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Audience Awareness In The Writing Center: Guiding Introductory Writing Students With More Directive Comments, Samantha Clem

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Looking at the demographics of the students utilizing the writing center (WC) at a university in the US mountain west, the author questions whether the commenting styles in which WC tutors are trained accurately address the needs of the user population. Data on what courses WC visitors are enrolled in shows that the majority of WC user are introductory English students, with 70% of users being enrolled in one of the two required introductory level English courses (ENGL 1010 or ENGL 2010). Tutor training focuses on facilitative commenting styles, tactics that may not be effective for this given population of …