The Writer's Resource Lab (WRL) is CSULB's writing tutorial center. Its central mission is to provide ongoing writing instruction to any currently enrolled CSULB student via individualized tutorials. As an integral part of across-the-curriculum writing instruction on this campus, the WRL exists to help students become more effective and independent writers.
The WRL's philosophy is that the act of writing effectively is a process (i.e., a recursive act of thinking, drafting, revising, rewriting, and editing). Using this concept as a foundation, the WRL tutors help student writers improve their skills by teaching them strategies that take them through each phase of the writing process. A tutor might help a student develop proficiency in a broad range of areas, including selecting a topic, generating ideas, developing/revising working drafts, dealing with issues of style, and acquiring proofreading/editing skills. WRL staff do not, however, dictate content, co-author students' papers, edit, proofread, or predict what sort of grade an assignment might earn.
Thus, the WRL is not a “fix-it” or grammar skills shop nor is it primarily a “remedial” program. A large part of the WRL’s mission is to provide individualized learning opportunities as CSULB students continue to develop as writers while progressing through their academic careers. Often, the WRL is the only writing instruction available to students after they have completed the required three units in written English.
The Writer's Resource Lab offers the following services to any currently enrolled CSULB student:
Tutors in the Writer's Resource Lab are CSULB undergraduate and graduate students interested in helping others become better writers. Most are preparing for careers teaching writing at the high school, community college, or university level, and some are tutoring and teaching writing simultaneously. All of our tutors are required to participate in ongoing training so that they are aware of current issues in tutoring and composition theory and can therefore further develop their teaching skills.
The goal of the WRL is to help students become more effective, self-sufficient writers. For this to happen, the students must do the work. Just like faculty in the classroom, WRL tutors work very hard to provide guided learning opportunities for students--without doing everything for them. Although each session is unique and adapted to the student’s needs and his or her writing context, the following is a general overview of what typically takes place in a Writer’s Resource Lab tutoring session:
Once a focus for the session has been agreed upon, either the tutor or the student
Tutors in the Writer’s Resource Lab do not do the following:
The role of grammar and grammar instruction frequently comes up when discussing the teaching of writing, especially when talking about writing centers and tutoring techniques. In fact, many students (and some instructors) are surprised when they find out the purpose of the WRL is not simply to correct the grammar in student essays and/or dispense various drill exercises in an effort to “remediate deficiencies.”
Although correct grammar does not automatically ensure effective writing, proofreading and editing are important phases of the writing process and are valuable skills for students to develop. Therefore, while tutors in the WRL are able and willing to teach students proofreading/editing skills as well as specific grammatical concepts, they will always 1) strongly advise the student to focus on “global” issues (thesis, structure, logical flow, relevance to the assignment, development, etc.) first, before concentrating on surface errors, and 2) teach grammar and mechanics in the context of the student’s own writing, encouraging him or her to take full responsibility for the text. The goal is to help students acquire the skills to find and correct their own mistakes.
Please inform your students about the Writer's Resource Lab early each semester. We also appreciate the opportunity to send a tutor to your class to discuss the services the WRL offers. And feel free to recommend or require individual students enrolled in your courses to use the WRL services. When doing so, there are a few things you can do to help us help your students:
Although there’s nothing wrong with strongly recommending or requiring individual students to seek help at the WRL, two problems do arise with the practice of requiring sessions for every student enrolled in a course:
Don’t misunderstand: you are welcome to recommend or require those individual students you feel could benefit from one-on-one assistance to come to the WRL. However, for reasons already discussed, it is not really a good idea to make every student in every course attend several unfocused, mandatory sessions.
During the first two weeks of classes, the WRL is open primarily to allow students and faculty to become acquainted with our program. Please feel free to stop by, and encourage your students to do so. If you would like to arrange to have a representative of the WRL give a short presentation to your class concerning our program (the first few weeks of the semester is best), please contact the WRL Coordinator at the number below.
Appointments: Students may make tutoring appointments up to two weeks in advance by calling the WRL at (562) 985-4329, or by coming to LAB-212 during the hours we are open. The WRL is open Monday through Friday, and evening hours are usually available one or two nights a week. Please call the WRL, stop by LAB-212, or access our Homepage during the first week of classes (and thereafter) for the semester’s exact hours.
Drop-In Sessions: Each week, we offer a number of “drop-in” hours where no appointment is necessary. Since the drop-in tutor may be working with a number of students simultaneously, these sessions are most appropriate when a student just wants a short consultation (10-15 minutes).
If you have any questions about The Writer's Resource Lab or would like a tutor to speak to your students about its services, please do not hesitate to call Gary Griswold, Writer's Resource Lab Coordinator, Department of English, (562) 985-4234, MHB 409. Email: griswold@csulb.edu.
