Logo image
Back
International Undergraduates' Perceptions of their Second Language Writing Development and Their Implications for Writing Center Tutors
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

International Undergraduates' Perceptions of their Second Language Writing Development and Their Implications for Writing Center Tutors

Carol Severino, Deirdre Egan and Shih-Ni Prim
The Writing center journal, Vol.38(1/2), pp.165-202
03/22/2020
DOI: 10.7771/2832-9414.1924
url
https://doi.org/10.7771/2832-9414.1924View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

With the large numbers of international students on campuses across the United States seeking help from writing centers, more research is needed on how second language writing skills develop over time. Expanding our previous studies of second language writing, we wanted to learn more about what international students think about the development of their ability to write in English and the role of the writing center in it. To that end, we designed a survey that asked participants about different features of their writing and how these had changed since starting to write at the college level. The results reveal that participants perceived their overall English-writing development positively, and they reported their rhetorical and linguistic areas as almost equal in development. We also found that participants who used our writing center perceived both rhetorical and linguistic features to be more improved than did participants who had not used the writing center. The rhetorical features participants reported as the least improved involve communicating with readers, while the linguistic features they saw as the least developed include word choice, articles, and prepositions. Confidence about writing a strong argument and confidence in writing in English were also perceived as less developed. The survey results suggest that, overall, tutors should give equal attention to the rhetorical and linguistic features of second language writing development, which for some tutors would mean focusing more on language issues than they have done in the past. They should also focus on building second language writers' confidence by coaching them in self-editing.

Details

Metrics

13 Record Views
Logo image