Cross-cultural Communication in the Writing Center and in the tutoring session: A Process of Sensitization

The percentage of students who speak and write English as a Second Language (Ec') is steadily increasing on all college campuses. Although only '% of the student body at the Pennsylvania State University are ESL students, 15% of the Penn State Writing Center clientele are ESL students. In the past, the Penn State peer tutor training program has only marginally addressed cross-cultural comrinication and has offered only general strategies for tutoring limited English proficient students. This research project explores the institutional history of serving ESL students at Penn State, surveys both tutors and ESL students, and develops rPterials for use in the Penn State Writing Center. The resulting materials include a unit for training new tutors and a series of staff development exercises for use with current tutors. In order to disseminate this information to a wider audience, a presentation of the research findings was given at the Ninth Annual National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing on October 23, 1992, at the Indiana University of Tennsylvania, and an essay has been prepared for publication on the advancements made in the Penn State Writing Center to better serve the ESL population. (Contains 14 references.) (Author) ************************-******************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. ********************************************************************