Writers, writers everywhere, but no writing center: The first year of the Masaryk University Writing Lab

LENNON, Joseph. Writers, writers everywhere, but no writing center: The first year of the Masaryk University Writing Lab. In Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW 2021). 2021.

Basic information

• Original name: Writers, writers everywhere, but no writing center: The first year of the Masaryk University Writing Lab
• Authors: LENNON, Joseph.
• Edition: Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW 2021), 2021.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 50300 5.3 Education
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Organization unit: Language Centre
• Keywords in English: academic writing; writing centers in Central Europe; academic literacy support

Abstract

Over the last year, my colleagues and I have taken the first steps in establishing an English Writing Lab at the Masaryk University Language Centre in Brno, Czech Republic. We hope that the Writing Lab will serve the same vital function as writing centers in the US and UK – as an active resource for students, offering one-on-one consultations, writer’s groups, online seminars, and a curated library of self-access advice. We hope that eventually the Writing Lab will be the university focal point for larger, interdisciplinary discussions about good practice in writing pedagogy. However, getting started hasn’t been easy. There are only a few other small writing centers in the country, so there are no ready-made templates for how to adapt the model to a large Czech university. Our students and faculty (except some who have studied abroad) are unfamiliar with how a writing consultation works, or how a writing center can help under-served students (especially graduate students, many of whom are expected to publish in English even though they’ve never been given any training in writing). In my presentation, I will offer insights from the first year of the Writing Lab’s existence – what we’ve done so far, how we have tried to adapt and familiarize writing center work to a Central European context, and where we’ve encountered the most help and the most resistance. I’ll share data from our exit surveys about who has come to the Lab, what we’ve done in the consultations, and how the students perceived the experience. And I’ll share what we’ve discovered from a university-wide analysis of writers’ needs. I hope to inspire teachers interested in establishing a writing center at their school, but I will also advocate for, and give practical advice on, adapting collaborative elements of the writing center experience into the classroom.