Not Broken, Just Multilingual: Balancing Grammar and Meaning with EAL Writers

As writing center tutors, perhaps one of the most frequent questions we are asked is “Should grammar or meaning come first?” For many of us, particularly when working with English as an Additional Language writer, this question defines the direction of the session. Our Tutoring Inquiry Project entitled “Not Broken, Just Multilingual” examines how we can shift our approach from “fixing” grammar to promoting understanding and agency in writing.

Our initial curiosity came from noticing how many EAL writers express the desire for grammar help during appointments, yet what they often really need is help being understood. As tutors, we sometimes feel the pressure to “fix” grammatical errors because we believe this is what will make the paper stronger. However, reinforcing a deficit mindset that EAL writers are “broken” or “lacking” is precisely what Chang and Goldrick-Jones (2019) say tutors and instructors should avoid in their approach to teaching EAL writers. Their statement, “Academic English is no one’s first language,” powerfully reframes multilingualism as an asset. It reminds us that every writer, whatever his or her linguistic background, learns the conventions of academic English as a second language.

This insight invites us to consider our own practice of tutoring. Rather than focusing on correction, we should be focusing on clarity through such questions as, “What are you trying to express here?” or “How does this sentence connect to your main idea?” These small shifts lead to deeper discussions about audience, tone, and purpose, where grammar becomes a tool for refinement rather than a barrier to putting thoughts into words.

What EAL Writers Really Need

Moussu and Llurda (2013) support what we observed during appointments in their research conducted among writers in a writing center. Their study showed EAL writers value tutors who are approachable, patient, and collaborative rather than those tutors who appear to proofread their drafts for mistakes and correct the errors. These writers relish feedback that assists them to beat their ideas across more clearly and confidently instead of feedback that views their language as something that needs a room for improvement. This goes beautifully with what the DePaul Writing Center believes: that all bring linguistic, cultural, and experiential assets to the table.

The research also mentioned how one writer expressed frustration about being told that her sentences were “awkward.” In such cases, a tutor should ask her what she wanted the sentence to convey, instead of rephrasing them for her and through discussion, the writer would discover a more precise way to phrase her idea: one that preserved her unique voice. This moment reminded us that linguistic difference is to be leveraged as a resource, not erased as a weakness.

Linking Grammar to Purpose

Jones, Myhill, and Bailey (2013) contend that meaning-oriented grammar instructions are most effective; in other words, tutors should help writers relate grammar choices to their rhetorical goals. Instead of “You should use the present perfect here,” for instance, we might ask, “Do you want to show this event still affects the present?” This way, grammar becomes a conversation about meaning. Such sessions become collaborative spaces for exploration rather than correction, where both tutor and writer learn from one another. When tutors jump straight into grammar corrections, it immediately cracks a writer’s confidence. It can make them feel like their ideas don’t matter until their sentences sound a certain way. Some writers even start apologizing for their English or become quieter in session because they feel like they’re doing something wrong. And once someone feels insecure, it’s hard for them to take risks, explain their thinking, or feel ownership over their writing. In other words, grammar-first tutoring can take away the writer’s agency before we even get to the good stuff. That’s the real harm, not the grammar itself, but the message that grammar is more Writing centers should never be places that strip confidence away. They should be spaces that amplify meaning, affirm voice, and celebrate linguistic diversity.

Linguistic Justice in Practice

At its core, this project aligns itself with the Writing Center’s commitment to linguistic justice and anti-racism. To center meaning over correctness is to resist the notion that one single “standard” English exists to which every writer must aspire. It opens up space for multiple Englishes and voices. In naming EAL writers as creators of knowledge and not as language learners in need of fixing, we must make the writing center a site of empowerment.

Our goal as tutors isn’t perfect English; it’s confident writers who understand their choices and feel seen in their writing. Balancing grammar and meaning isn’t about choosing one over the other but about sequencing them thoughtfully, which is meaning first, grammar in context. This balance helps the writers grow both linguistically and rhetorically.

Moving Forward

As tutors, we will continue to create spaces for writers where, in particular, multilingual writers will feel their voices matter as much as their syntax. Because ultimately, the goal isn’t to fix what’s “broken.” It’s to remind every writer that their language-in all of its diversity-is already enough.

Works Cited

Chang, Daniel, and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. “EAL Writers and Peer Tutors: Pedagogies that Resist the ‘Broken Writer’ Myth.” Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie, vol. 29, 2019, pp. 238-242. journals.sfu.ca/dwr/index.php/dwr/article/view/731/715 (Accessed 10 Nov. 2025). Public Knowledge Project+2Public Knowledge Project+2

Jones, Susan M., et al. “Grammar for Writing? An Investigation of the Effects of Contextualised Grammar Teaching on Students’ Writing.” Reading and Writing, vol. 26, no. 8, Sept. 2013, pp. 1241-1263. hdl.handle.net/10036/4481 (Accessed 10 Nov. 2025). Exeter Online Research Archive+2ERIC+2

Moussu, Lucie, and Enric Llurda. “Let’s Talk! ESL Students’ Needs and Writing Centre Services.” TESL Canada Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, Spring 2013, pp. 55-71. files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1018830.pdf (Accessed 10 Nov. 2025).