As a tutor in the Writing Center, I am tasked with the job of helping individuals improve their writing. When you say it like that, it seems like a simple concept, but it really is so much more. On any given day, I could help a student from any discipline with any number of different types of papers, and that particular student could have any number of different problems in his or her paper. As a result, being a tutor can actually be a very stressful job; I’m sure the tutors reading this can testify to that fact as well. Personally, I find tutoring ESL students to be particularly challenging for one exact reason—I know, but I don’t know.
When tutoring an ESL student, nine times out of ten they know more about grammar than I do. My grammar proficiency comes from speaking, reading, and writing the English language for the entirety of my twenty-two years on this planet. I’m sure I had a grammar course at some point, but I often wonder if the lessons stuck. Therefore, I am frequently in the position where I have to say a sentence something like this, “Well, here’s the thing, when I read this sentence I can hear and see the correct way you should write it, but I don’t really know how to explain it. Can I get back to you on that?” I really hate saying that sentence, and I’m sure other tutors do too. So, here is my advice on how to deal with situations like these in a Writing Center setting.
- Do your homework. When working with ESL writers, there are certain grammatical errors that have a tendency to pop up. For example, the use of articles can be especially tricky. Therefore, it would be a good idea to brush up on how and when to use articles that way you can have a ready answer when your tutee asks you “why?” One great resource I happened upon in my Writing Center Theory class was an article called “A(n)/The/Ø Article About Articles” by Sharon K. Deckert. Also, it’s always a good idea to have access to a computer that way you can look up rules, tips, and tricks on the Internet and share that source with your tutee.
- Read the paper aloud. I know you’ve probably read this in every tutoring how-to book and article, but it really is a useful tool. Just like native speakers can hear the nuances that need to be included in writing, a lot of the times ESL writers can hear it too. If the writer has been in the country or around English for an extended period of time, then they can likely recognize the sound of the intrinsic patterns that the English language has. Also, if they hear you stumble over a particular section, then they know that is a part of the paper they need to work on. A good idea would be to make sure they have a pen, and you can ask them to mark on their paper where they think you stumble in reading their words. Once you are through the paper, you can both go through the marked passages and work to correct them.
- Be honest. If you don’t know, then you don’t know. It is better to admit you are not sure and then work with them to find the answer, than to tell them wrong information or brush aside their concerns. Sharing your writing with another person can be nerve-racking, so in order to make the exchange as positive and beneficial as possible you should be open and keep communication flowing.
To wrap up, my final big of advice is to keep cool and be positive. I’m a writing tutor, but that doesn’t mean I can work miracles. My goal going into any appointment is to make sure the tutee walks away with a new confidence in their writing. One session may not perfect their paper, but it should be able to help their morale and hopefully make them excited to continue writing.