Shadowing 3/25/10

In my shadowing session tonight I observed my first consultation with an international student. Beginning the session, Brittany asked the student why she came in to the writing center. The student replied exclaiming that her Professor told her that there were some “disconnections” within her paper. Although this was a vague answer, Brittany nodded while paging through the paper’s content, and then asked her what she thought her thesis was in the paper. As the student uncomfortably began to attempt an explanation Brittany encouraged her by helping her finish her sentences and thoughts while writing down the main points of their conversation. After interpreting and clarifying the student’s jumbled response, Brittany mentioned that the formatting of the paper was off because and pointed out sentences extended out into the outer margins of the paper. She then began to read through the student’s paper correcting word clarity and flow and also grammatical errors such as capitalization, punctuation, missing words, and incorrect word usage. There were also many instances were Brittany pointed out that her paragraphs were too long and needed to be shortened in order to better focus and categorize her ideas. In addition the student also made her quotations too long and needed to use more analysis and explanation of these quotes.

Because so much of this session was dedicated to sentence clarity, word choice and grammar, it was more difficult for Brittany and the student to work on the bigger and broader problems within the paper. Being that English was not her first language, it was obvious that the student was not only having trouble communicating her ideas in her paper but also communicating them to Brittany. For instance, when Brittany would begin to explain a correction to the student she would often times have to stop and explain words she would, such as the word “instigate.” Since the student had a lot of trouble using advanced words, that were often times necessary in order for her to clearly express a complex thought, I feel that a thesaurus would have been a useful tool for her when writing. Although I think that the student felt frustrated at many points throughout the session, I think that Brittany’s patience and persistence really helped facilitate a positive, learning atmosphere. I think that the student may have been more at ease if they had had a sidebar conversation away from the paper at some point during the session. However, I think that the cultural and language barrier existing between Brittany and the student created a distance between them, making it hard for the two to casually converse.

Overall, my impression of this shadowing experience was different from any of my other sessions, in that there were many more obstacles for the consultant to face. Given that it is very difficult for a regular student to clearly express their thoughts into a focused paper, it is twice as hard for a student whose first language isn’t even English to do the same assignment. Moreover, considering that many of the problems related to this student’s paper were structural and grammatical errors that most students learn in high school, much of the focus had to be dedicated to more elementary errors.