Writing and Pedagogy Aug 2021

Enabling practices at the centre

Gita DasBender New York University

Abstract

The recent focus on threshold concepts in writing studies indicates the field’s growing commitment to engaging writing-based threshold concepts in the daily work of teaching and learning to facilitate writing transfer. However, although there is growing evidence of robust scholarly work in this area, research on the pedagogical importance of these concepts to the writing development and tutoring of L2 students is still in its nascent stages. To address this gap, this paper first presents findings from a research study that aims to understand how writing centre tutors addressed the needs of L2 students in tutoring sessions and the extent to which threshold-oriented language appeared in the content of the conference summaries. After discussing the findings, the paper proposes a threshold concept-based framework for tutoring L2 writers involving two established concepts: ‘writers’ histories, processes, and identities vary’ and ‘writing is informed by prior experiences.’ In addition, a new model of the conference summary as a reflective tool to promote writing transfer is presented along with a discussion of emergent writing centre-oriented concepts that reimagine the role of the tutor as an ‘expert-outsider’ and the L2 student as ‘informed novice.’

Journal
Writing and Pedagogy
Published
2021-08-15
DOI
10.1558/wap.19539
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy teacher development transfer threshold concepts writing centers peer tutoring multilingual writers
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (9)

  1. Giaimo et al. (2018)
    It�s All in the Notes: What Session Notes Can Tell Us About the Work of Writing…
    Journal of Writing Analytics
  2. Bugdal et al. (2016)
    Summing Up the Session: A Study of Student, Faculty, and Tutor Attitudes Toward…
    Writing Center Journal
  3. Devet (2015)
    The Writing Center and Transfer of Learning: A Primer for Directors
    Writing Center Journal
  4. Blaauw-Hara (2014)
    Feature: Transfer Theory, Threshold Concepts, and First-Year Composition: Conne…
    Teaching English in the Two-Year College
  5. Malenczyk (2013)
    "I Thought I'd Put That in to Amuse You": Tutor Reports as Organizational Narrative
    Writing Center Journal
Show all 9 →
  1. Raymond et al. (2012)
    What a Writer Wants: Assessing Fulfillment of Student Goals in Writing Center T…
    Writing Center Journal
  2. Weaver (2001)
    Resistance is Anything but Futile: Some More Thoughts on Writing Conference Summaries
    Writing Center Journal
  3. Cogie (1998)
    In Defense of Conference Summaries: Widening the Reach of Writing Center Work
    Writing Center Journal
  4. Penrose et al. (1994)
    Reading and Writing Without Authority
    College Composition and Communication
Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. Adler-Kassner, L. and Wardle, E. (2015) Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts in Writing Studies Logan: Uta…
     ↗
  2. Cousins, G. (2006) An introduction to threshold concepts. Planet 17: 4–5. Retrieved on Jan 6, 2020 from https…
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  3. Land, R., Rattray, J., and Vivian, P. (2014) Learning in the liminal space: A semiotic approach to threshold …
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  7. Rafoth, B. (2015) Multilingual Writers and Writing Centers Logan: Utah State UP. https://doi.org/10.7330/9780…
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