One on One with Second Language Writers: A Guide for Writing Tutors, Teachers, and Consultants

by Dudley W. Reynolds

One-on-one encounters with writers often contribute more to the development of student writing abilities than any classroom activity because they are personalized and responsive to individual needs. For the encounters to be successful, the writing tutor, teacher, or consultant must be prepared, must be knowledgeable of what it means to write and the factors that make writing more and less effective, and must also know the students. This guide focuses on what those who conference with second language writers need to know to respond best to students, recognize their needs, and steer conversations in productive directions. One on One with Second Language Writers provides tips about activities that can be adapted to individual contexts, student writing samples that can be analyzed for practice, a glossary, a list of useful resources, and a checklist for conferencing sessions. The book is appropriate for use in university and secondary school writing or learning centers, teacher training programs for both general composition and ESOL instructors, and as an individual reference tool. The book uses non-technical language where possible, but terminology is introduced where it might be useful when conferencing with students.

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Gillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit I did not read the chapter of this book and I did not really follow the syntax chapter. For me, the book was really helpful when it organized the big picture for me -- the first and last chapters were a great overview of how to prioritize when working with a writer one on one. But the chapters in between got into the weeds a little too much for me. Maybe they would have been more helpful to someone working with more advanced writers. The book is clearly for college writing tutors, which I didn't realize going in. For my mostly low-performing high school students, detailed analysis of syntax and punctuation issues is too much information.