The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

We also do not want to just fix the error for them, because then they will never acquire the skills
necessary to do it on their own. By helping them develop these skills, they will become better writers: this
is our main goal.
The best way to start is by reading the paper out loud to them. This is because hearing you read it will
either verify the things sound the way they wanted them to or show them how the errors interfere with the
clarity of the paper. When stumbling upon such errors it is helpful to say something like “Do you see how
I’m having trouble reading this part?” or “See how that is confusing when I read it out loud?” The next
step is to discuss their answers to those leading questions.
The reason why I would not recommend having them read the paper out loud is because as ESL students,
they may not be confident in their English speaking abilities enough to read out loud. This added pressure
is not conducive to a comfortable tutoring environment. Also, they are more likely to read over the error
without catching it because of their limited knowledge to writing and grammar conventions.
Make sure that both you and the tutee are holding a pen. The reason for this is that as you see something
that needs to be corrected for clarification, you can underline it or circle it. Don’t be afraid to mark up
their papers…with useful notes and information. They are then going to need the pen to fix the mistakes
themselves. They can rewrite the sentence, fix the tense, or add their own notes in the margins.
Other tutoring theories and methods usually emphasize minimal marking. This is what teachers do when
they only write “awkward” or “frag” in the margins, or even when they simply underline a sentence and
put a question mark next to it. This minimal marking may work for native writers that can read over it and
fix it. Yet, it is not fair for non-native writers that can read over it and maybe see the mistake but not be
able to correct it, which is why they come to us for help.
It is also helpful to have a dictionary or thesaurus nearby. This might help with vocabulary and word
choice issues. If we teach them how to look up words and what the difference between a dictionary and
thesaurus is, then they will be able to look them up on their own in the future.
When the problem is grammatical, then the best thing to do is to be as specific as possible. If it is a noun,
verb, punctuation or tense issue it is vital that we tell them that. That way they will have a clue as to what
the problem is and what they need to do in order to fix it.
As soon as we move away from the idea that proofreading as a priority is taboo, then we will be able to
better serve all our students, not just a select group.
Works Cited
North, Stephen. "The Idea of the Writing Center." The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing
Tutors. Ed. Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 32-
46. Print.
Myers, Sharon. "Reassessing The ‘Proofreading Trap’: ESL Tutoring and Writing
Instruction." The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. Ed. Christina Murphy and Steve
Sherwood. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.219-236. Print.
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