end of the term to see if there are any improvements in the session.
· Should have a supportive attuide towards students and tutors in the Writing Center
Institutional responsibilities
· Tutors should spend one hour in the writing center consulting with undergraduate and graduate students and sometimes faculty on the affects n their writing.
Faculty responsibilities
· Professors should provide a copy of the assignment of what they want their students to work on in the writing center. (If possible faculty should be able to provide a copy of the assignment with the tutor so the tutor can have an idea of what the student will be working on before he or she arrives.
.
Eng 4090-01
Peer Tutoring and Writing
Writing center Philosophy
The purpose of the Writing Center is to provide assistance to all students who request help with their writing in all different subjects. A writing center should have reference books for students and the tutors to refer to filled with examples of how to cite the different kinds of papers. A writing center should have at least twenty computers for students to work on in case he or she does not have a laptop. A writing center should have tutors who write at different grade levels. For example, a writing center should be centralized and there should be a balance between talking between the student and the tutors. Therefore, a writing center should have guidelines for everything and a writer should address the following aspects of the student responsibilities, the tutor responsibilities, director responsibilities faculty responsibilities and the institutional responsibilities.
Student responsibilities
Students should come into the writing center with an open mind.
Students should have their assignment with them when he or she comes into the writing center. Students should not come into the writing center when an assignment is due on the same day except in extreme circumstances that may prevent the student from coming in earlier. Students should realize that we as tutors are students too.Students should not expect us to read through your paper and fix it. We will not correct your paper for you. We will make suggestions about style as we come to understand your meaning. In cases where we think sentence structure needs review, we will address specific rules with you. Tutors will not tell you what your idea is or how to read a particular piece of evidence. Tutors will prompt astudents to rethink and complicate your idea, and we will help you to develop ways to clarify, deepen, and refine your readings of evidence. Tutors will not assess the validity of a grade you have received.
Tutor responsibilities
Tutors are expected to create a productive environment. Tutors are expected to help students become independent learners. Tutors are expected to have a positive attitude.
Tutors are expected to adjust to the learner needs and wants.
Tutors are not allowed to write the paper for the student. Tutors are expected to be able to be flexible with every student that comes in for help.
Director responsibilities
· As a director of the writing center, the director should provide a space where the students and tutors can work together in an effective manner.
· The director should evaluate the tutor in a beginning when the tutor starts and than at the end of the term to see if there are any improvements in the session.
· Should have a supportive attuide towards students and tutors in the Writing Center
Institutional responsibilities
· Tutors should spend one hour in the writing center consulting with undergraduate and graduate students and sometimes faculty on the affects n their writing.
Faculty responsibilities
· Professors should provide a copy of the assignment of what they want their students to work on in the writing center. (If possible faculty should be able to provide a copy of the assignment with the tutor so the tutor can have an idea of what the student will be working on before he or she arrives.
.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Blog # 21 Rough Draft
I realize that my draft is a little drafty and I realize that in certain points of my research I need to find and provide detailed notes about how the research fits into my research question especially within my data analysis. I will continue working on it day by day. I also need to shorten my paper. I am already at eight pages so I need to find a way to provide a more effective way of saying what I have found and I need help with the discussion which is why I have not included it.
Adapting to the cultural change in a writing center: Taking a direct approach:
As a metaphor for writing center and the effort of how a tutoring center can effect the student and the tutor I borrow Muriel Harris words in the essay in where Sandra Lee McKay “points out one of the differences with ESL students have is that when he or she writes is that they are influenced by their cultural, social, and educational experiences’’ (261).
There are various educational intuitions which maintain a writing center and it provides students with assistance on their papers or whatever the student would like to work on. The key goal of a writing center is helping students learn to become better writers. With this being said this statement may not apply to all students such as ESL students. ESL students are students who come from all different backgrounds and who are not familiar with the English language. Therefore this essay will focus on the context of ESL students in the writing center and who takes control of the sessions such as the tutor or the student and will be emphazing a broader view adds depth and breadth to the discussion by demonstrating how writing centers offer insights into the rules and conventions of English, and sharing the stories of ESL students who visit the writing center and why tutors are often take on a teacher/student role. Throughout the findings writing centers have to take a more directive role with ESL students because students need time to process the information which is given to them or tutors need to take an authoritave role.
Most of the publish literature that I have found deals with tutors and students in the writing center who are ESL students and the articles focus on the aspects of the roles of students and the question that I have considered when elevating my sessions and collecting data is When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center? Good tutoring sessions usually consist of tutors asking the writers what they want to accomplish. Writing centers (or writing labs have been regarded as separate form the classroom, a unique space for writers working on their writing. In short students who come to the writing center sometimes do not know why they are coming to the writing center; some students come because they are required to come. The article by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino emphasizes on facilitating the writing process, by saying that peer tutor reactions is best seen as an interaction between peers who share similar backgrounds experience and status, one that creates a different and powerful context for learning.
Research has increasingly pointed to a range of cognitive and social reason behind ESL student’s transgresive textual appropriation, defined as student’s source use that contravenes acceptable borrowing practices. Sometimes the students are unable to meet the needs of what is wanted of them. So this article focuses on some suggestions for educational practice.
One of the main themes of the tutor training literature is that successful tutoring depends on tutors acting as peer’s vis-à-vis their tutees-supportive, interested readers-rather than on tutors as authoritative instructors. However this stance is problematic for at least three reasons: First ethnographic studies of tutoring have demonstrated that, in practice, tutors take on a multiplicity of roles from more to less authoritative . In an article Cultural Conflicts in the Writing Center: Expectations and Assumptions of ESL Students, Muriel Harris states that writing tutors and ESL students have different expectations about the routines of a writing session. Tutors are trained to be collaborators, and ESL students come to a tutor for answers and solutions. ESL students may struggle with typical open-ended questions tutors ask because finding their own answers is a foreign exercise. She explains that these different expectations will indeed create a conflict, or a loss which in my case refers to why tutors may have to take a more directive approach to his or her writing session. Harris also writes that ESL students respond positively to a tutor who is sympathetic or understanding about the challenges that come with learning English.
1. Method
Case study injury was used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching, The questions that I have considered when evaluating a sessions were the following questions:
• Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
• Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
• Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
• What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student?
• What did the student need to work on?
• How prepared is the student?
• Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student?
• What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class and etc…
1.1. Context for the study
Tutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.
ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.
Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.
To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class.
Finally at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing their experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Adapting to the cultural change in a writing center: Taking a direct approach:
As a metaphor for writing center and the effort of how a tutoring center can effect the student and the tutor I borrow Muriel Harris words in the essay in where Sandra Lee McKay “points out one of the differences with ESL students have is that when he or she writes is that they are influenced by their cultural, social, and educational experiences’’ (261).
There are various educational intuitions which maintain a writing center and it provides students with assistance on their papers or whatever the student would like to work on. The key goal of a writing center is helping students learn to become better writers. With this being said this statement may not apply to all students such as ESL students. ESL students are students who come from all different backgrounds and who are not familiar with the English language. Therefore this essay will focus on the context of ESL students in the writing center and who takes control of the sessions such as the tutor or the student and will be emphazing a broader view adds depth and breadth to the discussion by demonstrating how writing centers offer insights into the rules and conventions of English, and sharing the stories of ESL students who visit the writing center and why tutors are often take on a teacher/student role. Throughout the findings writing centers have to take a more directive role with ESL students because students need time to process the information which is given to them or tutors need to take an authoritave role.
Most of the publish literature that I have found deals with tutors and students in the writing center who are ESL students and the articles focus on the aspects of the roles of students and the question that I have considered when elevating my sessions and collecting data is When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center? Good tutoring sessions usually consist of tutors asking the writers what they want to accomplish. Writing centers (or writing labs have been regarded as separate form the classroom, a unique space for writers working on their writing. In short students who come to the writing center sometimes do not know why they are coming to the writing center; some students come because they are required to come. The article by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino emphasizes on facilitating the writing process, by saying that peer tutor reactions is best seen as an interaction between peers who share similar backgrounds experience and status, one that creates a different and powerful context for learning.
Research has increasingly pointed to a range of cognitive and social reason behind ESL student’s transgresive textual appropriation, defined as student’s source use that contravenes acceptable borrowing practices. Sometimes the students are unable to meet the needs of what is wanted of them. So this article focuses on some suggestions for educational practice.
One of the main themes of the tutor training literature is that successful tutoring depends on tutors acting as peer’s vis-à-vis their tutees-supportive, interested readers-rather than on tutors as authoritative instructors. However this stance is problematic for at least three reasons: First ethnographic studies of tutoring have demonstrated that, in practice, tutors take on a multiplicity of roles from more to less authoritative . In an article Cultural Conflicts in the Writing Center: Expectations and Assumptions of ESL Students, Muriel Harris states that writing tutors and ESL students have different expectations about the routines of a writing session. Tutors are trained to be collaborators, and ESL students come to a tutor for answers and solutions. ESL students may struggle with typical open-ended questions tutors ask because finding their own answers is a foreign exercise. She explains that these different expectations will indeed create a conflict, or a loss which in my case refers to why tutors may have to take a more directive approach to his or her writing session. Harris also writes that ESL students respond positively to a tutor who is sympathetic or understanding about the challenges that come with learning English.
1. Method
Case study injury was used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching, The questions that I have considered when evaluating a sessions were the following questions:
• Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
• Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
• Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
• What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student?
• What did the student need to work on?
• How prepared is the student?
• Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student?
• What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class and etc…
1.1. Context for the study
Tutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.
ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.
Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.
To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class.
Finally at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing their experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow. So after going through her paper, I asked her did she know what a run on sentence was and she did not. So I said let's look at what a run on sentence is. So we read the definition out loud to me saying what a run on sentence and after reading what is was she was able to summarize it in one sentence.
Lida was able to adjust he paper because she was focused. Lida seemed to have been comfortable with the tutor's approach. She came in and I welcomed her. Sometimes we as tutors have to transition from the student/tutor role and sometimes incorporate a teacher /tutoring session based on what the student needs to accomplish.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Blog # 19
Literature Review:
Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle Newton state that the role of a tutor plays is highly dependent upon context and is negotiated with every tutorial. In order for successful tutoring sessions, tutors have to find and provide a suitable role as a tutor and sometimes act as teacher in a way especially if the student is not familiar with a category such as grammar techniques etc… They also argue that specifies the contextual factors that influence this negotiation of the tutor role contributes to the perceived negotiation and how the negotiation of the tutor roles contributes to the perceived success of a tutoring sessions.
Successful roles can vary on how a particular session went. However, interactions within tutorial systems can affect each session based on variables such as gender personality and language background can affect interactions within tutorial systems, but these are only a few of the many potential variables that could influence how tutors and tutees perceive the tutor’s role. However, successful sessions varying based on sometimes the location of where the tutoring actually takes place.
Method
Over the course of about approximately four weeks, I have observed various session and various case studies used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching. When I had tutored students as a tutor some of the questions that I had considered when preparing my data were the following questions: Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students? Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor? Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda? What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student? What did the student need to work on? How prepared is the student? Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student? What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class etc…?
The sessions were held about an hour long. The students that I have tutored were considered to be speakers who were not familiar with the English language. Out of my five sessions, I have documented various instances where I taken notice about where I the tutor had to take a little control of the session because the student did not know where to begin. I have had previous experience tutoring students and they came from various backgrounds where I have tutored people who were enrolled in developmental courses at Union County College. I was able to tutor five students for my research and I hope to prove that through my research that I indicate that in my research. Due to lack of a lot of cancelled appointments I was only able to tutor five people.1.1. Context for the studyTutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class. Finally, at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing his or her experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight-page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow.
Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle Newton state that the role of a tutor plays is highly dependent upon context and is negotiated with every tutorial. In order for successful tutoring sessions, tutors have to find and provide a suitable role as a tutor and sometimes act as teacher in a way especially if the student is not familiar with a category such as grammar techniques etc… They also argue that specifies the contextual factors that influence this negotiation of the tutor role contributes to the perceived negotiation and how the negotiation of the tutor roles contributes to the perceived success of a tutoring sessions.
Successful roles can vary on how a particular session went. However, interactions within tutorial systems can affect each session based on variables such as gender personality and language background can affect interactions within tutorial systems, but these are only a few of the many potential variables that could influence how tutors and tutees perceive the tutor’s role. However, successful sessions varying based on sometimes the location of where the tutoring actually takes place.
Method
Over the course of about approximately four weeks, I have observed various session and various case studies used to investigate student/tutor pairs because I was interested in analyzing when there is an ESL student who sets the agenda and who takes the control of the coaching. When I had tutored students as a tutor some of the questions that I had considered when preparing my data were the following questions: Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students? Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor? Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda? What is said by the tutor and what is said by the student? What did the student need to work on? How prepared is the student? Is there a balance between talking between the tutor and the student? What subject matter does the student need help in such as what kind of paper was it for such as an English class etc…?
The sessions were held about an hour long. The students that I have tutored were considered to be speakers who were not familiar with the English language. Out of my five sessions, I have documented various instances where I taken notice about where I the tutor had to take a little control of the session because the student did not know where to begin. I have had previous experience tutoring students and they came from various backgrounds where I have tutored people who were enrolled in developmental courses at Union County College. I was able to tutor five students for my research and I hope to prove that through my research that I indicate that in my research. Due to lack of a lot of cancelled appointments I was only able to tutor five people.1.1. Context for the studyTutors for the study were both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Peer Tutoring Writing Class held at Kean University. One of the course requirements was to tutor students enrolled in various courses such as an English composition class.ESL students were enrolled in either various sections of freshman composition. The course instructor had assigned asked each student to focus on a particular aspect that he or she wanted to focus on during designated times that the students have signed up for.Before the tutoring began, both the undergraduate and graduate students in the class took a test and had to pass it before moving forward to earn a certification in order to move forward and be able to collect data.To document and collect data tutors were to observe what happened in the section after the tutoring center and when it was time to observe other students in the writing center we were to have a checklist, and observation forms. Tutors/writing coaches were expected to keep a progress on how their sessions were going by writing on our blogs that each individual have created for class. Finally, at the end of the semester, each student was asked to write a paper summarizing his or her experience as tutors and the collections that each student was focusing on. Graduate students have to write a longer paper and undergraduate students have to write an eight-page paper and have sources to back up the data that he or she is collecting.
Data analysis
Janice is an ESL student who is studying Psychology here at Kean University. She hopes to become a teacher one day. Janice came into the tutoring center and she was late to begin with. I believe she was approximately ten minutes late. When she came in she was very enthusiastic. Janice had a paper to write based on how she felt in general about life and how has that incident affect her life. Janice paper was due in a couple of hours on that given day.
Janice spoke in an effective manner. She had an assignment sheet and she wanted the tutor to go over the paper such as proof read the paper. I looked at her paper and saw a
lot of problems in her paper such as grammatical errors all throughout the paper. After I had read the paper to her, I asked her could she read the paper out loud to me and she did. She was able to read the paper out loud but was not help to grasp the idea of the sentences in her paper. For example, the student had sort of an idea of what went on but her paper did not make any sense at all. From my understanding as I tutor I felt that she needed to get a grasp of when to write in present tense and when to shift to past tense. Not only did the student did not understand what was saying. I felt that she was being attentive to what I was saying because she was just in a rush to get the paper done.
Case # 2
Tommy who is enrolled in an English course came to the writing center with a goal in mind. Tommy was a very well received person. He came in with a paper that he wanted to revise. So we worked on that. Tommy who is an undergraduate student knew what he wanted and knew how to adjust his paper by referring back to the professors comments and tried to incorporate those ideas into the paper.
Tommy is an example of the student being in control of the session because one Tommy who is an ESl student came in with an assignment sheet stating the guidelines. Tommy read his paper out loud to me and while he was reading his paper out loud to me he was able to go back and forth to see what kind of comments the professor made to his or her paper which was excellent. Tommy was a student who was focus about his work. He was on time and he had told me that he had benefit a lot form the session because he pushed himself to see where he could elaborate more things in his paper.
Case 3
Sasha who is an ESL student enrolled in an English course came to the writing center course such as Business and Professional Writing Course came into the writing center without an assignment sheet. She just wanted someone to come in and proofread her assignment. The assignment sheet was to write an essay based on how she decided to come to Kean University and along with the assignment the student. She spoke very quietly in an effective manner where at times I felt like I had to led the student and guide the student in a way. For example, I felt like the students that students should come prepared with some sort of idea of what they need to do. However, even though I was a tutor at the instance, I had to encounter the students level of education and whether English was the students native language. I had to keep repeating myself to the sense to see if I understood what the tutor was saying, Sasha seemed like he was very apprehensive, because the bulk of the work was fallen upon me. Sasha was one of those students who kept asking “Is this right”. I felt that I did this best with that I could possibly with this student because one the student was looking at the tutor for comfort.
Case 4
Aliyah is a twenty five year old woman who is from Russia and she had lived in the United States for ten years. She was enrolled in ESL classes when she had enrolled at Union County College.
It is clear from the data that Aliyah came into the tutoring center with high expectations. She came into the writing center because she wanted to improve her paper because she had received a B on he rapper. She wanted to get an A on her paper.
After the brief discussion Aliyah sat down and provided details on what the assignment was. Her assignment was to write an essay on her experience of the Japanese culture and to go to a restaurant. Aliyah essay was on point and it was very focus and detailed. There were some grammar issues such as verb tense fragments, and some run-on sentences. She came prepared with her grammar book, a dictionary and a thesaurus. One sentence that she had was Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Final research plan
Statement: When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center?Detailed statement of your research question?The key to tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for their lessons. I have found that using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience. Sometimes people who are ESL students come to the writing center for the tutor to proofread their paper because many of them have trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes the tutor has to start off with maybe a question to get the student to work on their paper themselves. The tutor is there to support and encourage the students to do their best.
For example, in the essay by Judith Powers the author states that collaborative approaches that tutors use to good effect with native writers often fail when applied to ESL writers, who bring to the writing center different culture values, needs, rhetorical strategies, and attitudes toward the tutor-student relationship (pg 368 of Blummer and Barrnett). I agree with this statement because every relationship and situation differs because it depends on the individual as I hope to show through out my data. Sometimes the tutor has to set the agenda where at others times some students set the agenda themselves by coming into the writing center with a purpose.
One of the articles that I am using is “Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgressive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari. This article speaks about how students have trouble meeting the needs of what Esl Students need. This research focuses on the range of cognitive and social reasons behinds ESL students’ transgressive textual appropriation.
Another article that I have found that is relevant to my research is an article Novice Tutors and their ESL tutees: This article speaks about three case studies of three /tutor and this research focuses on the negotiation of tutor roles over a semester as part of a course requirement for Matesol candidates. I will be comparing my results to this and it will be based on undergraduate students.
Another article that I have looked at is The writer center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino. A statement that I found from this article is that many writers want and expect their tutors to take an authoritative role or at least respond to the learners needs” (Williams, J).
However, I‘ve had the opportunity to tutor some wonderful students who have very high expectations. I feel that if the students could focus some more on their paper then he or she would benefit from the session. I admire their honesty and I appreciate those who have let me observe them while they were tutoring. However, in order to make my research more effective, I feel that I could tutor some more students and observe some more sessions. Thank you Dr. Chandler for guiding me in the right direction to start my paper. Thank you to Danny for letting me observes her sessions. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in this ongoing research.
For example, in the essay by Judith Powers the author states that collaborative approaches that tutors use to good effect with native writers often fail when applied to ESL writers, who bring to the writing center different culture values, needs, rhetorical strategies, and attitudes toward the tutor-student relationship (pg 368 of Blummer and Barrnett). I agree with this statement because every relationship and situation differs because it depends on the individual as I hope to show through out my data. Sometimes the tutor has to set the agenda where at others times some students set the agenda themselves by coming into the writing center with a purpose.
One of the articles that I am using is “Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgressive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari. This article speaks about how students have trouble meeting the needs of what Esl Students need. This research focuses on the range of cognitive and social reasons behinds ESL students’ transgressive textual appropriation.
Another article that I have found that is relevant to my research is an article Novice Tutors and their ESL tutees: This article speaks about three case studies of three /tutor and this research focuses on the negotiation of tutor roles over a semester as part of a course requirement for Matesol candidates. I will be comparing my results to this and it will be based on undergraduate students.
Another article that I have looked at is The writer center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino. A statement that I found from this article is that many writers want and expect their tutors to take an authoritative role or at least respond to the learners needs” (Williams, J).
However, I‘ve had the opportunity to tutor some wonderful students who have very high expectations. I feel that if the students could focus some more on their paper then he or she would benefit from the session. I admire their honesty and I appreciate those who have let me observe them while they were tutoring. However, in order to make my research more effective, I feel that I could tutor some more students and observe some more sessions. Thank you Dr. Chandler for guiding me in the right direction to start my paper. Thank you to Danny for letting me observes her sessions. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in this ongoing research.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Blog # 17
Statement: When there is an ESL Student who takes control of the coaching and how does that affect both the student and the tutor in an undergraduate writing center?
Detailed statement of your research question?
The key to tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for their lessons. I have found that using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience. Sometimes people who are ESL students come to the writing center for the tutor to proofread their paper because many of them have trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes the tutor has to start off with maybe a question to get the student to work on their paper themselves. The tutor is there to support and encourage the students to do their best.
List of the information you need to gather (or have gathered already).
Since many ESL students do not understand the English language, I would first have to see how the tutor and the student interact in the beginning of the session, the middle and at the end of the session. I would have to indicate whether the student is an ESL student and is English their second language. I would also have to note what kind of approach I am taking. I would also have to note whether the tutor grasp what the tutor is saying. I would also have to watch their body language such as how they come into the tutoring center and how their body language affected the session.
Patience is a necessary thing to have when tutoring. For example, out of the students that I have tutored two students came in with papers due a couple of hours later. It can take a while for a student to understand what a run on sentence is. I tutored a student the other day and when she came in we talked for roughly ten minutes and then we went through her paper together. It took at least seven times to grasp what a run on sentence was but at the end of the session the student was able to grasp what she need to work on. It can take a while for an ESL student to progress.
Communication is also a crucial in a tutoring center as well for both the student and the tutor. I try to speak in a clear effective manner with students.
Outline for paper:
Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
What was said by the student and by the tutor?
What did the student need to work on?
How prepared is the student?
Is there a balance between taking between the tutor and the student?
Preliminary list of resources :
Judith Powers essay on ESL students
Articles from Science Direct
Novice tutors and their ESL tutees: Three case studies of tutor roles and perceptions of Tutorial Success by Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle L. Nelson
Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgresive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari
The Writing Center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino
Tutoring and revision: Second language writers in the writing center by Jessica Williams
Plan for gathering information
I feel that most of the research I have obtained will contribute a lot to my paper. I will continue researching and see if there is any additional information that I may have overlooked. I will need to gather so more information such as observing some more sections. I also need to narrow my sources because I need four sources as a reference so I need to pick the most useful articles for my paper. I would aslo need people to take accurate notes on me.
Detailed statement of your research question?
The key to tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for their lessons. I have found that using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience. Sometimes people who are ESL students come to the writing center for the tutor to proofread their paper because many of them have trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes the tutor has to start off with maybe a question to get the student to work on their paper themselves. The tutor is there to support and encourage the students to do their best.
List of the information you need to gather (or have gathered already).
Since many ESL students do not understand the English language, I would first have to see how the tutor and the student interact in the beginning of the session, the middle and at the end of the session. I would have to indicate whether the student is an ESL student and is English their second language. I would also have to note what kind of approach I am taking. I would also have to note whether the tutor grasp what the tutor is saying. I would also have to watch their body language such as how they come into the tutoring center and how their body language affected the session.
Patience is a necessary thing to have when tutoring. For example, out of the students that I have tutored two students came in with papers due a couple of hours later. It can take a while for a student to understand what a run on sentence is. I tutored a student the other day and when she came in we talked for roughly ten minutes and then we went through her paper together. It took at least seven times to grasp what a run on sentence was but at the end of the session the student was able to grasp what she need to work on. It can take a while for an ESL student to progress.
Communication is also a crucial in a tutoring center as well for both the student and the tutor. I try to speak in a clear effective manner with students.
Outline for paper:
Does the tutor use low order concerns with ESL students?
Who takes control of the coaching and how that might affect both the student and the tutor?
Does the student take control in the beginning of the session or does the tutor have to set the agenda?
What was said by the student and by the tutor?
What did the student need to work on?
How prepared is the student?
Is there a balance between taking between the tutor and the student?
Preliminary list of resources :
Judith Powers essay on ESL students
Articles from Science Direct
Novice tutors and their ESL tutees: Three case studies of tutor roles and perceptions of Tutorial Success by Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle L. Nelson
Are we encouraging patchwriting? Reconsidering the role of the pedagogical context in ESL student writers’ transgresive intertextuality by Ali R. Abasi and Nahal Akbari
The Writing Center and second language writers by Jessica Williams and Carol Severino
Tutoring and revision: Second language writers in the writing center by Jessica Williams
Plan for gathering information
I feel that most of the research I have obtained will contribute a lot to my paper. I will continue researching and see if there is any additional information that I may have overlooked. I will need to gather so more information such as observing some more sections. I also need to narrow my sources because I need four sources as a reference so I need to pick the most useful articles for my paper. I would aslo need people to take accurate notes on me.
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