Universities across Canada and elsewhere have a longstanding focus on improving students' writing skills, including for the purpose of fostering better learning. In this paper, we present findings from two sources of data--a discursive analysis and student survey--exploring the impact of writing instruction and support in the context of a required…

Non-native English speaking (NNES) students in higher educational settings face difficulties writing academic papers and, in response to these difficulties, often seek assistance in understanding cultural, rhetorical, linguistic aspect of writing in English (Harris & Silva, 1993; Powers & Nelson, 1995). One resource available to them is…

Describes a successful experimental program at West Virginia University which involved using undergraduate English Education majors as tutors in the Writing Laboratory. (DD)

The head of the writing center at Rollins College, in an attempt to develop a metaphor for the writing center turned to peer writing consultants. Their suggested metaphors structure an essay about what a writing center should be: a community of consultants and clients working together, respectful of diversity, originality, tolerant of differences.…