By Keith Morrill
A college education is nearly synonymous with
writing papers ad nausea, and at points it may seem like professors
border on the sick and sadistic, gathering in dank dungeons to plot the
demise of their students by coordinating simultaneous paper
assignments.
Writing papers — especially for
non-English speakers is a grave challenge. Even if you’re fluent
in English, and a great writer in your native language, you might be
confused if that first paper you wrote didn’t go over with your
professor as well as you would have liked here in the States.
The problem is, while some professors will
recognize that there is no universal concept of what makes a good
paper, and may even recognize and appreciate the stylistic and
formulistic qualities of others cultures, there are those who
don’t. Luckily, most American universities provide a service to
help all students who find they aren’t getting the grade they
like. This place is the writing center.
A university writing center is a low-pressure
atmosphere in which your peers, trained for just this purpose, devote
themselves to improving your writing. Not only do they provide great
feedback on papers, but they also offer tips to improve writing in
general — and all writers know that getting an outside
perspective can be invaluable. Keep in mind that this is not a place to
drop off papers while you grab a bite to eat with friends. The process
requires one-on-one work with the tutor.
ESL students might utilize the writing center for
anything — from learning how to master those pesky definite
and indefinite articles, to getting help generating ideas, to learning
the standard form of a thesis driven paper. Each session is tailored
specifically to address the concerns of the writer coming into the
center. Sure, the tutors work for the writing center, but for the time
that you’re in the center, they’re working for you.
Some students take advantage of the center, many —
who need it — don’t. These students might feel
apprehensive about visiting the writing center, or don’t know
that the service exists. Still others, like some international students
who are proud of their native culture and might find conforming to
America’s writing standards may change who they are.
Sue Dinitz, coordinator of the writing center at
the University of Vermont says, “writing centers are very
conscious of that fact that different cultures write and speak in
different ways, and one is not better than another. [ESL students]
won’t be judged at the writing center…and tutors will try
to help them to use what they know about language from their own
countries in writing that they do there.”
Students can expect similar treatment across the
US, as “there’s a conversation going on nationally about
writing centers and what they do,” Dintz says. “Part of
that conversation is how to work with students from other countries,
and the importance of being welcome.”
Generally, tutors are required to take a course
before they start working with students. During this course, they learn
better teaching skills through a combination of classroom instruction,
readings, and peer discussions.
If you have a bad experience with the writing
center, you shouldn’t let that ruin your overall perception of
the service. Try making another appointment with a different tutor. The
center’s bound to find another tutor that is a perfect match and,
once they do, they can continue to schedule appointments with that
tutor. The key, again, is to try to engage the tutor as much as they
try to engage you.
Dinitz says that ESL students often, “think
things a little bit different than a native speaker might say them, but
actually is often quite expressive. We do tend to speak in cliches in
the language that we grew up hearing, so if people are trying to
reconstruct it in another language they have to come up with
interesting ways to say things that really captures it.”
Most of the time, ESL students know how to get
the job done, they just need that other person there to give them the
extra help that is invaluable to every writer.
