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.