Writing centers' praxis is not neutral but raced: Collaborative ethnography

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapters

Abstract

This chapter begins by questioning the existing practices of writing centre tutoring. Based on the first author's writing centre tutoring experience and some artifacts, such as consultation notes, consultation forms, and feedback on student essays, the authors question whether the writing centre is truly a safe and neutral space for post-secondary writers and whether writing tutoring feedback contains some Eurocentric racial discourses that are complicit and coded in a way that sounds so called objective. Drawing on Lemke's principle of intertextuality, the authors highlight how standardized academic writing expectations have been unconsciously normalized and naturalized in writing centre tutoring discussions, thereby reinforcing the tutor's authority. In the end, we are in the position to look for an alternative, transformative change in the writing centre tutoring practice and a structural shift that can go beyond "remedial writing service provider." Copyright © 2024 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInterrogating race and racism in postsecondary language classrooms
EditorsXiangying HUO, Clayton SMITH
Place of PublicationUnited States
PublisherIGI Global
Pages218-240
ISBN (Electronic)9781668490303
ISBN (Print)9781668490297, 9781668490334
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Citation

Chang, D., Chen, Q., & Lin, A. M. Y. (2024). Writing centers' praxis is not neutral but raced: Collaborative ethnography. In X. Huo, & C. Smith (Eds.), Interrogating race and racism in postsecondary language classrooms (pp. 218-240). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-9029-7.ch010

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