Location

Mitchell Hall
675 South Church St.
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383

Schedule

9:00 - 9:30 am  Registration (Mitchell Hall Lobby)

9:30 - 10:30 am Plenary Session (Room 102)

10:30 - noon  Concurrent Workshops

• A1: Respecting World Englishes (Room 104)
  
• B1: Working with TOEFL-Trained Writers (Room 105)
  
• C1: Promoting Self-Direction for ELLs (Room 107)
  

noon - 2:00 pm Brown bag lunch and hosted conversations (Lobby)

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Concurrent Workshops

• A2: Respecting World Englishes (Room 104)
  
• B2: Working with TOEFL-Trained Writers (Room 105)
  
• C2: Promoting Self-Direction for ELLs (Room 107)
  

3:30 - 4:30 pm Harvesting Conversations (Room 102)

About Hosted Conversations at Lunch Time
Please consider bringing information to share from your own center! From 1:00 - 1:45 pm, participants will be able to host or attend conversations in the roles of host, participant, bee, or butterfly. Hosts name the topic and lead the conversation. Participants stay with one host to explore a topic. Bees move between groups and cross-pollinate discussions. Butterflies move from session to session, primarily as listeners. Hosts will organize note taking using a graphic organizer (provided) and bring back a "harvest" of highlights from their sessions at 3:30 pm.

Workshop Descriptions

Workshop A: Respecting World Englishes
Charity Alinda, International Programs Coordinator at West Chester University, joins Uchechukwa Ikeaba, Lesmes Mora Jerez, Gloria Wafula, Ifeoma Chikelu, and Vi Nguyen, all international students at West Chester University, to host a discussion on world Englishes. The "yes or no" question found on many writing center registration forms, "is your first language English?" is vexing for multilingual English speakers. You will learn more about the culture and history of anglophone countries around the world, and panelists will share the difference between being a multilingual English speaker and being an English language learner.

Workshop B: Working with TOEFL-Trained Writers
Alyssa Vuono and Jingru Du, both Master’s student in TESOL at West Chester University, have complementary experience. Alyssa taught TOEFL prep in China, and Jingru prepped for TOEFL after moving to the U.S. from China. You will learn about the structured format for TOEFL study in China, and the expectations that Chinese students have about academic writing. Jingru and Alyssa will help dispel some common myths about Chinese students’ preparation for writing “research papers.”

Workshop C: Promoting Self-Direction for ELLs
Dr. Innhwa Park, faculty in the TESOL Master’s program at West Chester University, will discuss how to promote second language writers’ self-directedness during writing tutoring. You will learn how to approach various writing concerns related to content, language, and cultural differences, and consider the best practices for different situations.