Writing Center Programming for First-Year International Students

Over the past twenty years, international student populations (and, therefore, ESL populations) have been steadily increasing. However, at many colleges, ESL services have not been increasing to accompany this rise. As an undergraduate tutor at Union College’s Writing Center, I researched ESL support programs for international first-year students at a variety of colleges and universities, then applied this research by creating the curriculum and framework for a weekly workshop series catering to the academic needs of first-year international students within a small, liberal arts college. As I created the curriculum and implemented the series, I was very cognizant of the need to create a space wherein students’ multiliteracy was valued, while also aiding them in learning to be successful within a wider academic framework that adheres to the concept that there is one “standard” English. This method allowed for students to, on one hand, conform to an system (albeit problematic) in order to be successful, while also giving them a space to voice their concerns and challenge the present system. Despite having previously read literature exploring the problems stemming from strict adherence to the concept of one “standard” English (and the subsequent deeming of other subsets of the English language as un-academic and irrelevant), creating and implementing this project forced me to consider these ideas as applied to reality. My research will focus on these ideas by providing audiences with an introduction to the creation of the workshop and also explore the problems with it and ways to improve it.