THE WRITING CENTERS IN JAPAN

February 2021

Unlike the U.S., where writing centers are well established since the 1930s, the writing centers in Japan have only started to develop in 2004 (McKinley 293). While both North America’s and Japan’s writing centers aim to help students to become more efficient and confident writers, very often the latter faces more challenges in achieving that as most of their students are non-native English learners.

However, the increase of international students in America these years has urged the writing centers to change their approach in order to fit the needs of non-native learners, helping them to gain confidence and experience in English academic writing. Here, it is important to note that international students who require assistance from Northen America’s writing centers may not possess the same problems as Japanese learners, as students there may be able to write highly academic work—-it’s just that they may not able to write them in English (Nicholas 18).

As I have mentioned in my previous article, the major problem faced by Japanese learners in English academic writing is not about their English writing errors but their inability to think critically. As Nicholas, who draws on Yasuda’s 2006 study, also claims,

In Japan, students’ English, particularly Academic English, can be seen as confusing or lacking structure. Japanese students may lack training in writing critical texts and making logical arguments both in English and in Japanese. (19)

Nevertheless, rather than working on the problem above, the majority of the Writing Centers in Japan tended to focus more on improving students’ English skills (especially grammar errors), as Johnston, Cornwell, and Yoshida suggest (Nicholas 17).

Another issue is that many students have misconceptions toward the writing center service, whereby they think that the main role of the writing center is to correct their grammar and proofread their work. As McKinley notes,

In one-to-one tutorials, students expected tutors (mostly native English-speaking or bilingual graduate students)to read their papers and correct their grammar and were often disappointed when this did not happen,
suggesting that tutors who did not correct grammar were not as good as those who did. (293)

The description above highlights two aspects. First, Japanese students hold a wrong impression of the writing center. Second, Japanese learners seem to care too much about grammar (they probably get this idea from the grammar-centric English classes in secondary schools). Hence, the unfamiliarity toward the writing center, followed by the cultural/educational influences, leads Japanese learners to think that a writing center tutor is supposed to improve their language skills, rather than discussions of their writing. Pondering this, McKinley asks,

What is the mission of a writing center, and what services should it offer? Is it a remedial writing skills center? Is it a proofreading service? In Japan, is it simply English language assistance for non-native English users? (295)

Let’s not make the writing center a fixing shop! Let’s make it clear that the center is not for fixing grammar but talking about the writing! The core concept, the supporting arguments, the structure, the conclusion, the citations, and many other things!

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The Writing Center Service:

(1) Sophia University

Our aim is to help you develop your academic literacy skills and to assist you in becoming more effective and confident writers and communicators in academic contexts. As such, the focus of the center is to develop sustainable writing skills through interactive, collaborative, and individual tutorials and workshops with peer tutors.

Whether you are working on a paper or revising one you have already finished, you can meet with a tutor and receive constructive feedback on your work. Our tutors are trained to assist you in all of the steps of the writing process.

Currently, the FLA Writing Center offers online one-to-one tutorials (by appointment only) that allow students to discuss their writing with trained tutors on weekdays. Each session is 50 minutes. Apart from one-to-one tutorials, the center also offers writing workshops focusing on:

It is believed that workshops could help students targeting specific aspects/skills and work on improving them. As for educators, they could send students to work collaboratively with other students with similar needs. In the long run, students’ misperception toward the writing center will be reduced, and also, the writing center will have a higher attendance rate compared to the one-to-one tutorial service (McKinley 2011). Besides writing assignment and working draft, the writing tutors also advice students with outlines for oral presentations and speeches, and provide support for writing resumes in English. However, tutors will neither edit students’ papers for grammatical errors nor will they assist you outside tutorial sessions.

(2) Waseda University

At the Writing Center, our focus is not to improve the paper, but rather to support the development of the writer.

Our tutors work to help writers notice and understand for themselves where the problems lie in their writing, and what they might do to make it better. This is a collaborative task, whereby writers and tutors think and work together. By working in this way, the writer gradually learns to notice the problem areas in their own writing and how to correct them independently.

The Writing Center offers face-to-face tutorials in both English and Japanese on Tuesday and Thursday while online sessions on Wednesday and Friday. Each session is 45 minutes. The types of paper which will be accepted for discussion by tutors include: term papers, language class essay assignments, presentation scripts and slides, graduation theses, Master’s theses, Ph.D. theses, articles for publication, research proposals, essays for language tests.

(3) J.F. Oberlin University

A Writing Center to develop “Independent Writers.”

We offer support to undergraduate students who wish to improve their non-native language skills in English or Japanese. We offer advice about various kinds of writing assignments such as reports, essays, and presentation handouts. We also give advice about writing that students might do outside of the classroom.

The Writing Support Center (WSC) is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for Japanese Language and English Language tutoring. Each session lasts 30 minutes. It is important to note that the WSC does not offer proofreading services, nor will the WSC complete the assignment on behalf of the student.

(4) Hiroshima University

Our mission is to nurture the writer’s academic writing skills and to enhance the university’s function as a research-focused university by increasing its ability to promote its research output overseas.

The Writing Center provides one-on-one tutorials and consultations. Tutors take an interactive approach to the sessions aiming to improve students’ skills through dialogue, rather than one-sided instruction. Writing Center staff do not correct or proofread the text. The full-time staff at the Center offers online workshops on the basic skills required for writing academic papers and giving presentations at academic conferences in English. The list of workshop themes includes: how to Structure and Write Academic Papers in English; How to Gather Information and Read Submission Guidelines when Writing Academic Papers in English; How to Write Conference Abstracts in English; How to Give Presentations in English

(5) Nagoya University 

Nagoya university created a system called “Mei-Writing” that aims to help its students publish their research by improving their logical thinking skills rather than merely language skills. Mei-Writing is founded on the belief that the most fundamental objective of an academic research paper is to convince its readers to accept the paper’s thesis statement by demonstrating the logical supports that lead to the thesis statement. For this purpose, tutors ask their students to develop, in writing the paper, a clear research idea and a logical argument that provides convincing support for the idea. The center’s overall pedagogy focuses on teaching students how to bridge the gap between writing and thinking. Under this approach, students learn how to think logically so that their thoughts can be expressed properly through words. Courses are available in English, Chinese, French, German. The Logical Writing Process Cycle is a pedagogy designed to bridge the gap between writing and thinking in producing an academic research paper. It is composed of four cyclical stages. To arrange a tutorial, students should check the tutoring schedule before contacting the writing center staff (TA) via email. Each session is 45 minutes. The center also offers workshops throughout the semester. 

(6) National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies

Words have the power to move people’s minds, transform people’s lives, and change the world. Using words effectively is not the product of inspiration; it is the result of knowing how to present information in order to achieve an intended purpose for a particular audience.

The mission of the Center for Professional Communication (CPC) is to support students, faculty, and staff in developing effective professional communication skills and competencies needed to communicate and interact productively in an environment of multiple stakeholders. To this end, we offer a range of instruction, services, and support in fundamental areas of professional communication in English and Japanese.

The Academic Writing Center offers students individual face-to-face consultations with CPC faculty members in Japanese or English. Furthermore, students are encouraged to read sample papers and proposals from past GRIPS students so that they might better understand the standards of work expected of them at GRIPS. However, care must be taken by any student using these materials to avoid plagiarism of the text or ideas. All 1‒year master’s students will have at least two mandatory consultations in the Spring term for the preparation of their final paper. Apart from that, students are welcome to make appointments at any time for additional consultations on their proposals, papers, or other writing or presentation assignments.