Tutoring IELP Writing An overview

In the beginning … What kinds of writing do the students bring in to the Learning Center? What is the best way to tutor students with their writing? 4 different scenarios

Scenario #1 – The paragraph Abdul, a low-level student, needs help with a paragraph he has written for class The paragraph is about his hometown It is about half a page long, double-spaced with a heading

Questions to ask You ask, “What specifically can I help you with?” Abdul – “I want to check grammar, spelling – umm – all of it.” (Note the unspecific answer) So, what do we do now?

Questions to ask “Do you have your assignment sheet?” ◦ Often, they don’t – but try to get as much information as possible “What class is this for? What level?” ◦ Since we know the IELP curriculum guidelines, we can better focus the session on level- specific problems

Narrowing the field In a half hour session, discussing every mistake will not help the student Options ◦ Have the student read the paragraph out loud and you make mental or written notes of common mistakes ◦ You read the paragraph aloud and make marks as you go ◦ Ask the student to identify what he/she believes to be the biggest problem before reading

How do we decide what’s important? Studies about error gravity vs. error production ◦ Show that articles & prepositions are the most commonly marked, yet not considered the most serious Word order, tense, relative clauses, word choice, and subject/verb agreement were considered the most serious mistakes It’s up to you … ◦ What is the element that affects your understanding the most?

Discussion Check how much time is left – how many points can you cover? ◦ Maximize the tutoring session Discuss the most important mistakes using your (finely-honed) tutoring techniques

Scenario #2 – The Essay Satomi comes in with a cause/effect essay for her G/W 3 class It is a little over 2 pages long and discusses the effects of different kinds of tobacco usage She says she doesn’t know if the paper is good or not, and she wants to check grammar

Questions to ask “Do you understand what a cause/effect essay is?” ◦ It is important to clarify assignments prior to tutoring “What kind of language is appropriate for this kind of essay?” ◦ Recognizing how genre affects word choice is important for tutor and student to know

Language Use Focusing on language use as it relates to content is ideal for the learner ◦ Highlights form/function relationship Variations of cause/effect language and expected rhetorical strategies ◦ Example: “Because X, Y” / “Y because X” / “X causes Y” / “X. As a result, Y” etc. ◦ Tutors should be familiar with different rhetorical structures and language

Discussion The grammar looks pretty good – full sentences, good vocabulary, nice spelling However, you notice that the paper mostly describes different lung diseases (i.e., it does not show strong cause/effect) ◦ What do you do?

Discussion Options for tutors to get students to see the mismatch: ◦ Ask if the student wrote an outline ◦ Ask what the topics of each paragraph are ◦ Find the thesis statement and explore it ◦ Have the student summarize the main body paragraphs in relation to the assignment

Rhetorical strategies Understanding rhetorical strategies can make all the difference in helping our students The IELP requires students to be familiar with many different kinds of essay writing: narrative, descriptive (E), process, compare/contrast, classification (2), cause/effect, argumentation (3), summary-responses, a short research paper (4), and a multi-page research paper (5)

Different organization for different kinds of writing Rhetorical strategies will vary with the kind of writing assignment Paragraph organization, transitions, and content of the paragraphs will depend mostly on the type of assignment ◦ Example: “Compare/contrast Portland and your hometown. Be sure to have at least 3 subtopics.”  What kind of organization should be used?

Scenario #3 – Reading response Shemsa has written a response to a reading assignment from her Reading 4 class, but she doesn’t feel confident about it “I don’t know if this is what the teacher wants.”

Questions to ask “Do you have your assignment sheet?” “Did you understand the reading?” ◦ Clearly, it would be hard to write a response without understanding the reading “Do you understand what you should do?” ◦ Even if they have the assignment sheet, it might be difficult to understand what to do

Discussion Shemsa’s assignment sheet asks for a one paragraph summary and a one paragraph response She has written a one paragraph summary, but her response is very similar to her summary and does not give her opinion What do we do?

Discussion Clarify the assignment as much as possible ◦ Read over the assignment sheet thoroughly with the student and compare with what she has written ◦ If she has no assignment sheet, discuss what she remembers from class Brainstorm with the student Discuss what possible responses the student could write

Topic development Content is a major factor in how students’ writing is evaluated How topics are developed varies between cultures ◦ Try to focus on American Academic culture and its expectations of topic development Topic sentences, details, examples, and no off-topic information

Scenario #4 – The wanderer Carlos has a research paper assignment that he has not started yet He has decided that he wants to talk about assisted suicide, but doesn’t know how to start his paper “I just need some help getting started.”

Questions to ask “Do you have your assignment sheet?” ◦ Are we getting it yet? :) “Why did you choose assisted suicide as a topic?” ◦ Often the topic will get in the way of a good research paper ◦ It should be something the student is interested in and something with plenty of information out there

Discussion Cubing exercise (see handout) ◦ Try to think around the topic Other pre-writing techniques ◦ Brainstorming ◦ Outlining ◦ Free-writing ◦ Discuss with a friend ◦ Google / Wikipedia

Discussion Arrange a follow-up meeting to discuss what has been done Emphasize that good research papers start with research, not with pre- conceived ideas Encourage research, research, research Be familiar with APA guidelines (or good APA resources)

Conclusion Three key areas to focus on: ◦ Language ◦ Organization ◦ Topic development All of these can affect any kind of writing All may be dealt with in turn

Practice Work with a partner Choose what you would work on: ◦ Language (word choice, tense, syntax, etc.) ◦ Organization (coherence, rhetoric, etc.) ◦ Or Topic Development (content, assignment completion, etc.) Explain your choice

Practice Keep working with a partner Choose what language problem(s) you would work on based on three criteria: ◦ Most frequent mistakes ◦ The student’s level ◦ Does it affect meaning? Explain your choice