Nakatake Maiko

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the operational efforts and outcomes of a writing center by comparing the data collected in the first two years of launch of the Academic Writing Center (AWC). In the start-up period, the AWC made efforts to encourage as many students in various disciplines as possible to use the AWC and promote students’ repeated use of the AWC in the writing process. Our efforts achieved some positive results in the following aspects: the number of students using the AWC from each department, the pre-submission rate of manuscripts, students’ use of the AWC in the writing process, and users’ satisfaction.

本稿は、青山学院大学青山キャンパスに新設されたアカデミックライティングセンター（青山AWC）における実践を事例として取り上げ、その利用のされ方の特徴を描き出すことを通して、立ち上げから1年間のライティングセンター運営上の現状と課題について考察することを目的とした。分析には、青山AWCにおける個別相談の後、チューターが記録し蓄積している「支援履歴」を用いた。本稿の結論として、青山AWCの現状は、国内他大学ライティングセンターと比較しても、順調な立ち上げ期を経ていることがわかった。一方で課題は、利用促進のための授業担当教員・他部署との連携、利用者のニーズに対する相談対応枠数の配分にあることが明らかとなった。

Little research has reported on how EFL students revise their subsequent drafts after writing center tutorials. The purpose of this study is to investigate (1) how Japanese EFL students use what they learned through tutorial sessions in revising their drafts and (2) the reasons for their use of what they learned through sessions. Data include transcripts of eight audio- and video-recorded tutorial sessions, students' first and subsequent revised drafts, and transcripts of retrospective interviews with the students. Results showed that the students mostly incorporated what was discussed during the sessions but also made revisions that were not discussed in the sessions. Through retrospective interviews with the students, it was suggested that even though students made revisions that were not discussed during the sessions, such self-initiated revisions were sometimes stimulated by tutorial discussions in other parts of their papers. The findings of this study suggest that writing center tutorials can encourage students to be more conscious of readers as well as the problematic points in their texts and also to discover how to improve their texts effectively by themselves, which can help to foster autonomous writers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between tutor feedback offered in writing center tutorials and students' revisions made after tutorial sessions in a Japanese EFL writing center. This paper also attempts to identify the features of tutor feedback that led to students' revisions. The participants in this study are 12 graduate tutors and 20 Japanese university students in a mandatory first-year scientific English academic writing course during the summer and winter semesters of 2011 and 2012. The data for analysis consist of transcripts of 22 audio- and video-recorded tutorial sessions, students' first and the subsequent drafts, and transcripts of interviews with tutors and students. Results showed that most of the revisions reflected tutor feedback and the students followed both direct and indirect feedback in a high ratio. A close examination of indirect feedback that led to students' revisions revealed two salient features: suggestions and negotiations. These features can allow tutors to organize student-centered tutorials and help students understand what and how to revise and why revisions are necessary, which can encourage them to discover how to improve their texts more effectively by themselves.