Embrace ELL perspective

ELL students bring a unique and important perspective to the writing Center. The Article “Rethinking Writing Center Conferencing Strategy for the ESL Writer” by Judith Powers looks at some of the ways that instructional methods with in the Writing Center will not work for ELL students. For example Powers says traditional techniques like the Socratic Method or reading aloud will not work for ELL students. Collaborative techniques rely on shared or agreed upon knowledge. “ESL writers are asking us to become audiences in a broader way than native speakers, they view us as cultural informants about American academic expectations.” So for ELL who are not aware of some of the shared knowledge natives speakers have, tutoring can be very difficult and even counterproductive. For example an ELL student may not know what an introduction is, they may not realize the introduction is where the information is set up, the organization is established, and the thesis is stated. While a native speaker could see what an introduction is based on the definition an ELL student may not make that connection. Powers also points out that when working with ELL students is can be difficult not to supply the answer, because a native speaker may be able to supply the answer but not explain why.  A notebook of examples showing frequently asked questions will allow the tutor  to show an ELL student without doing all the work for them.