Silence in the Writing Center

1. Silence Silence in the Writing Center Shirley Shue, University of Michigan Writing 300: Christine Modey

2. Silence is the Other Half Silence is… • …a word. • …a part of speech. • …a sound. • …a thought. “Noticing silences, things that are not present, is more difficult than noticing things that are present, but is equally important.”-Barbara Johnstone, Discourse Analysis

3. Agenda Proposal/Thesis Definitions/Implications of Silence 1. Physical environment 2. One person 3. Both people How to Contextualize Silence Comments or Suggestions

4. What did you say? • How do you give readerly responses? • How do you collaborate with tutee? • How do you ask open ended questions? • What should you say before the tutee leaves the session?

5. Writing Process Requires Silence Pre-Writing: Brainstorming and generating new ideas Writing Post-Writing: Revisions, organization, grammar Create environment for people to feel comfortable coming in at any part of writing process

6. Silence. Instead of feeling uncomfortable during an awkward silence, tutors should learn to contextualize silence in a way that makes the time productive and meaningful for the student.

7. 1. Silence in the room Physical environment in which tutorial is taking place

8. Physical Environment 92% of writing tutors surveyed had a problem with their university writing center’s small space and close proximity of tutoring stations (Veronica Oliver, University of Wisconsin) Distractions and loud conversations hinder quality of tutoring session Private room or crowded room?

9. students who struggle with a language barrier “have greater difficulty in a learning environment where listening is complicated by other acoustic stimuli” (Carroll 70) Difficulty of Noise For the Tutee, especially ESL Students

10. Hinders ability to give best help to tutee Difficulty of Noise For the Writing Tutor

11. Silence in the Room • For both the tutor and tutee, silence in the room would help create a more productive atmosphere that fosters a place for both people to focus solely on the student’s writing.

12. 2. Silence from one person in tutorial Silence in Tutee or Tutor

13. Common Misconceptions • Silence is form of inferiority • Controlling silence is a form of power • The more talking there is, the better the tutorial will be Consider this: Perception of inferiority created by silence is not always accurate

14. Common Misconceptions • Silence suggests the tutoring session is not collaborative • Silence in TUTOR: • Tutor being too non-directive • Silence in TUTEE: • Tutor being too directive Consider this: Silence should not be the factor determining where the tutor falls on a spectrum from non-directive to directive tutoring

15. Common Misconceptions • Silence implies apathetic attitude towards writing Consider this: Being silent does not need to correlate with apathy—rather, it could be indicative of introverted personality, cultural differences, and more.

16. “solitude matters and for some people it is the air that they breathe” -Susan Cain Truth: Silence One-half to one-third of the world’s population are introverts, many of whom are successful leaders and inventors today.

17. Truth: Silence There is zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas

18. 3. Silence between both tutor and tutee Battling the Awkward Silence

19. Cricket, Cricket… • Most resisted form of communication at writing center • Goes against traditional teaching and tutoring pedagogies • Seems contradictory that something can be achieved in silence

20. “It was often helpful for [tutors] to remain silent and let students take control of and determine the next course of action for themselves.”-Becky Ropers-Huilman

21. Writing Process Requires Silence Pre-Writing: Brainstorming and generating new ideas Writing Post-Writing: Learning new grammar rule Create environment for people to feel comfortable coming in at any part of writing process

22. Contextualize silence so that tutee knows exactly what to do during silence • Use silence as opportunity for student to think through problem to a solution • Give student something to work on during silence • Ask open-ended questions to make student think and allow time for silence Making Silence Productive Using your words to set the context

23. “interpretation of the meaning of the silence draws clues from other nonverbal behavior: body movement, vocalics before and after, eye gaze” -Marjory Boudreaux Making Silence Productive Using Non-Verbal Cues

24. Greeting/Introduction important for setting tone of session • Set clear expectations • Friendly rapport • Students expect certain responses from tutors • Create environment where student feels comfortable sitting in silence to do something Making Silence Productive Creating a friendly, open, honest environment

25. Silence Important for students to become truly reflective thinkers in the whole writing process