Hello all,
Having read the first few chapters in the Bedford guide for writing tutors as well as the chapters regarding ESL writers and the challenges that come with that group of students. While some of the information in these chapters came as no surprise other aspects piqued my interest in surprising ways. For example some of the exercises in the Bedford Guide seemed like great ways to think outside the box when approaching writing techniques and the various ways to help students notice and correct errors in their writing beyond the basics of grammar and mechanics. I also found the readings about helping ESL students very enlightening. The various methods for addressing the larger issues while still helping with the basics.
I think my favorite reading so far is "Looking at the Whole Text" because of its various examples of the different needs of ESL students. It hadn't occurred to me before reading this chapter all the different challenges both the tutor and the student face in a session together. One thing that stuck out to me was the example toward the end about some students being verbally fluent but not in writing or other linguistic matters and vice versa. Without realizing it I had an assumption that if a person is fluent in speaking they would also have mastery of written language but that is not the case. Nor did I realize the cultural implications of the way we do things here in the U.S. Even as I study another language myself at the intermediate level it never dawned on me the various ways an ESL writer experienced or inexperienced faced on a cultural level.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteI also like the “Looking at the Whole Text” CH from ESL Writers. To me, it speaks to the importance of valuing higher-order concerns: argument, claims, evidence… organization/structure… (topic selection, even!). Of course, aspects such as sentence structure and grammar are all very important too, but they can (and I think, should) take a bit of a backseat at the beginning of the writing process.
I’m wondering what aspects from the Bedford CHs really helped you to think about tutoring and/or writing. Was it a particular strategy? An example? A question(s) that the writers posed? Try to get as specific as possible in your reading reactons + observations.
Z