Blog 18

Because I had to change my topic, I had to gather different sources. The sources I found so far are as follows.

http://library.kean.edu:2058/stable/pdfplus/359076.pdf?acceptTC=true

Revealing Silence: Rethinking Personal WritingAuthor(s): Anne Ruggles GereSource: College Composition and Communication, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Dec., 2001), pp. 203-223Published by: National Council of Teachers of EnglishStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/359076

http://library.kean.edu:2058/stable/pdfplus/358625.pdf

Silence: Reflection, Literacy, Learning, and TeachingAuthor(s): Pat BelanoffSource: College Composition and Communication, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Feb., 2001), pp. 399-428Published by: National Council of Teachers of EnglishStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/358625Accessed: 29/11/2010 23:06

Jacobs, Suzanne, and Adela Karliner. "Helping Writers to Think: The Effect of Speech Roles in Individual Conferences on the Quality of Thought in Student Writing." College English 38 (1977): 489-505.

Bruffee, Kenneth A. "Peer Tutoring and the 'Conversation of Mankind.'" Writing Centers: Theory and Administration. Ed. Gary A. Olson. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1984. 3-15

Catterall, James S.(2005). Conversation and Silence: Transfer of Learning Through the Arts. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 1(1). Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6fk8t8xp

http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/online/benfield1.pdf

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What I’m going to do…

In the sample paper, they talked about they talked about the different relationships and the different uses silence and say what it shows about different styles of using .

Do my middle data analysis at this point. Analyze and pick out h and sort of see the terms that I will look for in each. Identify kids of silences. Pauses, waiting, breathe.

Authority within the Silence of Tutoring Sessions

There are a variety of factors that influence who has authority in a tutoring session. This research will focus on the role that silence plays in a writer’s learning process and how it is related to authority. Although many writing centers are based on theories of social constructivism, it is also important to understand that silence plays a significant role a writer’s ability to reflect and revise and construct ideas. This study focuses on authority over the writing session in terms of conversation and silence.

Paragraph on Conversation

Section on Silence:

In an academic setting, silence was viewed as an issue. It had negative connotations attached. Yet researchers have been trying to change the stigmas attached with silence. According to researcher Anne Rugges, “instead of seeing silence as speech's opposite, we can conceive of it as a part of speech, located on a continuum that puts one in dialogue with the other”.

This session took place on a Thursday at noon. There are two distinct differences between the student and tutor. These differences are age and race. The student is African American and the tutor is Caucasian. The student is also in her early twenties, while the tutor is in her late forties or possibly early 50’s. What is clear from this observation is that the tutor was the one who took control over the session. The tutor did most of the talking while the student listened and wrote and answered the questions that the tutor asked. The student’s answers were short while the tutor continued to elaborate on the topic. It seemed as though the tutor may not have allowed the student enough time to write in silence.

During this session, the student brought in an analysis paper for her English 1030 course. Throughout the session, the tutor and the student were the only people seated at the hexagonal shaped table. The writing center was quiet. She was the only student present. There was however another tutor was present in the center, along with me (the graduate assistant) and a receptionist.

During the session, the tutor continued to talk and asked a series of close ended questions. The tutor asked these questions without leaving the student a chance to answer each one. She asked one after another to possibly create a point. She spoke fast. While they spoke they were both sitting eye level of each other. Based on this portion of the observations, it shows that that tutor asked more close ended questions that open ended questions. This allowed the student to answer briefly.

Here is an example of what was said .Please keep in mind that “Coach M” stands for tutor and “Student Z” indicates student.

Student Z holding her pen in her hand with two hands. She looks down and slightly slouches. There is a space between them. A chair can fit in the middle. Coach M has her pen tracing along the paper while she reads and the student the pen in her right hand.

Coach M: what else do you want to tell me?

Student Z: has a very soft voice and Coach M speaks kind of loud but not yelling- just speaking directly to the student.

Coach M: don’t’ worry about punctuation or grammar. We are free writing, tell me everything really quickly .

Student Z speaks so softly that I can’t hear her.

As they talk about the paper, Coach M says okay what else? Coach M twirls the pen in her hand. The student continues to talk about her paper and is speaking too softly for me to hear. Meanwhile, Coach M leans forward whenever Student Z speaks.

Coach M:s okay what does that mean?

Student Z talks.

Coach M: Why don’t you write that down? It is important. How big is it? It must be expensive. You want to tell me that. What is it? It is bigger than my house. Do I have room for this . Do I have to move out? How do I Do it? Okay so you want to tell me…

Coach M: : I’m sure you want to tell me. It has lots of wires and someone who knows how to do it as well.

The tutor directed the student in what she should do for the paper. Therefore the student was listening for most of the time instead of talking. However, the student was able to get writing done. She even read out loud but did not talk as much as the tutor did.

It appeared that Coach M was focusing on some high order concerns however she seemed to be teaching instead of actually allowing the student to negotiate her choices or explain what she wanted to do with her paper. The student needed to work on her thesis and organization of the ideas. It was clear that the tutor was trying to get the student to elaborate on those points but it seemed as though the tutor was telling the student what to do. It can be the differences in age that may impact the tutoring session. The section of the essay was analyzed according to the following categories: Conversation and Periods of Silence.

Conversation

Based on the observations, the student did not speak as much as the coach did. The coach asked a combination of open and closed ended questions consecutively which may not have given enough time for the student to process them. The student often answered in short sentences and the tutor spoke longer in longer more direct statements.

Periods of Silence

It seemed as though silence came from the student and not the tutor. Since the tutor was talking most of the time, it appeared as though the student was not given enough chances to talk. It also seemed as if the tutor was rushing the student because she spoke quickly and even during times when the student was going to write, the tutor continued to speak. Though it seemed that that tutor was talkative, the tutor may have felt that she was just encouraging the student.

· Cause and effect Analysis

In terms of conversation, the tutor asked many questions, both open ended and closed ended. Although she may have been attempting to clarify the focus of the paper, she may not have given enough time for the student to process the questions because they were consecutive and the tutor spoke in a faster speed as she asked the questions

In regards to periods of silence, it seemed that because the tutor was talkative throughout the entire session, the student remained quiet and listened most of the time. Also because the tutor spoke even during times when the student was writing, it appeared as though the student was not given a chance to think in a quiet environment.

Based on my analysis, the factors that influenced who took control of the session include the tone of voice, direct statements and rapid consecutive closed ended questions. Because the tutor spoke louder with direct statements and fast paced open and closed ended questions, the student may have been under the impression that the session was "teacher based". Finally, the last reason why it seems as though the tutor had control of the session was because she spoke during the majority of the session.

Scenario 2

Molly and Alison

1:07 Alice points to a section on her paper and says “maybe I can take this and move it here”

Molly: What do you think? Do you think it should be the last one?

1:08 As Alice works on her paper, Molly is silent. She allows Alice time to reorganize some ideas.

1:10 : Alice points to a section on her paper and Molly looks along. Alice says : Okay, what do you think about this?

Molly: I’m not sure if that is indicating ownership. Is that what you mean?

Alice: Okay, so I guess I don’t need it.

Molly then looks where Alice is pointing. Molly than says “I think you can move it over by the …s..” Molly then remains silent. She allows Alice time to write on her paper.

1:13 Alice then reads her paper out loud. Molly looks along. Molly reads along and as the student pauses, Molly points to the section where the student left off and says “how can we make this present tense?”

Still in process Blog 17

Blog 17: Analyze the notes from Blog 16 using the following approach.

• What Analysis Shows: I'm GOING TO FOCUS ON Periods of SILENCE.

• Summary of Observation

This session took place on a Thursday at noon. There are two distinct differences between the student and tutor. These differences are age and race. The student is African American and the tutor is Caucasian. The student is also in her early twenties, while the tutor is in her late forties or possibly early 50’s. What is clear from this observation is that the tutor was the one who took control over the session. The tutor did most of the talking while the student listened and wrote and answered the questions that the tutor asked. The student’s answers were short while the tutor continued to elaborate on the topic. In addition, in terms of body language, the tutor keeps a pen in her hand and traces in the air above the students sentences without actually underlining the words. After a short period of time, the student started to trace her pen over the sentences without actually underlining the words either. In addition, the student’s voice was much softer than the tutor’s voice.

• Develop detailed descriptions of what took place in the session (actors, actions, contexts + outcomes) = the evidence you will analyze

This observation focused on the interactions between two people. These two people were the student and the tutor. The student is African American and the tutor is Caucasian. The student is also in her early twenties, while the tutor is in her late forties or possibly early 50’s. During this session, the student brought in an analysis paper for her English 1030 course. Throughout the session, the tutor and the student were the only people seated at the hexagonal shaped table. The writing center was quiet. She was the only student present. There was however another tutor was present in the center, along with me (the graduate assistant) and a receptionist.

During the session, the tutor continued to talk and asked a series of close ended questions. The tutor asked these questions without leaving the student a chance to answer each one. She asked one after another to possibly create a point. She spoke fast. While they spoke they were both sitting eye level of each other. During this particular part of the session, the paper is directly in front of the student not J. Based on this portion of the observations, it shows that that tutor asked more close ended questions that open ended questions. This allowed the student to answer briefly.

Here is an example of what was said .Please keep in mind that “Coach M” stands for tutor and “Student Z” indicates student.

Student Z holding her pen in her hand with two hands. She looks down and slightly slouches. There is a space between them. A chair can fit in the middle. Coach M has her pen tracing along the paper while she reads and the student the pen in her right hand.

Coach M: what else do you want to tell me?

Student Z: has a very soft voice and Coach M speaks kind of loud but not yelling- just speaking directly to the student.

Coach M: don’t’ worry about punctuation or grammar. We are free writing, tell me everything really quickly .

Student Z speaks so softly that I can’t hear her.

As they talk about the paper, Coach M says okay what else? Coach M twirls the pen in her hand. The student continues to talk about her paper and is speaking too softly for me to hear. Meanwhile, Coach M leans forward whenever Student Z speaks.

Coach M:s okay what does that mean?

Student Z talks.

Coach M: Why don’t you write that down? It is important. How big is it? It must be expensive. You want to tell me that. What is it? It is bigger than my house. Do I have room for this . Do I have to move out? How do I Do it? Okay so you want to tell me…

Coach M: : I’m sure you want to tell me. It has lots of wires and someone who knows how to do it as well.

The tutor directed the student in what she should do for the paper. Therefore the student was listening for most of the time instead of talking. However, the student was able to get writing done. She even read out loud but did not talk as much as the tutor did.

In addition, throughout the entire session, the tutor kept a pen in her hand and the student constantly touched the paper with the pen and touched her face with the pen as well. She was also touching her cell phone that was located in the pockets of her sweat shirt.

• Interpretation of Analysis

It appeared that Coach M was focusing on some high order concerns however she seemed to be teaching instead of actually allowing the student to negotiate her choices or explain what she wanted to do with her paper. The student needed to work on her thesis and organization of the ideas. It was clear that the tutor was trying to get the student to elaborate on those points but it seemed as though the tutor was telling the student what to do. It can be the differences in age that may impact the tutoring session. The section of the essay was analyzed according to the following categories: Body Language, Conversation, and Tone of voice.

Body Language: Initially, the tutor and student were sitting next to each other. They were both sitting upright and the tutor had a pen in her hand. Later on towards the end of the session, the student was somewhat slouching and tutor was sitting up right. The tutor kept the pen in her hand the whole time and would trace over the student’s sentences with her pen without actually writing on it. While the tutor did this, there were instances in which the student would do the same thing. However when the coach spoke to the student she would put her hands in her pocket and hold her cell phone. Coach M looked directly at the student whenever she spoke to her and the student would look up and then back down at her paper.

In addition, the student slightly slouches. This could indicate that she was not comfortable with her paper or that she may be relaxed. Meanwhile, Coach M would either lean forward or sit upright.

Conversation

Based on the observations, the student did not speak as much as the coach did. The coach asked a combination of open and closed ended questions consecutively which may not have given enough time for the student to process them. The student often answered in short sentences and the tutor spoke longer in longer more direct statements.

Tone of Voice

Coach M spoke in a louder voice than the student. The student was very soft spoken. It was difficult for me to understand what she was saying. This can indicate that the coach was confident in what she was saying but the student may not have been sure of herself. In addition, the tone of voice that the coach used appeared to be a tone that many “teachers” use in a classroom.

· Analyze the relationships within the evidence by identifying + explaining important cause and effect(and other) relationships

Because the tutor leaned forward and the student slouched, this may indicate that the tutor subconsciously showed authority in the session. She also traced over the students paper with her pen which may have given the student the impression that it was like a “teacher centered” setting.

In addition, the student would put her hands her pocket while the coach spoke.

In terms of tone of voice, it appeared that the tutor was more direct and loud. This too may have given the student the impression that the tutor was the expert. This too may indicate why it appeared that the tutor had control over the session. The student was soft spoken and may have been unsure of her writing.

In terms of conversation, the tutor asked many questions, both open ended and closed ended. Although she may have been attempting to clarify the focus of the paper, she may not have given enough time for the student to process the questions because they were consecutive and the tutor spoke in a faster speed as she asked the questions.

• Discuss the relationships between your analysis and your overall point

Based on my analysis, the factors that influenced who took control of the session include the tutor’s age, body language, tone of voice, direct statements and rapid consecutive closed ended questions. It was evident that the tutor displayed authority in the session because of the way she was positioned, with her pen tracing over the students paper as she leaned forward. It showed that the student may not have been confident based on the way she was slouching with her hands in her pocket. Age may have also played a factor in the session. The tutor was much older than the student, which may have given the student the impression that the tutor could have been a teacher. In addition, because the tutor spoke louder with direct statements and fast paced open and closed ended questions, the student may have been under the impression that the session was "teacher based". Finally, the last reason why it seems as though the tutor had control of the session was because she spoke during the majority of the session.

Blog 16

11/11/10 12:00pm

Hey how are you? What’s your name? what do you have to work on?

‘Young student maybe in her twenties (African American)

Tutor is older non traiditional student, older htn 40 caucasian.

Girl said it was analysis,

J mentions thesis statement

Girl reads her paper outline

J says so yo’re saying that is yoru thesis statement.

She smiles and J asks the question, what dos th e theshsis statement sound like

Girl answer.

She is holdering her pen in her hand with two hands. She looks down and slightly slouches. THer eis a space between them. A chair can fit in the middle. J has her pen tracing along the paper while she reas and the girl hwolds the pen in her right hand.

J leans forward but the paepr is facing ht the student.

Jasks so how do you thin this sthesis statement helps the body praragraph and how it will expelian it.

J and student tllooks at each other. J says the thesis statement helsp you and me and the audience understand what the paper is focusing on.You are analyzing and showing me in essay for. So the thesis statement is people make advertisements……(J reads it and says so that is yoru thesis siatement.

Girl points to it.

J says so it is what you are focusing on in the paper. Youre telling me tha t(…………….) J reads the main idea. J says so what do you think the main focus…uhmm in the introduction what you want to say is that you’re kind of viewing this as.. magazine’s billboards and uhm this is kind of like art. It has to be creative so it grabs our attention. What you want to tell me is what you’re going to prove to me about this whole picture. So grab a pen. You’re grying to grab attention and what else do you wnatw to do.

Girl answers questions that J has and J validates it by saying so you did a lil prepwriting here..and J points to it. And she brings the paper towards her.

J says okay so you will say panasaonic is one of the main leading products in the worl.d What else do you want to tell me.

Both of them are reading with their pens. J Girl reads with her hand on her head. J then leans forward.

J tell me what you want to tell me. I’m the main audience. Write down briefly what you think I’m seeing and what you want to tell the audience cuz I don’t’ know.

Sot the girl starts to write she has one hand on the table and the other hand writing with the pen.

12:08

J looks at a picture while reading.

Girl still has her angkle crossed. J has her feet resting underneath her chair but on top of the wheels.

After girl writes J reads it and sais that is good, what else do you want to tell me about it.

Student keeps writing and reads….

J what else do you want to tell me?

Student has a very soft voice and J speaks kind of loud but not yelling just directly and not as soft as thte student.

On thing to keep note is that they are both sitting eye level of each other. And at this point the paper is directly in front of the student not J at all. J said don’t’ worry about pucntaiton or grammar. We are freewriting, tell me everything really quickly .

Student: (can’t reall hear what she is saying) .

As they talk about the paper, J says okay what else. J twrisl the pen in her hand. The girl says, something about what ht apepr is showing her. J leans foraward when girl ahs something to say. J says okay what dos that mean. Girl talks and J says why don’t you write that donw. It is important. J says okay how ti’s big, it must be expeinsive. J says okay so you want to tell me that. .

J says okayw aht is this, ti’s bgger than my house. Do I have room for this tv Do I have to move out? How do I Do it? Okay..so you want to tell me…

I’m sure you want to tell me. It has lots of wires and someone who knows how to do it as well.

12:13 J says hold on, let me get something.

J picks up a paper about how to do an analysis paper. J says I will describe what is going on and how everything fits with everything else…..

H then explains what the assignment sheet says, she reads it outloud. She points to it, both the paper and th assigmment sheet. J relates it to schools and museums.

J says, okay we have to say something about that right? Let’s talk about how that will happen right? It means millions of people will see it ? What will they do with that information? Even if it is not for a small person and honey why don’t we get this tv right? You want to tell me stuff like that. You want to assume.

J tries to explain what the analysis paper is and wha tti’s about. She reads it. The analysis paper is closer to J. the student reads along. J reads while tracing the lines with her pen.

They still make eye contact with each other and the girl talks very softly. J says what a better way to say this?

J said instead of saying “ in order to” you can say, “the best way to” what?

The girl leans forward and write son her paper. It is in the middle. It is not entirely in front of the girl.

J reassures the student and sakss her to read sentences. J then says uhmm and he holds her chin.

12:27

J leans forward and traces sentences with pen. She reads outloud . The girl taouches her mouth with her pen . She then follows where J is trachign her pen. She then holds her pen towards her mouth.

J asks the student t a question and she is quiety, she nods her head and she reads her paper silently she points to the paper with her pen. Both of them point towards the paper. J doesn’t write on the paper, she just points tow here the student has to read. J asks what hwas next. J says what she likes. She says oh wait she wants examples here.

J reads out loud again and the girl write son her paper. J then reads outloud atagn. Whil e J reads the girl moves he pen towards her mouth. J then continues to read again and says “instead of saying, you can say “Panasonic is doing the same thing’. J says right. The girl holds her pen towards her mouth when she is not writing and then J is reading outloud again sentence by sentences and says good. J then crosses something out for the student. She then reads the paepr outloud and the student is quiet.

J says’ I don’t know if you need to put this sentence right here or if you should put it later on. The girls says “well” and I think she reads tries to explain her paper.

And J backs off and continues to another section. J asks the student questions aobut her paper .

While J questions the student she uses hand gestures. Hse also has a coffee or stuarbucks drink on the table. In the center there is one person at the front desk . A student and tutor in the other hexagon table and I am seated near the table by the window while a tutor is at the computer.

12:34 at this point. J stretches her arms open to empahseize what she is saying. The girl is leanring towards the opposite side of the tutor. The tutor learns forward. The girl has her hand on her chiln. She points to her paper with a pen and asks qustiosn. J asnerwrs the question and syays “no” I like this. What else can we say about why they did it” . H leans over to turn the page in the girl’ notebook. The girl then points iwht her pen. J reachers forwards. Student the writes.

J emaphasizes the word “globa” by making the shape of a circle with her arms. J says we’re tyring to say th at we are grabbing attention, what else, one more point. J says okay what about the size of the tv. You’re talking about the first statement, what will you say? In terms of grabbing the whole statement…..

J says why will this grab attention in the middle of the musesam? Is it art?

The girl then nodes her had and says yeah.

J says they are changing the way the people are viewing life in general. J leans roward and reads the girls statement. J asks questions to guide her. The gilr is quiet. She is thinking or it appears she may be confused? Not sure. She is very quiet. Tutor is talking a lot more. Tutor asks questions to get the girl to talk a little more.

Once the girl talks, J says “great, write that down”.

J then says “okay now what else?’ “and then…” “is it something about the future?”.

J says you want to get more creative in your statement. You have to explain to me what you are talking about and how can we say it.

Looks like the gap between them got slglty bigger. The gir has her head on her hand. She holds her pen in the other hand.

12:42 J moves the paper towards the middle and the girl has her hand on her cell phone which is in her sheatshirt pocket. J moves the paper towards the girl but her hand is on it. The girl doesn’t’ have her hand on her paper. She looks down and is quiet as J reads. J says “it’s not color of tv., it’s the picture. What do we call it? High D?

Girl says Hi Def?

J Let’s fix that sentences so it includes …

Now the girl has her hand on her face.

J traces the paper while the girl reads.

The entire time J has her pen treacing the lines of the paper while th e student reads outloud. J may use this to follow along.

When the girl gets to the end of the paper.

J says what does that have to do with the paper?

Student says it has to give an illustration.

J says Okay good.

J says okay that sentence should say in which to view the picture not see the picture.

So J appeared to correct her.

12:50

J said okay you can say in the early days there was no such thing as colored pictures. You can say how far technology is coming…

At this point, student has her hand on her aper and the other hand on the pen.

J says wait hold up. You’re not going to say tv you want to take it out. Okay, there is another way to say this. No, as time when one, what happened? Tv got more???

Right exactly. Yo udon’t want to say evolved immensely…

J says No..over the last…

J says okay so you’re saying……

As J leans forward, the girl leans further away from her. And she let’s J read with the pen.

The girl then reaches forward to right but she appears to pull her hand back again.

J then says good goog good that’s good. Don’t say immensely you can say tremendously. It doesn’t fit to talk about technology. What’s next?

J says okay that is a great line. So here you’re talking about 1920 and here you’re talking about 2010.

J let th gilr read.As the girl read she had her hand on her head.

Then J stops her. We know it’s amazing

J pulled out her pda and had the girl look at the thesaurus. J sais, another word for amazing is striking or….

And the girl read over. The PDA was in J’s hands.

J said “ you don’t start a word with going’..

J says “what do we do..how do we get through…”

Girl provides answer

J Yeah that’s a good answer. ..

J so you said we’re moving . So what’s the word? Transition

Girl make sa comment and the J says, yeah you could reiterate what you said before. That’s good.

12:57 so the girl reads her paper with her hand on her head. She reads outloud but J is tracing the paper with her hand.

Girl: can I just say other person?

J says uhuh

Girl continue sot read her work out loud. She is reading everything. J nods and says right.

Then J stops her and says “why would you assume that?”

J says well there is a lot of ar tin the museum but it’s unknown and I don’t see famous artists in her but that is kind of not…it’s a good sentence but yo have to word it a little better….. Art by many different artists.

Oh sorry ok that’s about all the time we have. So you know what to do? The girl says, this is the same paragraph?

Why is it attracting the most attention? Because it is high def. this is the third you’re saying?

This one for this one.

In the conclusion you need to restate your thesis in the end of it so what you’ve seen..etc…

Student : can I put this ??

J: uh huh, exactly, as long as you haven’t said exactly…the same thing, you’re good.

Ran out of time for session.

Blog 15: (for Tuesday) Drafty version of the introduction to my essay.

Introduction

Students come to writing centers for a variety of reasons. They may need help working on their focus, organization, structure or just want help with grammar. Some students come on their own, while other students are sent to the writing center by a professor. Regardless of the reason why they came to the tutoring center, their sessions are influenced by their perception of the tutor whether it is how the tutor looks and how the tutor communicates with the student, both verbally and nonverbally. This essay specifically focuses on who has control in the tutoring session and how is control influenced and shaped through gender, culture, and body language.

----------------------------------------------------

Research question: Who has control in the session and how is control influenced and shaped through gender and culture?

Problem/issues in WC work that your question will answer/provide new ideas about:

One issue is how can new tutors learn about the impact of body language in a tutoring session, such as sitting eye level ? Does it really make a difference ?
Leaning forward or leaning back, does it show who has more control over a tutoring session?

What type of patterns to do I see in effective tutoring sessions? Does mirroring a student’s body language subconsciously invite the student to write more during a session?

What types of body language is common when tutors control of a session?


Importance/relevance of your research to WC work: How will these observations impact tutor training in the writing center?

How can these observations be used in order for tutors to reflect/ or become more aware of their own body language in sessions?



List of the kind of data you will need to study this problem/answer your research question:
I will need more notes, more observations as well as more articles on tutoring and possibly psychology articles on the impact of body language.

Notes

I have notes available. I have tried my best to proofread them and make sense out of them. I type way too much for my own good. I have about 9 double spaced pages for one observation in which I watched two women of different ages and races. The tutor was an older Caucasian female who is in her late 40's or possibly early 50's. The student was an African American female who was in her early 20's. In the session, the tutor did most of the talking. The student was pretty quiet. I focused on what the tutor was saying as well as the body language between the two. Please let me know if you would like me to send you those notes.

Here is a section of my notes.

11/11/10 12:00pm

Hey how are you? What’s your name? what do you have to work on?

‘Young student maybe in her twenties (African American)

Tutor is older non traiditional student, older htn 40 caucasian.

Girl said it was analysis,

J mentions thesis statement

Girl reads her paper outline

J says so yo’re saying that is yoru thesis statement.

She smiles and J asks the question, what dos th e thesis statement sound like

Girl answer.

She is holdering her pen in her hand with two hands. She looks down and slightly slouches. There is a space between them. A chair can fit in the middle. J has her pen tracing along the paper while she reachess and the girl holds the pen in her right hand.

J leans forward but the paepr is facing ht the student.

J asks so how do you think this thesis statement helps the body paragraph and how it will explain it.

J and student llook at each other. J says the thesis statement helps you and me and the audience understand what the paper is focusing on.You are analyzing and showing me in essay for. So the thesis statement is people make advertisements……(J reads it and says so that is your thesis statement.

Girl points to it.

J says so it is what you are focusing on in the paper. You're telling me that(…………….) J reads the main idea. J says so what do you think the main focus…uhmm in the introduction what you want to say is that you’re kind of viewing this as.. magazine’s billboards and uhm this is kind of like art. It has to be creative so it grabs our attention. What you want to tell me is what you’re going to prove to me about this whole picture. So grab a pen. You’re trying to grab attention and what else do you want to do.

Girl answers questions that J has and J validates it by saying so you did a lil prewriting here..and J points to it. And she brings the paper towards her.

Research Plan

Research Plan:

Purpose: Through my research, I hope to discover the relationships between gender/religion and age to authority in tutoring sessions.

Research Question: Who has control in the session and how is control influenced and shaped through gender and culture?

Sub Questions to Consider:
Are there significant age differences between tutor and student? Do the students and tutors talk about religious differences? Can you tell based on their clothing or jewelry? What gender is the tutor and student? Who has control in the session?

Information needed:

To proceed, I think I will need to gather the following information:

Articles that explore ownership in tutoring sessions and focus on the types of body language and types of phrases indicate ownership.

Articles that explore power in sessions .

Articles that explain characteristics of passive students vs passive tutors in tutoring sessions.

Articles that focus on gender and body language.

Articles that focus on the differences between teaching and tutoring.


From the observing the writing sessions, I will need to note the following information:

What happens in the beginning of the session, for example in the first five minutes of the session, who initiates conversation, who talks more and what types of information do they exchange with one another?

Arm/Hand Gestures

§ Fidgeting

§ Tapping fingers

§ Scratching

§ Hair twirling

§ Shrugging

§ Crossing arms

Eye contact

§ Blank stare at desk

§ Staring at paper

§ Looking up when thinking

§ Looking to the side

§ Tutor and student looking at each other

Facial expression

§ Frowning

§ Smiles

§ Smirk/Half Smile

§ Neither smiling nor frowning

§ Sighs and pauses

§ Hands on hips

§ Crossing arms behind back

Feet movement

§ Tapping

§ Shifting in chair

§ Crossing legs

Head Movement:

§ Nodding

§ Shaking head

Proximity/Posture

§ What is the distance between tutor and student?

§ How are they seated?

§ Slouching

§ Sitting up straight

§ Leaning back

§ Leaning forward

Speed of conversation

§ Do they talk at the same rate?

§ Who talks faster?

§ Who talks slower?

§ Are there instances where the speed changes?

Tone of Voice

§ Yelling

§ Whose voice is louder

§ Soft spoken?

§ Whispers?

§ Tone of voice

Resources

Blalock, Susan. "Negotiating Authority through One-to-One Collaboration in the Multicultural Writing Center." Writing in Multicultural Settings. Ed. Carol Severino, Juan C. Guerra, and Johnnella E. Butler. New York: MLA, 1997. 79-93.

Overview: This book discusses the role of authority in collaborative writing sessions that are based in writing centers which are composed of students from different religions, ethnicities, ages, skill levels, genders and backgrounds. This book is made up of twenty different essays from teachers and professors of English and composition courses.

Use: Because Kean University is a diverse community, this book would be beneficial in helping me identify some of the common issues that multicultural writing centers have in terms of authority and collaborative writing.

Maybe use the sample qualitative essay, three novice tutors forming relationships that they will have with their students. Watch how students form relationships with students. They chose different stances with respect to authority. Related to personality , need and amount of ahturoity taken in the session.

Bruffee, Kenneth A. Collaborative Learning: Higher Education, Interdependence, and the Authority of Knowledge. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1993. Print.

Overview: In this book, Kenneth Bruffee argues that universities and colleges need to understand and accept that collaborative learning is necessary in order for students to succeed and best acquire knowledge throughout their academic careers. Part one’s chapter five and six contain sections that focus on collaboration and peer tutoring.

Use: This book is relative to my study because it focuses on the importance of collaborative learning which is emphasized Kean’s Writing Center. During collaborative learning, both participants are expected to engage in conversation however some coaches may talk more than the student. This may show who has authorship during the writing session.

Carino, Peter. "Power and Authority in Peer Tutoring." The Center Will Hold: Critical Perspectives on Writing Center Scholarship. Ed. Michael A. Pemberton and Joyce Kinkead. Logan: Utah State UP, 2003. 96-113.

Overview: This essay section of the textbook focuses on theoretical pedagogy in regards to authorship, tutoring and the role of collaboration in writing centers.

Use: This essay will provide me with a theories that I can apply to my observation in terms of the body language and authorship during collaborative tutoring sessions.

Jones, Kathleen. "What is Authority's Gender?" Revisioning the Political: Feminist Reconstructions of Traditional Concepts in Western Political Theory. Ed. Nancy Hirschmann and Christine Di Stefano. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996. 75-93.

Overview: This article explores feminist theories on authorship.

Use: This article may help me understand how women are viewed in terms of authority which may explain the dynamics between female tutors and male students and male tutors with female students during tutoring sessions.

Sources I found useful (taken from JenieMarie’s Blog http://jeniemarie.blogspot.com/)

Philippot, Pierre, Ebooks Corporation. "Nonverbal Behavior in Clinical Studies". New York: Oxford University Press. 2003.

Overview:

Examines nonverbal communication during regular clinical sessions, specific clinical conditions, and negative life events.

Use:

Communication of stress to coach (due dates, professor expectations, etc.) and how it effects the session.

Amigone, Grace Ritz. “Writing Lab Tutors: Hidden Messages that

Matter.” 2.2 (1982): 24-30.

Overview:

Examines nonverbal communication during tutorials.

Use:

Comparing with some of the nonverbal communication I observed in the writing center.