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4-10-2015

To Correct or Not to Correct: The Ethics of Addressing Grammar in Writing Center Tutorials Vicki R. Kennell Purdue University, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/writinglabpres Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, and the Rhetoric and Composition Commons Recommended Citation Kennell, Vicki R., "To Correct or Not to Correct: The Ethics of Addressing Grammar in Writing Center Tutorials" (2015). Purdue Writing Lab/Purdue OWL Presentations. Paper 10. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/writinglabpres/10

This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information.

To Correct or Not to Correct: The Ethics of Addressing Grammar in Writing Center Tutorials Vicki R. Kennell [email protected] Purdue University Writing Lab ECWCA 2015

Factor 1: Allowances and Prohibitions • Tutor Training Books—The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors (2010) “Online tutors should be careful

not just to correct mistakes but also

to explain how writers can identify and correct future sentence-level errors . . . avoid editing the paper.” (p. 51) not to focus only on the mechanical and grammatical errors in the paper [of an L2 writer].” (p. 69) “Try

Factor 1: Allowances and Prohibitions • L2 and Tutoring Literature—Harris and Silva (1993), p. 531.

rhetorical matters before linguistic ones.” “Tutors are supposed to be educators, not personal editors.” “Tutors need to resist their impulse to help as much as ESL students need to resist “Tutors should be firm about dealing with

their desire to have every grammatical error corrected.”

Factor 1: Allowances and Prohibitions • L2 and Tutoring Literature—Linville (2009, in Bruce & Rafoth), p. 117. “A tutor is

not a grammar teacher.”

“Research has shown that college-level ESL students can and do learn to become proficient editors of their own texts when

given the necessary instruction.”

Factor 1: Allowances and Prohibitions • L2 and Tutoring Literature—Schendel (2012), p. 6. “[As a writing center director] the only aspect of tutors’ work about which I’ve consistently stressed

what not to do is this one of working with writers on grammar and mechanics.”

Factor 1: Allowances and Prohibitions • Writing Center Mandates on Websites

won’t proofread or edit your documents for you. In other words, we won’t fix your mistakes, but we can address sentence-level concerns Purdue—We

such as grammar and punctuation.

happy to work with writers on their sentence-level concerns, we avoid proofreading or "correcting" U of Michigan—While consultants are papers.

U of Notre Dame—Tutors do

not write or edit papers for students.

Factor 1: Allowances and Prohibitions • Writing Center paperwork listing topics that can be addressed in a tutorial:

4 of 7 schools have such a list. 100% of those who have such a list include “Grammar” as a legitimate focus for a tutorial.

Factor 1 Summary Prohibitions

Allowances

Tutors… • Do not proofread • Are not grammar teachers • Do not prioritize grammar

• Tutors can address grammar • Writers need to learn grammar • Grammar is a legitimate request

Factor 2: Tutor Interpretation/Use of Training Tutors say L2 writers ask mainly for grammar help. “No proofreading” morphs into “no grammar help.” Tutors express angst about proofreading too much when they help with grammar.

Tutoring Continuum NO Proofread Edit

YES Organization Content

Grammar??

What Really Happens in Tutorials? • Both NSs and NNSs ask for grammar help. • Tutors take writers’ requests for grammar help at face value. • Tutors state agendas prioritizing rhetorical issues, BUT • Tutor modus operandi prioritizes grammar. • Line-by-line editing is the most common method used.

What do we do about this?

Or, how do we ethically address grammar in the writing center?

Revised Tutoring Continuum NO Tutor controls Tutor rewrites (could include organization/content)

YES Writer engaged Writer rewrites (could include grammar)

Educate Writers • “You can’t be too early, but you can be too late.” —Park, a graduate tutor

• Prioritize based on which draft.

Educate Tutors • Avoid the automatic proofread that accompanies reading a draft straight through. • Address grammar—usefully.

Educate Instructors • The realities of Second Language Acquisition • The realities of students learning discipline-specific language and conventions • Best practices for assessing writing • Options for addressing grammar in writing assignments

EDITS: A Mnemonic for Addressing Grammar Evaluate errors Decide on a method Involve the writer Teach proofreading strategies Specify further work

References Ferris, D. R. (2011). Treatment of Error in Second Language Student Writing (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: U of Michigan Press. Harris, M., & Silva, T. (1993). Tutoring ESL students: Issues and options. College Composition and Communication, 44(4), pp. 525-537. Just Check My Grammar. The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/faculty-resources/tips-on-teaching-esl-students/justcheck-my-grammar/ Linville, C. (2009). Editing line by line. In S. Bruce & B. Rafoth (Eds.), ESL Writers: A Guide for Writing Center Tutors (pp. 116-131). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers. Ryan, L., & Zimmerelli, L. (2010). The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Schendel, E. (2012). We don’t proofread, so what do we do? A report on survey results. The Writing Lab Newsletter, 37(3-4), pp. 1-6. Writing Lab Policies Websites https://owl.english.purdue.edu/writinglab/policies http://www.lsa.umich.edu/sweetland/undergraduate/inpersonwritingsupport/peerwritingcenterguidelines http://writingcenter.nd.edu/about-the-center/

Thank You Questions? Vicki R. Kennell, PhD [email protected]

Pilot Study Data: N = 16 Classification 2 Freshmen 2 Sophomores 3 Juniors

4 Seniors 3 Graduate students

2 Post-docs

Language 7 Native Speakers 9 Non-Native Speakers

Comparison between what is asked for and what is given 12

10

8

6

4

2

0 C writes = C Says

C says = T does NO

T says = T does YES

C says = Paper needs

Yes but Different order

T does = Paper Needs

What writers wanted compared to what tutors provided 8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 Same Order, Same Topics

Same Order, Fewer Topics

Same Order, More Topics

Different Order, More Topics

Different Topics