Chapter 1: The important takeaway point from this chapter was knowing the difference among various types of ESL students that range from 1.5 generation students to international graduate students. The author emphasizes that understanding their differences are essential in order to help them instead of grouping them under the label of ESL students.

Question or comments: I felt this chapter to be especially insightful because I did not know that there were so many different types of ESL students who struggle with the same issue as I have: sounding authentically native and sophisticated.  This struggle haunts my graduate work to this day and I have always felt alone on this matter but this chapter provided me with some consolation that there are ways to come to terms with this.

Chapter 2: The most important takeaway from this chapter was knowing that L2 learners are not able to hear their own mistakes because L2 learners do not understand the language as L1 learners. Since they are not native speakers who innately hears the difference, their grammatical errors persist.

Questions or comments: I especially sympathize with this chapter because I also have such problem. It took me a while to hear my own mistakes and it is still very difficult for me to hear the mistakes like the native speakers. This often discourages me from writing and revising. My question is, if the tutor reads out loud, does this often help students hear their own mistakes? What if they don't? What are some of the practical strategies we can utilize if the student does not know grammar rules?

Chapter 3: This chapter was mainly focused on emphasizing the importance of making plans with your tutee. The author stresses that one must be flexible with session plans but be sure to have an agenda beforehand to guide the way through.

 Questions or Comments: The importance of agenda is a great advice for any tutors. I think it is often difficult to be rigid with our agendas because sometimes, somewhere during the dialogue, the agenda disappears. I usually enjoy going with the flow but how much control should I give over to the tutee in terms of setting up an agenda for the day?


Chapter 4: This chapter addresses some important matters in reading ESL student's work. The author talks about the assimilation strategy and the ones who are against it. The author argues that the assimilation strategy offers smooth transition into the academic language to protect ESL students from attacks, the strategy may not always work. The author suggests listening as the primary strategy for reading ESL student's work. The author mentions that mutual collaboration is needed in order to create an atmosphere where ESL students can feel safe about sharing their thoughts and transcribing them into an academic language.

Questions or Comments: The part about assimilation strategy really rang true to me. I felt that many times, as 1.5 generation student, I was instructed and advised by teachers to avoid grammar mistakes at all cost because it makes me look "unfit" to be graduate level. This often made me grammar paranoid instead of worrying about my ideas or content. I think although assimilation strategy means well, there has to be a better way to combine both in an effective way.  


Chapter 5: This chapter discusses a very interesting idea about appropriation. As a writing tutor, we often fall into the temptation of correcting our students' papers, preventing their unique voices. This chapter warns that many ESL students, whether undergraduate or graduate, all feel the need to sound like native speakers which in turn blocks their unique agency and voices. This chapter emphasizes the need to have a dialogue with the student to avoid such appropriation. We must not assume what the student is trying to say but rather listen to the student's voice and help recreate the magic onto the paper.


Chapter 6:This chapter talks about clarifying meanings in an essay with your tutee. The chapter brought up some important issues such as essay as a content, and dividing them into little parts such as topics, paragraphs, sentences and words. What intrigued me the most was the way this author approached from big parts to small parts. Often times, students find revising essays a difficult part because it is so overwhelming. Students often find themselves correcting little parts first rather than looking at the big picture. If we understand what the tutee is trying to argue in the paper in an overall manner, it would be easier to break things down and go from there. I often use this strategy and it seems to work every time.

Chapter 7: Although there were many great ideas in this chapter, what spoke to me the most was responding to student's paper as a reader. This is a difficult task because as we mentioned in class, we get into the teacherly mode. However, if we approach the text as a reader, this chapter suggests, we can connect with the student's writing on a whole another level that can help them improve greatly. I think when the student realizes the tutor is genuinely interested in their paper as a reader rather than a teacher, they tend to open up some more. However, my worry is if we approach it too friendly, they tend to believe that we are not helping them like a teacher. How can we balance such differences?