Abstract

MOLINA-NATERA, Violeta  and  LOPEZ-GIL, Karen Shirley. State of the Art of Writing Centers and Programs in Latin America. Rev. colomb. educ. [online]. 2020, n.78, pp.97-120. ISSN 0120-3916.  https://doi.org/10.17227/rce.num78-8066.

This research aimed to identify the theories, practices and management processes of writing centers and programs in Latin American universities. To that end, we proposed an exploratory study, whose main instrument was an online survey based on two North American researches: 'The Writing Center Research Project" and 'The Writing Program Administration Census Project." Twenty-three directors of writing centers and writing programs in the region participated in the research. The results presented in this paper from a predominantly quantitative analysis, showed a variety of very young programs in their conformation. Writing begins to be included in the program agendas of Latin American universities, taking into account the institutional support given to these initiatives over the last 10 years. As regards the theoretical foundations, a diversity of approaches and theoretical positions were found that configure these centers and programs in a different way to their predecessors in North America. The programs incorporate practices that have to do, mostly, with individual accompaniment through tutorials or with the collaborative work between language teachers and teachers from other disciplines. Administrative management represents a special challenge in measuring the impact of programs. Directors assume a series of functions that require an integral training in administrative tasks that is not found in the region. These results demonstrate the need to strengthen the administrative processes of these initiatives and the relevance of consolidating their own research field

Keywords : higher education; writing; programs; education quality; writing workshops centers; writing improvement program.

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