Group items tagged

The Research Exchange Index (REx) is an searchable index of contemporary writing research. It features brief descriptions of individual projects, focusing on the research process and serving as a complement to other forms of scholarly publication (i.e., published research, institutional reports, formal and informal presentations)

Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society is a peer-reviewed, blind-refereed, online journal dedicated to exploring contemporary social, cultural, political and economic issues through a rhetorical lens. In addition to examining these subjects as found in written, oral and visual texts, we wish to provide a forum for calls to action in academia, education and national policy. Seeking to address current or presently unfolding issues, we publish short articles ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 words, the length of a conference paper. For sample topics please see our submission guidelines. Conference presentations on topics related to the journal's focus lend themselves particularly well to this publishing format. Authors who address the most current issues may find a lengthy submission and application process disadvantageous. We seek to overcome this issue through our shortened response time and by publishing individual articles as they are accepted. We also encourage conference-length multimedia submissions such as short documentaries, flash videos, slidecasts and podcasts. In order to foster dialogue, our journal features a Reader Response section in which both contributors and readers are welcome to discuss the publications' content in a public, digital space.

This article presents three case studies that closely examine various types of inter-actions taking place in writing center tutorials involving newly arrived pre-ma-triculated ESL writers. By learning what strategies tutors commonly use and how successfully the ESL writers negotiate their goals for the visit and the form and meaning of their text through this sample, this study aims to help identify what characterizes successful tutorials and what unique challenges English language learners might face when interacting with tutors. Results from these case studies show that it is not how many corrections tutors make or suggest for the students' papers, but how much the tutors engage their tutees in a meaningful dialogue that brings satisfaction to the ESL students. Findings also suggest that deliber-ate efforts should be made to equip ESL writers with necessary metalanguage to communicate their goals for their visit.

crowdsourcing a list of software of interest to writing centers (note: since this is 2008 discussion all of these programs either exist in newer versions or are no longer in production)

Twitter page for the Writing Lab Newsletter (changing, in Sept. 2015, to WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship). This page posts tweets relevant to writing centers, such as announcements, calls for conference proposals, and news of writing centers. It also follows dozens of other writing center Twitter accounts.

From abstract: "This dissertation theorizes the writing center as bridge-as an institutional resource that supports second language graduate writers as they journey from outside the academy to the inside-including its strengths and limitations, both locally (for these writers at this writing center) and for the field more broadly. I offer the metaphor of the writing center as bridge, both as an alternate writing center identity and therefore as an alternate approach to tutoring, and as an approach that privileges the multiple subject positions that students hold as they use the writing center.  [...] Based on the literature, the experiences of these participants, and my own experiences as a tutor-turned-coordinator, I ultimately argue that nondirective tutoring is rooted in practice with native-English-speaking undergraduates and that this practice so dominates many writing centers' identities that it has left little room for other subject positions, including those of second language graduate writers."

"More and more ESL students are seeking writing help at U.S. college and university writing centers. This trend emphasizes the complementary role of the writing center and ESL writing instruction in improving ESL writing skills. Writing center and ESL writing pedagogy share the process and collaborative approaches, which emphasize the writing process using revision and reader feedback. Often difficult to implement in a classroom setting, these approaches can be used successfully with ESL students in the writing center. However, many writing center instructors, unfamiliar with the needs of ESL students, are often ill-equipped to work successfully with this special population. This has caused writing center faculties to turn to the ESL profession for help in establishing suitable strategies. The growing need for ESL expertise in the writing center has created a variety of capacities to which ESL instructors can contribute."

a discussion of sign-in sheets, KRONOS, and other means of tracking tutors clocking in and out of shifts

A series of instructional videos from the University of Evansville.

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.  This is a very widely used site for open access materials on writing. Includes materials on research and citation, teacher and tutor resources, subject-specific writing, job search writing, ESL, MLA and APA guides, etc. 

The University of Louisville Writing Center "Writing FAQs" website, with lists of questions about general writing, before beginning, drafting and revision, editing, citation, plagiarism, frequent questions for graduate students, and other relevant questions, with links to lengthy answers.

Praxis Editorial BoardThe University of Texas at Austin Part of who we are as writing center practitioners is defined for us by the job titles that we're given. While the most common titles-coach, consultant, and tutor-carry their own advantages, none of them is entirely free of negative connotations.

Marin Smith's "Karma-Yoga and Non-Attachment to the Fruits of Work: Tutoring in the University Writing Center" was published in the Fall 2014 issue of the student journal Tutors.

Jude Carroll reflects on her 2005 recommendations on managing student plagiarism and on lessons learned since then.

Key issues: Focus on learning Make procedures user-friendly Criteria for decisions about plagiarism

a sometimes heated discussion of the role of WCs in anti-oppression work; also covers free speech

The Journal of Response to Writing publishes papers based on research, theory, and/or practice that meaningfully contribute to an understanding of how response practices lead to better writing. JRW has three purposes: 1. Provide a venue for theorizing and reporting ground-breaking research on response to writing 2. Invite writing theorists, researchers, and practitioners to a venue to share their work with one another and colleagues in adjacent fields, most notably Composition, Applied Linguistics, and Foreign Language teaching viz a viz L1 and L2 writing 3. Provide new or inexperienced teachers with immediate suggestions for use in giving, encouraging, or managing responses to their students' writing

archives of the Journal of Writing Research; open access articles available as PDFs

From abstract: ncludes recommendations for "tutor preparation and in-service training" that "emphasize less idealized, more pragmatic conceptualization of tutor roles and actions and focus on behaviors demonstrated as constitutive of success"

a discussion of ethics re: students who are asked to write (and then come to the WC to revise) their own letters of recommendation

Journal of Creative Writing Studies is a publication of Creative Writing Studies Organization (CWSO), which also hosts the annual Creative Writing Studies Conference . See the conference homepage to view its CFP for the 2016 conference. If you would like to become a member of CWSO, please consider backing our crowd funding campaign.