Options for Blog Post #2
How might tutoring non-native speakers differ from tutoring native speakers? How might tutoring graduate students differ from tutoring undergrads (see handout)?
How might tutoring non-native speakers differ from tutoring native speakers? How might tutoring graduate students differ from tutoring undergrads (see handout)?
How does the writing process chapter apply to your own
work as a writer and a writing teacher?
What are your most and least favorite phases of the writing process and
why? What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of your own writing
process? Of your classroom and (what you know so far about) your writing center
students’ writing processes?
The initial planning phase of writing can be the most difficult, at least for me. When faced with a prompt, there is a strange phenomenon of being both overwhelmed with possible topics and ideas while also feeling completely blank and paralyzed as to how to begin to organize your thoughts. This kind of early organization is tricky and is why I spend a lot of time with my classes on outlining and group brainstorming.
ReplyDeleteDespite it being a source of difficulty in my own writing, I find that I am particularly helpful with helping student’s identify and articulate an argument. The initial discovery of a topic can be one of the most exciting parts about the writing process. It is before the writer gets bogged down in organization and formal concerns, and can just get excited about research, ideas, and the many offshoots that inevitably arise from a given idea.
I have observed in my classes that this stage of the writing process is usually not the most difficult for International Students. Instead, it is what follows: the structuring according to US academic conventions, grammar concerns, and understanding the prompt fully so as to cater your ideas to what is being asked of you (which requires a lot of unpacking of jargon-y terms). I would anticipate the need for extra assistance in the initial understanding of an assignment, and then in the later stage editing and structuring of the argument.
Some readings we had for today were helpful for myself and my own writing process. I find that I am usually excited to start a project and to create an outline. However, when the time comes to write the draft, I usually have difficulties because I tend to over think things (when the function of the first draft is to get the paper written). Observing my own students write in Spanish, I can see that some of them have the same issues that I do because the act of writing in a foreign language is not always an easy process. So, I always give them the same advice that I give myself: to free write without caring much about grammatical issues. When the first draft is done, they can always reorganize and edit their paper with the help of a tutor.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to tutoring a graduate student, I think it is very important to remember that their work will be different from undergrads. We need to ask questions about their research and how they usually write in their field because each field has their own writing style. Also, as outside readers, I think it is also helpful to consider what the paper is for and who their audience will be. If the paper is for a conference for example, we might want to give suggestions that would help the paper to be more accessible for a broader audience.
Hi Bethany, you bring up a good point about graduate students regarding audience. It will be important to understand who these grad students are writing for. It is also interesting to consider that we as tutors should help them to see outside of their field’s discourse. Often times in upper level academic research, students can become snow-blind to how the rest of the world communicates. Your conference example is a perfect instance to show when writing for a general audience rather than a specific one will be to the student’s benefit.
DeleteIn chapter three, I was pleased when I read, “the linear model of prewriting, writing, and revising is inadequate. We now recognize that writing is a process of discovery.” This quote speaks directly to how I approach my own creative and formal writing, as well as how I teach my students to tackle their essays. However, this was not always the case. Early in my writing career, I struggled a great deal with simply getting started and would obsess over perfecting my introductory paragraph before I even really knew what my paper was about. Thinking of the writing process as linear kept me stuck and frustrated for a long time, but now, thankfully, I’ve learned (and try to teach) the value of pre-writing before drafting. I also appreciate that our text addresses the complicated process of pre-writing, and that what worked for a psych paper might not work for a comparative literature analysis essay. The idea that the writing process is rich with possibility is a true one, but for my students to understand that I have to offer a number of tools to meet their individual styles and needs. Chapter three’s breakdown of pre-writing is a good reminder of the many ways one can approach the daunting task of getting started on a new project.
ReplyDeleteWhen I consider the differences between tutoring non-native speakers vs. native speakers, as well as graduate students vs. undergraduate students, I think it's worthwhile to examine the origination and role of authority in a tutoring center.
ReplyDeleteOur students visit the writing center for many reasons, and a common one is to seek an authority figure to advise their writing. When I visited a writing center in my undergraduate, I expected to meet with an expert who knew all about Chicago Style and who would be able to assault my many grammatical flaws. This wasn't (and likely isn't) the case, but that doesn't mean our students don't expect that authority somewhere in the tutoring process.
I'd like to replace that authoritative assumption with the dignity of a dialogue. That dialogue takes different routes depending on the kind of student, naturally. Undergraduates seek guidance, a place to air their frustrations at undergraduate busy work, and likely yearn for a kind of camaraderie that can be achieved by sharing parts of my past work-- things that worked and things that didn't work when I was an undergrad. For graduate students, I try to demonstrate that they possess an expertise that I admire and that I'd like to know more about. That kind of conversation, which is usually authentic and not patronizing, offers a chance to practice the articulation of their ideas.
I think that non-native speakers might see my appearance and demeanor to mean I have some innate and intimate knowledge of how language and writing works. I think it is essential to share with them (and with native speakers) how I acquire a particular skill in writing, or how I am currently practicing to better that situation.
This ultimately dissolves formal notions of authority. In its place, I hope to make my contributions to the writing center as a friendly and honest place to practice writing.
What are your most and least favorite phases of the writing process and why? What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of your own writing process? Of your classroom and (what you know so far about) your writing center students’ writing processes?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite phase of the writing process is generating, especially when I am inspired to write about something or a prompt has taken me in a totally unexpected direction, opening up my writing. My least favorite phase would be the revising, making structural adjustments, elevating language, responding to comments, trying to figure out how much information is too much, etc. The strengths in my writing are that my work has a distinctive style and voice. My weakness is not writing enough, and needing to be beholden to a deadline in order to produce anything. Another weakness is getting discouraged, losing steam, becoming overwhelmed etc. In the writing center, both my students have been pretty clear about knowing what they want out of a session, and that translated into confidence on the page. A weakness, in the classroom, would be a tendency to summarize rather than analyze, not take the analysis deep enough, and write long rambly sentences.