Not just a writing tutor..

After reading Chapter 2 in The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors entitled "Inside The Tutoring Session", I got to thinking about the importance of a writing tutor. At first while reading the chapter I thought about the basic purpose of a writing tutor: to help a writer with his or her writing. Sounds simple enough.

But as I kept reading I thought more about what a writing tutor does that is not as concrete as correcting someone's paper. In Chapter 2 there is a mock conversation between a frazzled writer and a well-trained tutor. The writer comes into the the Writing Center unsure of his assignment and confused as to how he should approach the essay. The tutor does something known as "active listening" which I found to be quite interesting. She uses phrases like, "What I'm hearing you say is...," "I can hear that...", and other types of feedback that show the writer that she is truly listening to his concerns. In addition to these remarks, the book mentions how she uses body language as a way of showing "friendliness and approval".

The reason this part of the Chapter grasped my attention is because I realized that the role of the writing tutor is not just one of mechanical value where they are presented a problem and in turn fix it. Instead, they are meant to be there as a sense of comfort and understanding. Most of the time tutors are confronted with worried writers who have nowhere to begin and have to find a way to calm them down. By being an active listener, using reassuring body language, and helping them work through the problem, it makes the whole process of writing move more smoothly.