Writing Center Info

Dr. Papper

125 Mason

Ext. 463-0073

engccp@hofstra.edu

Audio Comment Response

The audio comments helped me see the issues in my paper, just as written comments would. I don't think that the way the corrections were delivered made much of a difference in their effectiveness. I did, however, feel somewhat uncomfortable listening to the comments. I think it may be because there were two people talking at me and I couldn't partake in the conversation. If I had to choose between written and verbal comments, I think I would choose written because I like to see what I should change on the actual writing.

Myers vs. North

North's idea of helping the writing, not the writer, is beneficial to students who already have a basic knowledge of english grammar, but what do you do when writers can't even express their thoughts intelligibly? Most ESL students who are learning english have a major problem writing academically because they are still learning about parts of speech and punctuation. With these writers, Myers thinks tutors need to begin with the major technical issues in order to make the paper understandable. Then, if the student understands these corrections, maybe you could try to delve deeper into the writing process.

Write About Something You Have No Idea About

NFL FOOTBALL

I can't believe The Jets won! Okay, they may be on a hot streak right now, but they have repeatedly been one of the worst teams in football! I can tell you this right now, every Jets win that I have watched this season is all about luck and it pisses me off that every fan now believes that they are a part of the greatest enterprise on earth. Same thing with the Cowboys, how are they all of a sudden one of the hot names? At least with the Cowboys, though, they're defense this season is sick so I can see how they're winning games. However, before this season, if I told you these guys could be in the Super-bowl you'd laugh in my face and probably think I knew nothing about football. I mean seriously, how could any team with Tony Romo playing be good? My only hope for the credibility of the NFL is if the Chargers take over and knock all of these other teams out of the running. With their awesome coaching staff, rock solid defense and killer offense, I'll be embarrassed for them if they walk away with anything less than the win.

Boquet Response

Okay so for some reason this was really hard for me to get through. I don't know if it was her overly-wordy phrasing or just that I feel like I've read more about writing centers than I have about any other topic in the known universe, but my comprehension of Boquet is not as in depth as it probably should be.

However, I did seem to pull some understanding out of this. Boquet talks about the shift that is happening in education, and in turn, writing centers. Collaboration is rising in popularity, and is being used more and more in the tutoring set-up, as we have seen in most of the other readings. The power is moving, or maybe has moved, from the tutor to the student. In my opinion, a lot of this sounds like the whole trend in the world that is going on lately....you know, the whole "making students feel important, not being too firm or strict as a professor, red pens are mean" concept. I agree that collaboration is a great tool for learning, I guess in a cynical way I just think education is becoming too wishy-washy by coddling students. Okay I may be ranting a bit and going away from anything Boquet has said.....

I may just come back to this later on once we have discussed it more...

Myer's Response

In class we have briefly mentioned the issues posed by ESL (English as a Second Language) Students in the writing center. Myers goes into an in-depth analysis of the problems presented by these students and what we are doing, or should be doing, to deal with them. Many people in America don't realize how difficult it is to learn english because it's all we have known, but it is actually one of the most complicated languages to understand. I have heard first hand accounts of trying to teach ESL Students because my mom is a high-school spanish teacher. Surprisingly enough, spanish-speaking students have a lot of trouble writing "grammatically" correct in spanish, let alone english. I remember my mom would come home frustrated because she couldn't bring herself to fail a native student in their own language, but she didn't know how to help them. Their main problem with writing in spanish was that they were not used to writing "proper spanish." In turn, teaching these students to write "proper english" is even harder for teachers and tutors to accomplish.

If grammar is such a drastic issue for these writers, how can we as tutors even attempt to dive deep past the surface of their papers? If the technical and superficial aspects of a piece of work make the writing unintelligible, don't you need to address those mistakes before you can even understand what the writer is saying? I think that in this case, I would pick out the major grammatical issues within the paper and try to explain them to the writer. Then, once the paper is understandable to an english speak, I would try to help the student with their content and other non-technical aspects.

Myers says that the education systems in our country have unrealistic expectations of ESL Students. For obvious reasons, they cannot be held to the same standards as we are. I do agree that these people, throughout their education, should be taught to communicate in english to the best of their ability. However, I think that the level of writing comprehension that we are expected to achieve should be thought of as an option for ESL students who excel basic english. I agree with Myers that these types of writers should be tutored by ESL teachers, not writing center tutors, because these professionals have the specific qualifications to help the student.

Fulwiler Response

This is the first of all of the readings that was not hard for me to get through! I'm not sure why, possibly because the individual sections were short and manageable (writing tactic? hmmm). Okay, so I really like Fulwiler's concept of "provocative revision." I enjoy the way that he has his students compose their papers as multiple drafts, not one final product. I especially find his first three of the four points useful. Limiting, for example, is something that I think could help most writers in need of guidance. Fulwiler says that it is completely normal for a first draft to be general and vague, and that is why limiting is a great way to revise that draft. Limiting is basically taking certain points and narrowing in on them. If you write about surfing, you could accomplish this by focusing in on a certain day you went surfing when the waves were exceptionally large. This opens the door to telling the reader how you overcame this obstacle, which allows you to give them information that they wouldn't know otherwise. Adding is also something that I find beneficial when used in the way that Fulwiler describes it. He says that a writer could use the addition of dialogue, internal monologue, or an interview set-up to engage the reader. Using these creative tactics to switch up your writing style can keep your audience interested in the topic, while giving them a different perspective on the situation. Switching, Fulwiler's third point, is another way of showing your topic from another point of view. From switching from first person to third person, you can show the audience an inside as well as an outside view of the situation. However "transforming," which is Fulwiler's final point, does not seem to be as beneficial an idea as the previous ones. He says that a piece of writing, such as a research paper, can be improved by changing the entire type of composition. This means that you could take, for example, a research paper on the stars and turn it into a dialogue about stars. Fulwiler does account for the fact that many professors who give assignments such as this would not be open-minded to this kind of change, but I think his assessment of this issue is an understatement. I think that by "transforming," you are recommending that the writer changes the entire assignment, which I believe would most likely receive a poor grade. The only exception to this would be in a class such as creative writing, or a class in which the teacher has already expressed openness to creative interpretation of assignments. I do support Fulwiler's essay for the most part, and I think he brings up some extremely helpful ways for a tutor to improve a tutee's paper. He discusses many ways in which to help a writer that I would not have necessarily thought of on my own.