Same Bed, Different Dreams: The Mismatched Expectations about Proofreading in the Writing Center (English Edition)

No proofreading is one of the major policies of the university writing center. The no proofreading policy is oriented from the process-oriented writing instruction that is represented with the non-directive, student-centered approach. However, for L2 (second or foreign language) students who are not familiar with the process-oriented instruction due to different social and educational backgrounds and seek immediate help to improve their writing, the university writing center does not provide the needed help to improve the L2 students’ writing. For them, the Center’s instructional policy is not just ineffective but also incomprehensible as well. In this regard, the discrepancy of L2 students’ expectations about the work of the writing tutorial and the instructional philosophy of the university writing center becomes a major obstacle of the work of the writing tutorial with L2 writers. Thus, this study investigates how L2 writers experience the writing instruction of the Center and what happens in their first encounter with the work of the tutorial. By examining their talk in the writing tutorial and their experience of writing instruction in the Writing Center, this study aims to show how their different expectations of the writing instruction are played out and shaped for the work of the writing tutorial.