Describes how one writing center with many English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students has integrated the "cultural informant" role of tutors with their role of teaching self-editing strategies. Reviews the process of introducing ESL students to use of a learner's dictionary, minimal marking, and error logs. Offers examples of using these…

Suggests that the conference summary (the record of a tutor's interaction with a student) offers one of the few ways to extend the discussion of one-to-one work beyond the writing center on a weekly basis. Discusses its uses; gives sample summaries. Finds that a faculty survey confirmed the value of weekly reports. (PA)

Describes the effects (both positive and negative) personal knowledge about students has on student writing conferences. (MM)

Examines various definitions and pedagogies of critical thinking. Discusses the writing center's role in teaching critical thinking. (MM)

Offers perspectives of four different writing lab personnel, namely: (1) a new peer tutor with writing skills but no formal training in teaching; (2) a graduate teaching assistant in writing with no tutoring experience; (3) an experienced tutor reflecting on what he wished he had been taught; and (4) a director-tutor sharing her lab experience.…

Describes generic problem-solving model constructed by D. Koberg and J. Bagnall that can be used by writing center tutors and that progresses as follows: (1) accept situation, (2) analyze, (3) define, (4) ideate, (5) select, (6) implement, (7) evaluate. Provides tutors with coherent framework and with way of breaking larger framework down into…

Reports experiences and observations during a visit to a writing workshop where elementary school students were learning how to revise and edit their compositions. (NKA)

Shows the advantages of using word processors in freshman composition classes that use the instructional technique of peer evaluation. Points out that the benefits are practical for both evaluators and composers, and suggests how to implement a computerized peer evaluation system. (SKC)

Describes the five major problems faced by foreign students in traditional composition classes. Presents types of tutorial activities which may prove beneficial when dealing with the major problems that ESL students have in both reading and writing in English. Discusses the effect of such tutorial activities at the University of Kentucky. (HB)

Presents typical problems encountered by tutors at writing centers when they conference with ESL writers. Discusses processes and ways of adapting collaborative conferencing strategies for second-language writers at the University of Wyoming Writing Center, including a need for intervention, that have proven effective in alleviating these…

Describes various writing center issues and how they were foregrounded through the institution of a campuswide portfolio evaluation in the first-year writing program at the University of Southern California in fall of 1990. Shows the effect of the adoption of portfolio evaluation on the writing center's activities. (HB)

Provides a brief introduction to recent research in spelling (on the nature of English orthography and the development of spelling ability), and suggestions for further reading. Describes a writing center spelling workshop of four sessions which aims to produce successful writers who have learned to cope with being poor spellers. (SR)

Describes how graffiti is a useful analogy providing a fresh source of power for reimagining the function and purpose of writing centers. Explains the necessity of defining writing centers as a subculture. Identifies a distinct writing center discursive style that mediates between official classroom pedagogy and unofficial writing center praxis.…

Considers the ways writing center personnel have conceptualized teaching and tutoring. Critiques concepts of continuum and dichotomy linking teaching and tutoring. Suggests creating an image of dialectical process. Offers specific examples of the application of such language to a consideration of teaching and tutoring. (HB)

Describes a duality pitting the writing center against the classroom. Considers the relationship between these two spaces. Argues that the writing center can provide an alternative to the authority of teachers and classrooms. Suggests strategies for minimizing tension between classroom and writing center. (HB)