Tucker 1 Keli D.

Tucker Professor Lauri Dietz WRD 582 16 October 2013

Annotated Bibliography

Research Question The current set of established Best Practices for Conversation Partner appointments in the UCWbLs The Modalities Reader advises tutors to set an agenda, which can include asking the writer about specific challenges in English as well as whether he or she desires correction after mispronunciations. While these are good practices, tutors are not offered more specific guidelines for how to navigate Conversation Partner appointments, and these sessions can easily devolve into awkwardness without a more structured approach. I will explore whether or not ELL writers would receive more benefit from a Conversation Partner appointment in which an agenda is set and specific strategies are implemented, or one that consists solely of informal extemporaneous conversation.

Working with ELL Writers DAnnunzio, Anthony. A Nondirective Combinatory Model in an Adult ESL Program. Journal of Reading 34.3 (1990): 198-202. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. In this article DAnnunzio describes an experimental Adult ESL Program in which bilingual tutors without pedagogical training (some not yet high school graduates) work with

Tucker 2 Adult ESL students using a nondirective approach. In order to be successful students were required to take the initiative during activities that were either self-directed or guided only by hints from the tutors. He reports successful results, relating that students suggested activities such as skits and storytelling to their tutors. Because I theorize that the ELL students who seek out Conversation Partner appointments are more motivated than those who do not, DAnnunzios research directly relates to mine in that it demonstrates the positive benefits that can arise from the self-motivation of such students. Although the results DAnnunzio reports might at first glance appear to support Brooks minimalist tutoring theory, it should be noted that the relationship between tutor and student in these instances differ from the kind that Brooks described.

Ernst, Gisela. Talking Circle: Conversation and Negotiation in the ESL Classroom. TESOL Quarterly 28.2 (1994): 293-322. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Noting that recent research about the L2 (second language) classroom has prompted a move from a more grammatically focused environment to one that is based on interaction, Ernst discusses the benefits of a talking circle: a group activity that a teacher can use to encourage such conversational interaction. In her analysis of a talking circle, Ernst details each of its phases and their purposes. Though Ernsts research concerned elementary school students, it dovetails with my own in that she describes conversations between native and non-native English speakers and the different social functions of separate stages of those conversations. Like Dooley (cited in a later section of this bibliography), Ernst champions directed and purposeful conversation as a means of acquiring oral English skills.

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Lindsey, Peggy, and Deborah Crusan. How faculty attitudes and expectations toward student nationality affect writing assessment. Across the Disciplines 8.4 (2011) n. pag. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Lindsey and Crusan discuss the differences between the character of the evaluation of their written work received by Native English Speakers as compared to Non-Native English Speakers. They conducted faculty interviews to determine why these discrepancies occur, the results of which suggest that Non-Native English Speakers receive higher holistic scores but lower analytic scores. Conversation Partner appointments, like all interactions with ELL writers, can be affected by bias. It is important to understand the biases these writers may face in their academic career (from their professors if not from ourselves). Conversely, Vandrick posits that ELL writers may harbor a negative bias towards tutors and writing centers. Data of DePauls English Language Academy demographics may help clarify which theory may be closer to the truth in DePauls community of ELL writers.

Vandrick, Stephanie. Privileged ESL University Students. TESOL Quarterly 29.2 (1995): 375381. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Vandrick contradicts the idea that ESL students at universities are people who have been marginalized or oppressed, stating instead that they are often quite privileged, perhaps even more so than the average university student. She declares this knowledge important because while education is imperative for empowerment, privileged students are already empowered.

Tucker 4 As the research of Lindsey and Crusan would indicate an increased attentiveness to attitudes of tutors, so does that of Vandrick to the attitudes of ELL students. The most interesting idea of Vandricks is that privilege could alter the way in which an ESL student interacts with and thinks about writing centers. She questions whether these students might perceive a referral to a writing center as something shameful, and wonders about their ability to receive or offer criticism. Vandrick leaves these questions unanswered in lieu of further research, suggesting awareness of these issues in the meantime. However, these points are important to my research question because the attitude a writer brings into an appointment can alter its outcome.

Williams, Joan A. Classroom Conversations: Opportunities to Learn for ESL Students in Mainstream Classrooms. The Reading Teacher 54.8 (2001): 750-757. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Williams questions whether ESL students have enough opportunities in regular classrooms, noting the impact that a students level of proficiency in English can have on those opportunities. She provides several useful applications of her ESL theory, such as providing adequate wait time when asking questions, and addressing idioms in context while avoiding their use when instructing. Like Ernst, Williams questions our assumptions about ESL students and the techniques to which they best respond. Because Williams suggests using language in meaningful ways, it will directly assist in answering my research question of whether a more meaningful and structured approach could help these students with English language learning.

Tucker 5 Tutoring Styles Brooks, Jeff. Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work. The Writing Lab Newsletter 15.6 (1991): 1-4. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Brooks strongly advocates making writers the primary agents of their own papers, thus ensuring that the ultimate responsibility for the work rests with the student, and not the tutor. To implement this, he suggests a number of techniques, such as mimicking the body language of a reluctant writer and encouraging the student to read his or her paper aloud. Brooks tone is dismissive towards writers and his theory is far from all encompassing. However, his ideas are popular, and a minimalist approach directly correlates to current practices in the majority of Conversation Partner appointments. Through the course of my research I hope to determine whether or not these practices are, in fact, beneficial.

Shamoon, Linda K., and Deborah H. Burns. A Critique of Pure Tutoring. Writing Center Journal 15.2 (1995): 134-151. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. In questioning the minimalist tutoring approach prevalent in writing centers, Shamoon and Burns provide anecdotal evidence (courtesy of Burns) that a more directed approach can be just as beneficial, especially with certain students and in certain circumstances. Though they seem almost to be responding to it, Shamoon and Burns do not cite Brooks work on minimalist tutoring, written a few years earlier. As the core of my research question is whether or not minimalism or directed tutoring would be more beneficial in conducting Conversation Partner appointments, it is useful to examine this concept as it pertains to tutoring as a whole.

Tucker 6 Strategies for Tutoring ELL Writers Belhiah, Hannah. Tutoring as an Embodied Activity: How speech, gaze and body orientation are coordinated to conduct ESL tutorial business. Journal of Pragmatics 41.4 (2009): 829-841. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Belhiah analyzes two specific areas of tutoring appointments with ELL students: the introduction and conclusion, looking specifically for ways in which physical aspects of the interaction (such as body orientation and gaze) play a role in the evolution and success of conversations. She also notes some ways in which cultural differences affect interaction. Belhiahs research suggests that physical interaction can be strategically implemented during an appointment in order to help tutors engage with Conversation Partners. Her research fits in with the larger theme of ELL students and the differing ways in which they relate to others and are related to by others, as approached (albeit from different angles) by Vandrick and by Lindsay and Crusan.

Harris, Muriel and Tony Silva. Tutoring ESL Students: Issues and Options. College Composition & Communication 44.4 (1993): 525-537. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Harris and Silva discuss specific issues that arise when working with ESL writers, such as distinguishing between errors in the writing process and difficulties with the English language itself. They offer suggestions for remedying such issues, such as ways in which tutors can recognize and work with the different rhetorical strategies that multicultural students might use. Though they are primarily discussing the written work of ESL writers and not their oral language skills, Harris and Silva note the advantages of setting an agenda and strategizing with

Tucker 7 the writer. Like Dooley and Ernst, they promote the idea of strategized approaches to working with these writers.

Powers, Judith K. Rethinking Writing Center Conferencing Strategies for the ESL Writer. Writing Center Journal 13.2 (1993): 39-48. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Powers expresses frustration with the fact that collaborative strategies and techniques traditionally used with students were failing to prove successful with ESL writers. She highlights the need to question the assumptions we bring to tutoring ESL writers and adapt our techniques accordingly. One of the challenges faced by ESL writers that Powers describes that directly relates to my area of research is that reading aloud was ineffective. She states that that a more Socratic approach (like that of Brooks minimalist tutoring) had unsatisfactory results.

Thoughts from Peer Tutors Brendel, Christian. Tutoring between Language with Comparative Multilingual Tutoring. Writing Center Journal 32.1 (2012): 78-91. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Brendel, a tutor of one year at the time of this writing, discusses the challenges brought by ESL writers writing centers. He comments specifically on the responsibility of tutors to assist these writers with cultural and social issues they may have with the English language. He suggests taking a sentence-level approach towards working with these writers to help them with these specific difficulties.

Tucker 8 Brendels points align with Shamoon and Burns in that he conjectures that a different approach may be necessary in order to most effectively help ESL writers, which in turn helps to answer my own research question.

Raymond, Laurel and Zarah Quinn. What a Writer Wants: Assessing Fulfillment of Student Goals in Writing Center Tutoring Sessions. Writing Center Journal 32.1 (2012): 64-77. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Raymond and Quinn, both peer tutors of about two years, discuss the dichotomy between the goals a student has for his or her tutoring session with the goals a tutor may have, and ways in which the two might be reconciled. The outcome of a Conversation Partner appointment rests on several factors, some of which are the expectations that both the writer and tutor bring to the appointment, as Raymond and Quinn note. During my research, in which I will interview Conversation Partner pairs, this is one question I intend to ask. It would be interesting to compare Raymond and Quinns findings with those of Belhiah, who discusses the interaction of writers and tutors in a different way.

Working towards Solutions Dooley, Karen. Intercultural Conversation: Building Understanding Together. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52.6 (2009): 497-506. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Dooley discusses strategies for helping students develop their conversational skills, with a specific focus on conversations that take place across cultures. She suggests different ways in which native and non-native speakers can contribute to the conversations, such as allowing nonnative speakers to ask questions, thereby directing the conversation.

Tucker 9 Like Ernsts work, Dooleys research will be especially advantageous in the portion of my project in which I discuss my own ideas for strategies. It will also be useful to contrast this piece about specific applications of strategies with works about theories.

Master, Eileen. Language Instruction: 1. Use of Portfolios in ESL Conversation Classes. The Clearing House 71.3 (1998): 132-133. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Master discusses her experiences using portfolios in the context of an ESL Conversation Class. She describes how her students used their e-Portfolios to document their progress in learning English by uploading audio and video, so as to create speaking portfolios. As a member of the UCWbL Workshops Team, which offers workshops on Digication ePortfolios, Masters experiences demonstrate ways in which the team might explore the possibility of offering such workshops to classes in the DePaul English Language Academy.