Multilingual Tutoring: Best Practices

Whether you’re a non-native speaker of English or a native speaker, you’ll have writers whose first languages are not your own. Highline’s Writing Center is committed to creating a welcoming environment for writers regardless of their language skill, so it’s important for you to develop skills to facilitate sessions with writers across languages and cultures.

Cross-Language and Multicultural Tips

Nothing is a secret. Honesty and kindness are two of the values our writing center principles are based on. With that in mind, tell the writer exactly what you are doing in the session. Walk them through the process.
Remember to warm up the session—greet the writer and ask about their day. Showing that you care and are interested in the writer can help them feel more comfortable. Gauge the writer’s comfort level, be aware of facial expression, body language, and other nonverbal cues.
Not everyone is comfortable speaking openly right away, and cultural expectations can vary from having “small talk” be essential to having it seem intrusive.
Not everyone is comfortable sitting close, while sitting directly across the table is generally too distant and even authoritarian.
Pause and be silent. Say something like “take your time” if the moment seems awkward. This gives the writer time to process/translate what you’ve said, think, and respond. This especially is important with those who like writer to do the talking.
Remember that cultural references from United States culture may not be familiar to the writer, especially idioms and pop culture references—share what you know as a cross-cultural interpreter.
Examples from the tutor’s personal experience may also be unfamiliar to a writer from a different culture. Watch for signs of confusion and consider giving another, possibly more universal example.
Avoid just repeating yourself when the writer doesn’t understand. Vary your wording and strategies (see below). Also, avoid explaining things that writers already seem to know.
Help the writer to learn via visual examples—draw charts, diagrams, or pictures or even act things out to explain ideas or writing strategies (for example, a chart to compare two lists of details).
Be conscious of your speaking habits. If you tend to speak quickly, slow down even more than you think you need to. Also be conscious of your “filler words” like you know, so, I mean, actually, basically, well, and like. Keep them to a minimum, as they can get confusing.

Common Error Patterns for Multilingual Learners

The following information was provided by the Missouri State University English Language Institute.

Type of issue	Possible reason for difference	How to help the student
Organization	Difference in cultural thought patterns	Outlines, Venn Diagrams, Visual Organizers, Charts, Graphs
Essay lacks focus	Difference in cultural thought patterns; possible misunderstanding of task, possibly due to difference in language or cultural knowledge	If you suspect misunderstanding, explain the task further and ask the student to explain the task to you in his/her own words
Plagiarism	Differences in cultural views of plagiarism	Explanation of the rules of plagiarism on campus
Misuse or lack of citations	Student may not understand the purpose and/or method of citation; they possibly have never done a research paper	Explanation of why sources are cited (requirements of American academic system) and basic rules or formulas, then practce
Trouble finding sources for a research paper	Possibly have never done a research paper before; may be overwhelmed by trying to find information they can understand	Support the student to the best of your ability; refer student to reference librarians on main floor of library
Lack of ending punctuation in sentences	In some country, periods aren’t used until the end of a paragraph	Explain requirements for English writing and help them address the pattern
Spelling	May be transferring spelling patterns from their home language or adapting to English alphabet	Review spellcheck use with student; it can work, but with caution.
Formatting	Every country has a different style	Education regarding the particular format requirements for this paper

The Differences in Characteristics of Good Academic Writing between the Western Academic World and Other Cultures/Languages

It’s extremely important to emphasize to the writer you’re working with that the U.S. way of writing is no better or worse than any other type. It’s the style that they’ll be expected to use at an American school, and that style has certain expectations, just like the English language.

Characteristics of Effective Writing in English for an American Audience	Examples of some contrasting characteristics in other cultures/languages
Concise language; direct, to the point; written to inform or to persuade	Writing is viewed as a way of engaging the emotions through beautiful language
Non-repetitive; straight to the point of the essay	Focus on the language’s richness or the ability to repeat ideas in a variety of ways; digression is seen as a way of linking the subject under discussion to other issues to show a wider range of knowledge
Responsibility on the writer to supply the reader with a concise thesis statement	No direct statement of main idea(s), with readers expected to infer the writer’s main point
Transitions necessary	Explicit signals are not necessary; the writer show respect for the reader’s intelligence to make inferences
Factual; specific	Information may be expected to be highly philosophical
Modern scholarship/research	Traditional wisdom and authority are used to support arguments
Start the essay in general terms and move into specific terms	Heavy use of inductive reasoning (movement from the specific to general)
Subject matter propels essay	Emphasis on traditional wisdom and shared cultural knowledge

Options for When and Why to Use Languages Other than English

To create a relaxed, open learning environment
- Greet a regular writer whom you know enjoys warming up their visit with a little friendly interaction in their native language.
- For some warm-up talk, after greeting a new writer in English, find out what their native language is, and then share that you also speak that language or that another writer in the center who happens to be available speaks that language. If you share the same native language or speak the writer’s native language, ask if they’d like to use it in this session or not.
To discuss complicated concepts or unfamiliar cultural references
- Plan the session and/or help the writer plan their project steps in their native language.
- Discuss and clarify assignment guidelines in the native language to help the writer understand more of the subtleties.
- Discuss articles or other texts that the writer needs to incorporate into their writing.
- Brainstorm for ideas in prewriting/preparing to draft
- Clarify ideas, information, vocabulary, or phrasing when English isn’t sufficing
To facilitate the session while switching between languages
- When speaking a language other than English but taking session notes for the writer’s benefit (our “purple sheet”), rather than the tutor translating the ideas into English, you might shift to English to engage the writer in discussing what the notes should say.
- When co-tutoring in a multilingual session, translating/summarizing to the other tutor can actually result in a learning opportunity for the NNES writer. Summarizing is usually best because detailed translating is time consuming.
- After having a productive discussion of the writer’s topic in a language other than English, say something like, “Okay, now let’s shift into English and see how you might express these ideas in English.

Ideas for Further Exploration

What if the person’s thoughts are much more complex than their English language skills allow for?
What if you are working with someone whose language is completely unknown to you?
What are some tips for being most effective?