21. Writing centers and second and foreign language writers

Tutoring EFL Students in Portugal: Rethinking writing center methodology

“…However, this approach does not take into account the needs of second language writers, who see the writing center "as a place to learn from their tutors both the rhetorical and the linguistic dimensions of writing" (Severino & Cogie, 2004). Thus, following North's (1984) notion that a writing center should define its work "in terms of the writer it serves," it is paramount for each center to consider the linguistic background of both their tutors and tutees when defining its working methodology.…”

“…Thus, following North's (1984) notion that a writing center should define its work "in terms of the writer it serves," it is paramount for each center to consider the linguistic background of both their tutors and tutees when defining its working methodology. An inability to do so has already caused tensions between the non-directive and directive tutoring approaches, as well as frustration among tutors who feel pressured to respect the established hierarchy between higher-order and lower-order concerns (Blau & Hall, 2002;Nicklay, 2012;Severino & Cogie, 2004). Yet, tutoring methodology for EFL writing centers, where both tutor and tutee are second language writers and the linguistic knowledge each brings to the session may be considerably different, remains largely unexplored.…”

“…As English has become an essential learning and publication tool in academia (Curry & Lillis, 2004;Graddol, 2006), the popularity of writing centers has increased outside of the United States (Severino & Cogie, 2004). The writing center at the University of Lisbon helps students improve their English academic writing skills, adopting a widely implemented tutoring philosophy based on non-directive methods and a hierarchized dichotomy between higherorder and lower-order concerns.…”

Identity Development of Korean Writing Tutors of English : Working on the Border

“…Recently, however, these views that simplify tutor interaction with L1 and L2 tutees as that of native versus non-native speakers have been criticized and the scope of studies on tutor-tutee interaction has been expanded to include more diverse populations. Severino and Cogie (2016) have noted that these polarized views (e.g., non-directive vs. directive, global feedback vs. local feedback) oversimplify the complex negotiations of tutor talk and have asked for more theory-bound practice and more research that reflects up-to-date writing center demographics. In the same vein, Thonus (2001), through her investigation of seven tutors, argues that it is difficult to predetermine a writing tutor's role when they work with L2 tutees.…”