“Cultural Conflicts in the Writing Center: Expectations & Assumptions of ESL Students”
In American writing, clarity is valued, as many of the ESL students state. However, if these students struggle substantially with vocabulary, then their thoughts are being blurred by their lack of good grammar/word choice. So,
Is it then, our job to cater to these students by changing our tutor style to resemble that of a fix-it shop? Using sheets from the writing center to help them with future problems and explaining the grammar while using their current paper could be helpful. Is this our job?
“Bedford Guide: Chapter 5: The Writers You Tutor”
One thing that struck me as way to controlling was a suggestions about addressing writing anxiety. The suggestion was to help the student make a plan to write the paper in terms of deadlines. I personally, think this is the student’s responsibility and not our job,
Do you agree?
Another question that I had as well was that it seems in many of these readings that other cultures have different writing styles. However, do teachers take this into consideration? Should writers cater their writing style to fit the American writing style?
Should we help them change their writing?
Final Shadowing
16 years ago
I really like your second bedford question. I think you raise a really interesting point, one that I don't think I really know the answer to. Should we help students write in a more American style? They would be writing more for a grade in that instance, for their teachers...but is that so much a bad thing? Or is it too near to making the writing centre like a fix-it shop?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it could be beneficial for writers to know how to write in a more Western style. It could help broaden their perspectives, and strengthen their intellectual capacities - they would know their home culture's writing style and a more American one. This could really help them express themselves in different media and for different purposes.