MISCOMMUNICATION BETWEEN ESL WRITERS AND WRITING CENTER CONSULTANTS: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the co-construction of miscommunication during a single writing center consultation involving a native English speaking writing center consultant and a native Hebrew speaking college student. Using a multi-layered qualitative analysis of video and interview data, the paper discusses three moments where cultural expectations and semantic, paralinguistic, and non-verbal factors combined in complex and unpredictable ways to produce miscommunication events. The paper concludes with recommendations for training writing center consultants to work more effectively with ESL writers.