Current Feature
About Feature Pieces
We welcome pieces from all over the world, but encourage pieces from colleagues outside of the North American context that explore how their local writing center work or scholarship are “negotiating and modifying” the writing center model and local literacy practices within the push-pull of globalization and transnational mobility. Check out our submission guidelines for more information.
Past Features
Institutional Accountability and Writing
Like others in the writing center field, this blog’s editorial team are volunteers who balance their time between serving the writing center community and pursuing their own scholarly development. We use writing as a means to showcase that development but also as a site of inquiry about our field. At a recent editorial meeting, we found ourselves asking: To what extent does institutional accountability shift attention from writing as a process to writing as a product? We hope this reflection will inspire you to reflect and reconsider accountability as a writer, writing center consultant and director, and a scholar.
Tutors as Promoters of Writing in a Brazilian University
At LLAC, we tutors not only volunteer to help students reflect on their texts and their role in their discourse communities, we also try to contribute to fostering a culture of academic writing as a social practice at our university. Note: this piece is available in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
WLN Commentary: “When a Measure Becomes a Target: The Dangers of Using Grades in Writing Center Assessments”
In Bruce Bowles’ article titled “When a Measure Becomes a Target: The Dangers of Using Grades in Writing Center Assessments”, a very important issue was brought up, which concerned whether the use of students’ grades and/or GPAs is a proper way of assessing the effectiveness of a University Writing Center (UWC). Bowles held a negative stance and emphasized that if this form of assessment is embraced, it will lead to an array of negative consequences especially the significant risks of prioritizing grades over learning as well as twisting writing centre pedagogy.
WLN Commentary: Does the Context Define the Measure?
How should we assess writing centers and what type of information should we focus on? In his article, “When a measure becomes a target,” Bruce Bowles pinpoints the inadequacy of reliance on numbers for assessing writing centers and explores the possibility of using a different approach (Bowles, 2025). Despite the proliferation of writing centers worldwide, assessment remains a challenge to centers globally and in the Middle Eastern North Africa (MENA) region. Writing centers assessment is a complex issue.
AI – Artificial Intelligence versus Authorial Identity
From a philosophical perspective, we are convinced that you cannot outsource your intellectual engagement, and that AI cannot replace the writing and learning process.
My Journey into Writing Centre Work
As writing center people, our focus is on our students' diverse backgrounds and how they come to the center. But how do we the writing center directors, managers, and consultants find our way to the center? What motivates us to remain in the field and make a career out of it? Dr. Natashia Muna (University of Cape Town Writing Centre), scientist and Director of the UCT Faculty of Heatlh Sciences Writing Lab, shares how she found her way to the writing center. If you want to share your literacy story, email wlnblog.editors@gmail.com.
