One of my favorite parts about the Writing Center is that it is a place where all kinds of people meet. In one day, you may be interacting with writing that spans from backgrounds, cultures, and academic conventions that you’ve never even heard of before; this variety of experiences and learning experiences is what makes working at the University Center for Writing-based Learning (UCWbL) so exciting.
Understanding Writers
As writing tutors, we need to be sure to have the most effective learning tools for writers, no matter their background. Specifically, we need to be welcoming to non-native English speakers, as well as neurodivergent writers. While both of these groups are both competent writers with the potential to create works on their own, when they come to the UCWbL, they bring up challenges that may not seem immediately obvious to someone like myself (American, English-speaking). While there isn’t much research on instructing neurodiverse writers (Babcock 2015), we do know that they, along with non-native English speaking writers, may feel intimidated by seeking help at the UCWbL for a variety of reasons.
In Batt’s article “Welcoming and Managing Neurodiversity in the Writing Center,” nearly half of students surveyed had experienced symptoms of neurodiversity before (2018). Knowing this, then, we can see that that writing centers in general are playing host to a variety of people, not just those who are neurotypical. This is a key point to keep in mind, as DePaul is home to a host of peoples, cultures, and languages from around the globe. Within this mix of people are going to be those that do not adhere to society’s expectations of neurotypical, nor are they going to have the same language background as everyone else around them. This means that traditional tutoring advice or experience may not be as effective in appointments with then. Thus, to be an effective and sensitive tutor, you’ll want ensure that you’re being as accommodating as possible; everyone has the right to a pleasant learning experience at the UCWbL and so we as tutors should do our best to support writers in the process.
Why Change Matters
So, what is the best way to make students who may have some people feel comfortable and welcomed in their appointments? For some of us, our language is something we don’t pay too much attention to unless it’s in a writing or speech class — it is largely subconscious and comes from a lifetime of experiences and conventions. What makes sense to us may not make sense to others of different linguistic backgrounds. In some instances, this might include non-native English speakers or a people who are neurodivergent.
Depending on their background, they may not appreciate or find it intuitive to deal with overly-clinical terms, slang, or disorganized thoughts. These things can also be understood as non-universal language, something that I personally find myself slipping into quite often. While this language can signal to others that I am part of a particular ‘in-group’ or culture, it can also alienate those who are not part of said culture. In daily life, then, checking to see if your language is clear is a good habit to get into in general, as it will allow you to form bonds and connections with those you might have otherwise untiltentially left out. As such, keeping in mind that any given person may not understand your language, regardless of background, can aid you in communicating with strangers, whether or not you’re a tutor.
Making a Change
That being said, my first step is always to begin with clear and universal language. Here are a few tips I like to use in making sure my language is accessible and universal:
Avoid Slang
Idioms like “beat around the bush,” “drive home,” or “needle in a haystack” are familiar to me, but they won’t be to everybody. This is not to say that I can’t have a unique, conversational tone with my writing, but I try to make sure that my language is not creating confusing images.
Simplify Your Language
Words such as “contextualization” could be more easily conveyed in the form of “background information,” while “preliminary” could be “first,” and so on. As a peer tutor, I am exposed to hosts of beautiful, flowery language, and I can be tempted to use it a lot. Despite this, speaking in plain terms will help your advice be clear and stick in your writer’s head regardless of their linguistic or cultural background.
In terms of writing, you can use active voice, keep your sentences short and straight-forward, and avoid overly clinical terms to make your language more efficient and easy to understand.
For more specific suggestions on how to simply your language, you can check out discussions about Plain Language standards and how you could incorporate it within your own work, check out http://plainlanguage.gov/‘s resources and if you’re writing something technical or complicated but still want to be understood, consider this article:
Focus on Global Issues
This suggestion is not so much concerned with my specific phrases language, but more so to do with how you’re advising your writers to revise their work. Consider how overwhelming it can be if someone critiques a thousand small details in your writing — no one would particularly enjoy that, even if they thought it was helpful. As such, to make your suggestions as actionable as possible, focus on global concerns over local ones. Main arguments, theses, and claims are far more universal to people than sentence-to-sentence grammar is.
Be Welcoming and Encouraging
Working with a peer tutor can be intimidating for writers, particularly if they are unfamiliar with English or are neurodivergent, as discussed by Babcock (2015). Babcock created a table on the best anecdotal ways to work with neurodiverse writers and the most recurring method is communicating in an open, genuine, and encouraging way (Babcock 2015). Thus, while you might feel tempted to dive into specifics or be very formal with someone, remind yourself that everyone should feel welcome at the UCWbL, and that even a little bit of encouragement can make the different between a serviceable appointment, and one that trully inspire the writer.
Moving Forward
Unfortunately, research on working with neurodiverse writers and non-native English-speaking writers is still limited (Batt 2018), which will hopefully change very soon. In my own experience, I have found that these tips help me to keep my language accessible and easy to understand. Thankfully, we live in an academic environment where a variety of cultures mix, and because of that, us peer tutors are challenged with finding a way to be accommodating for writers from these different cultures. While it may be small, plain and universal language can be an easy and important first step to take to making resources and help accessible for those who seek it out.