May I have This Dance

Tutors use politeness strategies to move in and out of the various “roles” they take on during the session.

• Research shows that:

• Tutors use politeness strategies to move in and out of the various “roles” they take on during the session.
• Positive = peer role (egalitarian)
• Negative = tutor role (position of power)

In follow-up sessions, there is a distinct change in rapport between tutor and student.

• Research shows that

• In follow-up sessions, there is a distinct change in rapport between tutor and student.
• Increase in we and laughter = positive politeness
• Fewer modals, hedges and minimizers = less negative politeness

Complicates the way we view the role of tutor.

• Politeness:

• Complicates the way we view the role of tutor.
• Opens up a space for dialogue about the conversations that occur in learning centers.
• Can shape tutor training

Bell, Diana and Madeleine Youmans. “Politeness and Praise: Rhetorical Issues in ELL Writing Center Conferences.” The Writing Center Journal 26.2 (Fall 2006).

• Resources

• Bell, Diana and Madeleine Youmans. “Politeness and Praise: Rhetorical Issues in ELL Writing Center Conferences.” The Writing Center Journal 26.2 (Fall 2006).
• Brown, Penelope and Stephen Levinson. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
• Coagie, Jane. “Peer Tutoring: Keeping the Contradiction Productive.” The Politics of Writing Centers. Ed. Jane Nelson and Kathy Evertz. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 2001. 37-49.
• Eelen, Gino. A Critique of Politeness Theories. Manchester: St. Jerome, 2000.
• Gillam, Alice M. “Collaborative Learning Theory and Peer Tutoring Practice.” Intersections: Theory and Practice in the Writing Center. Ed. Joan Mullins and Ray Wallace. Urbana: NCTE, 1994. 39-53.
• Gillespie, Paula and Neal Learner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. 2nd edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004.
• Goffman, Erving Interaction Ritual. New York: Pantheon, 1967.
• ---. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.” New York: Doubleday, 1959.