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.