Tucker 1 Keli D.

Tucker Professor Lauri Dietz WRD 582 7 October 2013

Research Plan & Proposal

Purpose According to the UCWbLs The Modalities Reader, Conversation Partner appointments at the University Center for Writing-based learning are meant to provide ELL students with authentic interaction with native English speakers in a risk-free environment in order to support and augment their spoken language acquisition. The students who make these appointments come from both undergraduate and graduate programs across the university, as well as from DePauls English Language Academy, a full-time intensive academic language program focused on the language and academic skills used in university degree programs and professional endeavors. However, tutors working with these students may not be aware that the average TOEFL score range for beginning students in the ELA program is from 390-430 out of 677 (or 29 out of 120 on the newly revised scale), and that students can be conditionally admitted to the program with even lower scores. Depending on the spread of the students score within the TOEFLs four categories of Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing, students must have earned quite low numbers in almost all areas in order to have earned such a score. Leaving aside the subjective nature of certain aspects of such tests, it is clear that many of these students will be

Tucker 2 approaching English at a vastly different level than the Conversation Partner tutors who are purportedly their peers. Although it is not the job of a peer tutor to teach the correct usage of the English language, the very fact that a tutor is a peer may contribute to writers taking a tutors advice and opinions about language more seriously than they would those of a professor, especially with regards to cultural and social norms. Thus tutors are unwittingly placed in the role of linguistic arbiter. Do ELL students receive more benefit from a simple conversation or from a more structured agenda? The current set of established Best Practices for Conversation Partner appointments in The Modalities Reader advises the tutor 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 suggestions for how to navigate Conversation Partner appointments, which can easily devolve into awkwardness without a more structured approach. Just as no one tutoring style is beneficial to every student, no one approach to Conversation Partner appointments is bound to be beneficial to all. Some students may appreciate the camaraderie and low-pressure environment of the opportunity to merely converse in a judgment-free environment. However, because Conversation Partner appointments are an optional undertaking, it seems evident that these are highly motivated students, some of whom might desire more concrete solutions to the problems they face as they learn English. Based on the results of my research and critical inquiry, my aim is to provide some of these concrete strategies and suggestions for more effectively working with ELL students.

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Methods To analyze whether students receive more benefit from a loosely structured Conversation Partner appointment or from one in which an agenda is set, after obtaining permission from both tutor and writer I will observe and record Conversation Partner appointments, and later analyze the transcripts for rhetorical strategies employed by tutors that directly relate to setting goals and establishing structure during the appointment. Following the appointment I will conduct separate 10-15 minute interviews with the writer and tutor who participated in the appointment regarding their concerns about and expectations of such appointments. I will also interview Laura Friddle, Coordinator for The Collaborative for Multilingual Writing and Research. This primary research will be supplemented by work already done in this area, such as Terese Thonuss Tutors as Teachers: Assisting ESL/EFL Students in the Writing Center, which posits that writing centers must refine their philosophies and practices in order to better serve the needs of this community. I also plan to draw parallels between Brooks more widely accepted minimalist tutoring approach and Shamoon and Burns advocacy of a directive approach when it would prove more useful. Although the effectiveness of Conversation Partner appointments is not something that can be easily quantified, synthesizing secondary research with my own should provide a foundation for making effective suggestions for working with ELL students.

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Research Consent Form

Conversation Partner Research Project

You are being invited to participate in a research project conducted by Keli Tucker. The purpose of the project is to research current Conversation Partner appointment practices in the University Center for Writing-based Learning. The results will be used in a research paper for the course WRD 582: Writing Center Theory and Pedagogy, taught by Professor Lauri Dietz. Your participation will involve a brief (10-15 minute) interview about your experiences with Conversation Partner appointments.

Risks It is unlikely that you will experience any physical, psychological, or social risks. However, if you feel uncomfortable during the course of the interview you may withdraw at any time. Benefits There is no known direct benefit to you as a result of your participation in this project. Confidentiality Your anonymity and privacy will be protected at all stages of the research project. Access to recordings and transcripts of your interview will be limited to researcher Keli Tucker, UCWbL Director Lauri Dietz, and UCWbL Associate Directors Liz Coughlin and Matthew Pearson. Contact Persons If you have any concerns or questions about this project, please contact researcher Keli Tucker at ktucke10@depaul.edu. Consent I have read this consent form and understand my rights as a participant in this research project. I hereby give my consent to participate in this research project.

Participant Signature________________________________ Date_________________

Printed Name_______________________________________

Researcher Signature________________________________ Date_________________

Tucker 5 Interview Questions for Tutors and Writers Questions for Tutors: 1. Do you commonly set an agenda at the outset of a Conversation Partner appointment? If no: why not? If yes: what is your process for doing so? 2. Has a writer ever mentioned a specific struggle or issue with English? If yes: was it unprompted or in answer to your queries? If yes: what was/were the struggle(s), and what were the solutions that you offered? 3. What is the course of events in a typical Conversation Partner appointment for which you are the tutor? 4. Is there anything you think ought to be done differently during Conversation Partner appointments? Are there any best practices you would recommend based on your experience with Conversation Partner appointments?

Questions for Writers: 1. Why have you attended a Conversation Partner appointment? Was it recommended to you by an instructor or classmate? 2. Before attending a Conversation Partner appointment, what were your expectations of what would be accomplished during the appointment? 3. Do you have any specific struggles or issues with English, i.e. difficulty with the vocabulary of an academic field or with understanding slang? If yes: what are they? 4. During any of your Conversation Partner appointments, have you been asked by the tutor about those struggles and whether you would like to address them during the appointment? If no: did you tell the tutor about those struggles? If yes: how did the tutor go about addressing the struggles? 5. Is there anything you wish would be done differently during your Conversation Partner appointments?

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Research Consent Form

Conversation Partner Research Project

You are being invited to participate in a research project conducted by Keli Tucker. The purpose of the project is to research current Conversation Partner appointment practices in the University Center for Writing-based Learning. The results will be used in a research paper for the course WRD 582: Writing Center Theory and Pedagogy, taught by Professor Lauri Dietz. Your participation will involve a brief (10-15 minute) interview about your experiences with Conversation Partner appointments.

Risks It is unlikely that you will experience any physical, psychological, or social risks. However, if you feel uncomfortable during the course of the interview you may withdraw at any time. Benefits There is no known direct benefit to you as a result of your participation in this project. Contact Persons If you have any concerns or questions about this project, please contact researcher Keli Tucker at ktucke10@depaul.edu. Consent I have read this consent form and understand my rights as a participant in this research project. I hereby give my consent to participate in this research project.

Participant Signature________________________________ Date_________________

Printed Name_______________________________________

Researcher Signature________________________________ Date_________________

Tucker 7 Interview Questions for Laura 1. Have you been approached by writers with any concerns about Conversation Partner appointments? If yes, what were the concerns? 2. Have you been approached by tutors with any concerns about Conversation Partner appointments? If yes, what were the concerns? 3. What are some best practices you recommend for Conversation Partner appointments based on your experiences? 4. What can you tell me about working with ELL writers that might not be immediately apparent to tutors? In what ways do ELL writers differ from writers who are native English speakers? In what ways are ELL writers similar? 5. Based on your experience working with ELL writers, what advice would you have for tutors inexperienced with this type of writer?