An ESL specialist in a composition writing center: Is experience the same as expertise?

Abstract

Writing centers across the U.S. have experienced an influx of writers who speak English as a second language (ESL) over the last three decades, which has led to the hiring of ESL specialists as writing center tutors. Some ESL specialist have derived their specialist status from career-long experience tutoring ESL writers, not necessary from any direct training in second language acquisition or ESL teaching. This study examines the attitudes, sympathies, and practices of an ESL specialist with 30 years of tutoring experience to determine how her self-reported approach differed when working with native and non-native English writers. Her insights were subjected to discourse analysis, and results demonstrated that while her attitudes and sympathies showed deference to ESL writers, her self-reported practices were nearly identical for both groups and favored traditional writing center practices rather than recommended ESL practices. Insights from this specific case suggest that ESL tutoring experience is unlikely to be a sufficient proxy for specialized ESL training and expertise.