Discussion Questions

1) What kinds of cultural preferences do you think you have as a writer? Where did those preferences come from?

As an American writer, my cultural preference is to read and write in Standard English. I haven't had much experience with many other cultures because I have lived here my whole life, and the grade schools I attended did not have much diversity in them. I would love to explore other cultures because the video we watched demonstrated how other places read and write, and I think it'd be interesting to experience these writing styles and cultures firsthand. I feel that it's my duty as a Secondary English teacher to have knowledge about different cultures and their ways of writing. I think it would also be very beneficial for me to actually travel to these places so I could witness their uniqueness in the way they present their ideas and organize their thoughts on paper. I feel like I am missing out on learning about other place's stylist forms by only writing the way an American would write. I'd really enjoy seeing the different ways people express their ideas.


2) What do you do when you think you notice a cultural difference in how a studentis writing or responding to an assignment? What things do you need to be aware of?(If you have examples from writing center experience, great! If not, cast forward tohow you might/could handle such a situation.)

Well, I haven't had much experience with tutoring ESL students, but I did tutor a female ESL student, and I had a difficult time understanding what it was she was trying to express through her writing. She used phrases and wording that I was unfamiliar with, and that made me really nervous. I tried not to be to pushy and allow her to express her ideas the way she wanted to, so we mainly worked on grammatical errors. I asked her a few times what it was she was trying to say and after she explained it clearly to me, then we worked on making her statement more clear to the reader. I also noticed that she started her sentences off with a word that needed the word "the" in front of it to make it sound correct. An example of this would be "Cat went to the barn." She was missing the word "the" that went in front of the beginning of her sentence, but reading it aloud helped her notice her error. I only had to correct her once or twice on this though, then she caught on right away.

I think that all tutors should be aware of the ESL student's background. I was lucky enough to read this student's beliefs in her paper and realize how different her lifestyle was when she lived in Jerusalem. I learned a lot about the cultural that I didn't know before and I found a lot of it very interesting. One thing that I remember from the paper was that people in Jerusalem cannot go into a shopping mall if they are not married and have children. The mall there is very different from here because it's not a teen hangout and single people cannot go there to try and meet other single individuals. Other than rewording some of her writing and grammar, the session went pretty well in my opinion and I think I didn't make her change anything that would distort her culture/beliefs.

Breaking Ice and Setting Goals and Reading an ESL Writer's Text

I think that all students (not just ESL) feel intimidated by the writing room. Sami, an ESL student from Saudi Arabia, and Tika, an ESL student from Indonesia both share the same qualities of American students when it comes to getting help in the writing center. At first, everyone feels a shot to their pride because going to the writing center is actually admiting the fact that he/she needs help with something. Both students were interesting in getting help because they never had access to a place like this before to get help with their writing, but they were just scared because they did not know what to expact once they got inside. I think the section on Making a Plan is extremely important to all tutors. You can't just sit down with someone and know exactly what they need help with. If a student wants help with grammar, then the consultant must offer suggestions that focus on grammar issues and trust that the student is willing to learn about grammar and not be afraid that to address certain issues like this. Setting goals with the student collaboratively and writing questions about his/her work and expectations for the session will give the student a feeling of relief and will give them a better understanding of what the session is going to be like by including them in your plan. I don't have a problem at all with asking the student direct questions about what the assingment is and the main point of their argument. I think by asking myself questions such as these helps me to notice if I actually got my argument across and if it's clear.

I could really relate to the chapter titled Reading an ESL Writer's Text because I just finished working with an ESL student and I could see exactly what the author was talking about. I really enjoyed working with the student and I thought her paper was very fascinating. She is from Jerusalem and she talked about her religion and the different roles that men and women have in her country. I had difficulty understanding what she was trying to say at times, but I'd ask her what she meant and she'd explain it in a way I could understand, then we would work on it to make sure she got her message across to the reader. Her spelling/grammar errors didn't bother me too much because I explained to her how to correct it the first time and she noticed her mistakes as we read through her paper together. Her word choice was a little different, but all in all I enjoyed her paper and I really feel that anyone who reads this will have a better understanding of her country and her beliefs.

Tutoring Observation Analysis

I thought the tutoring observation anaylsis was really helpful. I learned a lot by observing a consultant with a client, and the session I viewed really helped me understand how working collaboratively is the key aspect of being an effective and successful tutor. There have been so many times when I've seen a tutor reading over a student's paper while the student is texting away on their cell phone or just gazing around the room. There's no way a session like this can be helpful for either person. I learned that you can't just do something for someone else. When a tutor just corrects grammar errors or just does their paper for them, then they're not truly learning how to fix their mistakes and when the next assignment rolls around, then they're going to be in the same boat they were in at the beginning. I learned this the hard way with my math homework when I was in high school. I copied off my friends homework a couple times, but when it came time for the test, or when I waited until the last minute and had to do my math homework by myself, then I was screwed. It wasn't until my first year in college that I had the best math teacher I ever had. She explained it to me in a way that I could understand and I felt much more confident after I knew how to do the problems by myself. I left her class with a good understanding of how to do math, and a good grade. I was so proud of myself. I think we need to explain writing in a way that's easy for everyone to understand. Just like my problem with math, it wasn't until I actually had someone explain it clearly to me and in a way I could comprehend that I could actually do it for myself. I even gained an enjoyment for doing math (something I never thought I'd say). Anyway, everything is easier to do once you understand it and it's not until then that you can appreciate it for what it's worth and be successful in it. The session I observed demonstrated this and helped me come to this realization. I thought the tutor explained the student's mistakes very clearly and you could just tell that the student understood what they did wrong. They even read the paper aloud and corrected the mistakes that now stood out to them. The student left eager to work on her paper and had a page full of new ideas and experiences she wanted to include in her paper. She even made sure to ask the tutor her scheduled hours in the writing room because she wanted to come back when she got her next assignment.

Super Tutor!

Our group designed our tutor to look like an ordinary guy because you don't have to look cool to be a good tutor. He may look like just a normal dude, but he actually has some really cool powers. He can read minds, he has strong writing skills, lots of writing strategies, patience, sensitivity, and tons of experience in every field imaginable. Aside from the mind reading and experience in every field imaginable, I think our super tutor reflects what makes a tutor effective. To be a good tutor you have to be patient with your client. You also need to be sensitive at times because you don't want to hurt their feelings on a particular subject or offend them. Having strong writing skills and lots of writing strategies allows the tutor to help the client effectively with their writing, because he can use these skills and the various strategies he knows to transform himself so he can better fit the client's style. Our group chose Ordinary Joe's superpowers by asking eachother, "what can't you look up in a book?" You can always look up how to write citations and so on, but you can't look up good writing skills. The things we chose are things that come with experience and a passion for writing. It's not always about the client's paper either, Ordinary Joe expresses patience and sensitivity that makes him easier to get along with and more helpful to the student in the long run.