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?”