Guilt-Free Tutoring: Rethinking How We Tutor Non-Native-English-Speaking Students

Abstract

The frustration level at a recent writing center staff meeting rose with the first mention of tutoring non-native -English-speaking (NNES) students."I try so hard to stick to the guidelines we learned, but it's so frustrating," said Blaise, one of the writing fellows.Neil, another tutor, agreed."It's like being caught in a drain.I circle it and circle it, trying to avoid it, but by the end of the session I always get sucked down into line editing."And it's not just our tutors who are feeling frustration and guilt about violating the received notions about writing center practice.At the March 2001 Northeast Writing Center Conference, the subject of correcting errors for NNES students came up during a presentation on campus NNES literacy.One presenter lowered her voice and said she occasionally corrected specific grammar mistakes with students."I screw it up every now and then," she said."I feel guilty about it sometimes."An audience member countered, "But if we were with peers, we would have no problem editing."She shrugged."For me, at least, part of the guilt comes from getting these students to believe in this process and then doing something else."Going against practice-especially in tutorials with NNES students-seems to be the cause of guilt and frustration in our center and in others.The literature that we turn to for

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