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Better Writers or Better Writing? A Qualitative Study of Second Language Writers' Experiences in a University Writing Center

Kim, Juhi
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1398789858

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, EDU Teaching and Learning.
This study explores L2 (second language) students' experience with the writing tutorial in a university writing center. University writing centers were initiated to provide writing instruction to L1 (first, native language) students and have since developed to enhance their writing ability for academic purposes. With the shift of the concept of literacy in the U.S, the focus of writing instruction in the writing center has moved from focusing on the rules of grammar and punctuation in order to “make better writing”, to a collaborative pedagogy aiming to “make better writers” (North, 1984). However, as international students are increasing in the American university, their concerns for writing in English as L2 writers seem to have some conflict between the writing center’s philosophy of writing instruction and the expectation that the international students have to fulfill their own needs to improve their writing ability. This study, in this light, was conducted to gain a better understanding of the work of writing centers with L2 students in terms of how the tutor and the L2 students interact with each other during the tutorial, focusing on issues and elements that inhibit the L2 students from improving their English writing ability. From the perspective of social constructionism, this study is framed by the notion of instruction as a conversational accomplishment, and learning in this view occurs as a social process mediated through interaction. With a particular focus on analyzing the talk and interaction transcribed form videoed tutorials and interviews with tutors and tutees, this study aims to examine the nature of L2 learners’ writing practices occurring in the one-to-one writing tutorials with the tutors and to provide a comprehensive vignette of experiences of L2 writers in the writing center. Nine issues that capture the dynamics of the international students’ interaction with Writing Center tutors emerged from the analysis of the corpus of data: six originate with the student as the tutee and the remaining three focus on issues that originate with the tutor. The nine issues are placed within three themes: language and culture, understanding of academic writing in English, and understanding the Writing Center’s pedagogy for instruction. The issues and themes identified from the findings suggest that there is a clear gap between the tutor and the tutee in their `Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)’ of writing instruction and neither the tutor nor the tutee are positioned to easily overcome the mismatch. The gap occurs from the different expectations of writing instruction from the tutor, supported by the writing center’s institutional history and philosophy and the student who comes to the Center with an established agenda based on their needs and judgments for their writing. This gap causes an inevitable tension between the quick-fix desire of the L2 clients and the long-term development philosophy of the L1 tutors. A key factor to fill the gap and to be satisfied with each other for the work of the tutorial seems to be the extent to which L2 writers are motivated to return to the writing center. When L2 learners can form an ongoing relationship with the tutor, instead of just having a one-time encounter, they may become better equipped to work with and not against the tutor. The tutor then can be positioned to understand the L2 learners’ backgrounds and needs, which could possibly result in a more productive interaction and collaboration for writing instruction. This shift can begin with a more flexible approach that makes allowances for L2 tutees to make their initial experience at a writing center positive in nature to create a suitable zone of proximal development within the tutorial. To summarize, this study was designed to seek an understanding of the nature of L2 writers; writing practices and their tutorial experiences in the university writing center. By identifying themes and issues from the analysis of the tutor-tutee interactions, interviews, and ethnographic data from the writing center, this study shed light on L2 learners’ tutorial experiences and contributed to the growing body of empirical studies of L2 writer’s writing practice in their talk-in-interaction during the one-to-one, face-to-face tutorials.
Alan Hirvela (Advisor)
Caroline Clark (Committee Member)
David Bloome (Committee Member)
186 p.
Adult Education; Education; English As A Second Language; Foreign Language; Language; Language Arts; Multicultural Education; Multilingual Education; Rhetoric; School Administration; Teaching
Second Language Writing, Writing Center, Writing Tutorial, Writing Conference, International Student, L2 Learner, Writing Tutorial, Language and Interaction, Discourse Analysis, Conversation Analysis

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kim, J. (2014). Better Writers or Better Writing? A Qualitative Study of Second Language Writers' Experiences in a University Writing Center [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1398789858

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kim, Juhi. Better Writers or Better Writing? A Qualitative Study of Second Language Writers' Experiences in a University Writing Center . 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1398789858.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kim, Juhi. "Better Writers or Better Writing? A Qualitative Study of Second Language Writers' Experiences in a University Writing Center ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1398789858

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1398789858
497
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.