ESL Writers: A Guide for Writing Center Tutors

by Shanti Bruce (Editor), Ben Rafoth (Editor), Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch (Contributor)

This book's focus on the different types of ESL learners, such as students from different countries, students of various academic levels, and Generation 1.5 Learners, is remarkable. It is a very useful book, and we frequently refer to it in our Writing Center.

-Franziska Liebetanz
Writing Center Director, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Do you have second language students in your writing center? Do you have peer writing tutors? If so, here is the very book you and your tutors have been hoping for!

-Harvey Kail
Writing Center Coordinator, University of Maine

The second edition of ESL Writers continues to be the single most useful resource for tutor education on ESL matters....Writing center professionals will find the text to be an invaluable addition to their staff education program. Writing center tutors and consultants will benefit from the comprehensive review of L2 tutoring practice.

-Clint Gardner
Former president, International Writing Centers Association

Writing centers are seeing more and more kinds of ESL students. That's why the much-loved ESL Writers (winner of the International Writing Centers Association's Outstanding Scholarship Award for Best Book) has changed with the times to reflect the expanding diversity of writing center students. The Second Edition features five totally new essays and has been thoroughly revised to be more useful than ever. ESL Writers, Second Edition:

expands the definition of students and tutors with respect to their linguistic backgrounds, describing specifically the characteristics of a variety of English learners, including bilingual writers, Generation 1.5ers, recent immigrants, and foreign students who need support with academic English in a new first chapter focuses greater attention on the diversity of cultural and literacy identities among students and tutors addresses tutors' most frequently asked questions about helping ESL writers with English grammar outlines methods for succeeding with tutoring ESL writers online as well as tips for common pitfalls.

Filled with suggestions and strategies based on a rigorous combination of experience, research, and theory, ESL Writers, Second Edition, remains a tutor's top resource for working with English learners.

To request this title as a Desk/Exam copy, click here.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Education, Linguistics

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Roger Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars. It is loaded with useful information on tutoring ESL students; some of which I think could be applied to the composition. In an ever changing diverse society, these chapters are a must read for anyone who teaches second language learners. Bruce and Rafoth's book reminds us that language acquisition is more than learning the rules; it requires mastering another set of cultural codes, while staying true to one's own identity that is formed through language. This book makes sure tutors are aware of all these aspects and difficulties that ESL students encounter, so tutors are equipped to help the students who enter a writing center. The bibliographic resources are just great too. I can't say enough good things about this book, and I feel as though I walked away a better tutor and scholar from reading it.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an invaluable resources for ANYONE teaching L2 learners at the college level. I finished this book over a year ago, but have returned to it many times as a reference.

There are several essays that have been most helpful to me in my writing classes and as a writing center instructor. Leki's "Before the Conversation: A Sketch of Some Possible Backgrounds, Experiences, and Attitudes Among ESL Students Visiting a Writing Center" is invaluable reading for instructors who are working with L2 learners for the first time. The review of different types of second language acquisition in Tseng's "Theoretical Perspectives on Learning a Second Language" has helped me recognize individual challenges. Matsuda and Cox challenge instructors (readers/tutors) to be more aware of different reader stances: assimilationist, accommodationist, and separatist. The authors recognize that context can require some malleability and movement between the categories, but propose that the assimilationist stance is seldom helpful or effective. Staben and Nordhaus provide useful strategies for getting students to take a more holistic approach to the editing process (rather than "please fix my grammar"), and this pairs well with Linville's essay "Editing Line by Line" as well as Deckert's essay that both dig in to word- and sentence-level errors and how to explain them. Bouwman's contribution, "Raising Questions About Plagiarism," underscores the importance of *teaching* paraphrasing, and provides helpful questionnaires that can be used with ELLs.

Kevin Dvorak's "Writing Activities for ESL Writers" has been for me, the most valuable essay in the anthology. I use his "25-minute draft" exercise in my Writing About Music classes with my grad students, as well as in Writing Center. This has been invaluable in getting students over the hump of "getting started" with a term paper. I also occasionally use his "Alphabet Exercise" to help students think about topics for their papers.

Part 3 is dedicated more to writing centers and international experiences, but is a valuable read for anyone who wants to have a more global awareness of how language is used and taught.

[Alice-Henry Carnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my training to be a writing T.A. I found it to be well-researched, very informational, and quite nuanced in its approach. It approached ESL students as an intersectional group of students with a myriad of strengths and skills and gave tutors a variety of tools to help support the students without prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach. Plus it was well written with a variety of specific examples and quotations from ESL students.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for work; it was exactly what I was looking for to guide some training. Most of the essays were both helpful and practical; some were not as immediately relevant or well-written but these were fewer than the well-researched ones. Recommended if you happen to work in a writing center!

[Sally Elick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Excellent collection of essays that are all useful in teaching and tutoring. I highly recommend this possibly only guide on teaching ESL.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short essays by various writers is an excellent survey of the everyday practical issues facing college writing center directors and tutors who work with ESL writers. The editors, Bruce and Raforth, are at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where Raforth is the writing center director.

The opening chapters on culture and language acquisition open wide the subject of culture shock faced by international students from countries where assumptions about writing, learning, research, and self-expression can be vastly different from American ones. The heart of the book focuses on a variety of aspects dealing directly with tutoring itself - getting started, reading an ESL writer's text, avoiding appropriation, helping ESL writers clarify their intended meaning, looking at the whole text, editing line by line, tutoring ESL writers online, raising questions about plagiarism, and so on. The closing chapters deal with broader issues: the role of writing in higher education abroad, the difficulty of explaining English, and a look at writing centers from the point of view of ESL students.

I found this book full of thoughtful and practical reflections on the challenges of helping ESL students master academic writing in American universities. Analysis and opinions are based on research and extend a professional discourse dating back twenty years. Altogether the book is informative and highly accessible, written in plain English, unlike much theory-driven (and often politicized) scholarship on composition and rhetoric today. I recommend it to anyone affiliated with a writing center and especially to tutors who work with ESL students. It would make a fine textbook.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was clear and useful, but didn't feel as concise as it might have been if it hadn't been an edited collection. I'm not sure the volume gained much by introducing many authors into the array. At least, I'm not sure it gained as much as it could have if it had been a sole or dual authored volume. Nonetheless, it provides good, clear guidance into the many issues and problems tutors are likely to face when working with ESL writers, providing a better understanding of exactly how such writers might best be assisted within the context of the writing tutorial.

[Leslie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really appreciated this book. It's unfortunate that this content isn't more incorporated in "mainstream" writing center scholarship, and that there's such a tangible divide between research with regard to tutoring native vs. non-native speakers. This was great though.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for not only individuals who work in a writing center environment, but also teachers who have English Language Learners in their classroom. It is an easy-to-read book with many observations and ideas and suggestions from leaders in the field.

[Mars · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful tool for a high-interest felt need among my Peer Writing Consultants, this text definitely has a part in our Writing Lab's training -- and in many others'.

[Catherine Siemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely useful.