I know that I’ve run into a wall when working with EAL writers. Often, I’ll get stumped on trying to explain grammar rules, sentence structure, and all the other English rules that I grew up knowing. After a couple of EAL appointments, I realized it was time to start focusing on how to make my time with those writers valuable and effective. These are the top three common struggles that my fellow tutors or I have run into:
Shy Writers
We all know that the first thing we ask writers to do is to read their own paper or assignment out loud. The benefits of this include allowing the writer to catch their own grammar errors or missing/misspelled words. With many EAL appointments, I have had writers that don’t want to read their paper out loud and I try really hard to advocate for it. However, for a writer that is learning English as a second language, I was recently told that reading their own paper out loud may actually counteract the reason they are visiting the Writing Center. Instead of finding their own grammar errors or errors with sentence structure and style, they might be focusing on the way they pronounce their words or other non-writing priorities. In addition, it’s hard for a writer who didn’t grow up learning English to catch errors, as they don’t recognize them as mistakes in the first place. So, to overcome this, I recommend reading the writer’s paper out loud yourself and having the writer listen and possibly take notes.
Ghost Writing
A common struggle I have heard from my fellow tutors is trying not to edit a writer’s paper themselves. With certain writers, they think that the Writing Center will tell them exactly what is wrong with their paper and tell them the answer. However, we are here as guides and not as copyeditors. Though it varies based on the writer, a way I have found to try and combat this struggle is by correcting the first couple mistakes and suggesting the writer look over the next section and try identifying the errors themselves. Many writers learn by example, so this technique serves well.
Grammar Errors
Every tutor I talked to reiterated that explaining overall grammar rules is their biggest struggle when it comes to EAL students. Being a part of the Collaborative for Multilingual Writing and Research (CMWR) team, this is something even I have yet to perfect. It is quite difficult to explain rules that are just implemented in our brains and come naturally. However, we have to understand that EAL writers need the explanation so that they fully understand and can learn from it. Firstly, tutors have to realize that speaking until figuring out the right wording is confusing to the writer. They are hearing different information from the tutor just to ultimately lead to one sentence. I recommend pausing and giving yourself time to phrase the feedback correctly. The writer would probably prefer a concise message over a muddled one.
Also, don’t be afraid to use Google or other online resources. The CMWR team has a Digication page that has a tab full of resources that can be used to explain grammar and stylistic rules. The pages can even be used as a Next Step for the writer! My favorite website to use is Dave’s ESL Café. It had different lessons for each error you might run into.
I think working with EAL writers is something we could all be more rehearsed on. The Writing Center is a great resource for international writers and being able to help them is quite valuable! Check out the CMWR page for more information and resources that could help you on your path to becoming an even better tutor!