Writing Center News

In the spring semester, the Writing Center:

• saw more than 550 (174 new) clients, for a total of more than 1001 appointments
• met with 63 students in 12 workshops.

Spring 2011 Peer Tutors and Writing Fellows

Although most writing center tutors are graduate students, undergraduate peer tutors and writing fellows also play an important role in the writing center’s dynamic culture of writing and scholarship. In the spring, outstanding peer tutors were:

• Michael Hecker, Government and International Politics major, with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies.
• Emma Kouguell, Communication and English double major, with concentration in Media Production and Criticism.
• Gary Harvey, Religious Studies major, who also writes fiction.
• Justin Voigt, Linguistics major and assistant editor for The George Mason Review, and also a peer tutor for International ACCESS students.

Spring 2011 Writing Fellows:

• George Buzzell (writing fellow), Psychology, and Taryn Brooks-Faulconer (curriculum-based tutor), a Biology and Psychology double major with a minor in Creative Writing, were both assigned to help students in nine lab sections of BIOL 307 coordinated by Prof. Larry Rockwood.
• Kim Ruff, an Individualized Studies (BIS) major focusing on Applied Music Cognition, was a fellow in CONF 302 with Prof. Daniel Rothbart. Kim’s research focused on students’ perceptions and application of instructor and tutor comments in revising.
• Paula Salamoun, Government and International Politics with a minor in Economics, was a fellow in CRIM 303 with Prof. Shannon Portillo. See her article in this issue for a description of her research.

Teaching with Writing Across the Curriculum Director/Editor: Dr. Terry Myers Zawacki; Production Editors: Sarah Baker (WAC Assistand Director), Ben Wilkins (MFA TA/Tutor)

Writing in Engineering and English as a Second Language (L2): A Double Challenge

Multilingual speaker/writer Nathalia Peixoto, associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering, explains why good writing is a necessity for all engineering students, regardless of whether English is their first or second (or third) language. (Click on title for full article.)

Advice and Strategies for Working with Second-Language Writers across the Curriculum

WAC director Terry Zawacki offers advice from her research on second-language writers and writing in the disciplines. (Click on title for full article.)

Students as Literacy Teachers: Volunteering in the Culmore Latino Community

Rachel Hatcher, GTA in Modern and Classical Languages, writes about Mason Spanish students who are engaging with the community by teaching ESL and community literacy to Spanish-speaking immigrants from the Culmore neighborhood of Falls Church, VA. (Click on title for full article.)

New ACCESS Program Supports International Students as Writers and Researchers

Karyn Mallett, assistant director, ELI, and Anna Habib, composition teacher and former writing center director, write about a new initiative directed through the Center for International Student Access (CISA) that prepares international students for the American academic environment through linked fall and spring courses focusing on rhetorical awareness and research-driven composition. (Click on title for full article.)

From English L2 to Writing Tutor to Essay Contest Winner: An International Student Writer’s Journey

M.A. candidate in economics Romina Boccia writes about her journey from a native German speaker with a basic understanding of casual spoken English to an accomplished writer and writing tutor in English. (Click on title for full article.)

Mason Hosts International Writing Research Conference

Writing researchers, teachers, professionals, and students from around the world came to Mason in February 2011 for the 4th International Conference on Writing Research, otherwise known as Writing Research Across Borders (WRAB).

New Writing Center Director Assumes Duties

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Dawn Fels to Mason, starting July 2011. Dawn brings extensive writing center and teaching experience at both the secondary and postsecondary level.

And also in this issue...

News from/about Writing Across the Curriculum

WAC and the Students as Scholars QEP

Learning by Writing across Many Roles—A Student Perspective

See past issues of Teaching with Writing Across the Curriculum