Discussion Paper No. 242
Writing Centers for Improving English Academic
Writing Skills of Japanese Economics Students:
Advantages and Challenges
Daniel DOLAN
Jiro AKITA
March 27，2009

TOHOKU ECONOMICS RESEARCH GROUPGRADUATE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND
MANAGEMENT TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

KAWAUCHI, AOBA-KU, SENDAI,

980-8576 JAPAN

Discussion Paper No. 242
Writing Centers for Improving English Academic
Writing Skills of Japanese Economics Students:
Advantages and Challenges
By
Daniel DOLAN 1 、Jiro AKITA 2March 27，20091

Professor of Business Communication, Graduate School of Accounting, Tohoku University. The
corresponding author: dolan@econ.tohoku.ac.jp
2
Professor of Economics, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
The present research has been supported by Grant-in-Aid 19652051 from the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sport, Science and Technology, Japan.
11. Introduction
It is widely recognized among Japanese scholars and non-Japanese journal editors outside
Japan that English language academic writing poses difficult challenges for most Japanese writers.
For example, Orr and Yamazaki (2004) describe twenty central and recurring problems found in the
English language academic writing of Japanese science and technology researchers. Orr andYamazaki propose that one key factor underlying English writing difficulties for native Japanesescholars is lack of writing instruction at the university level. Many textbooks have been publishedin Japan that attempt to guide Japanese writers through academic writing difficulties, but Orr andYamazaki (2004) point out that many of these textbooks lack effective examples or are otherwise
deficient. Another weakness of reliance on textbooks for learning how to write academic papers
effectively is that academic writing is a communicative activity that is fundamentallycollaborative—the writer addresses a reading audience with new ideas and language while at thesame time engaging with existing ideas and text generated by other researchers. The skills required
for effective academic writing go beyond technical knowledge of grammar rules or the necessarycomponents of a research essay to understanding of how to think about writing and what questions
to ask at all stages of the writing process. Examples of such higher-level problems include audience
analysis, focus, and argumentative strategy.
This discussion paper argues that both macro and micro levels of attention to improving
academic writing skills of economics students in Japan is essential. Specifically, we point to thepossible effectiveness of establishing academic writing centers at universities in Japan designed toadvance the English language academic writing skills of economics students and faculty. The reportcontains three main sections: (1) overview of writing center activities at universities in the UnitedStates, including available data on users and effectiveness; (2) description of the activities of one ofthe very few academic writing centers at universities in Japan; and (3) brief discussion of potential
effectiveness and challenges of establishing writing centers for economics programs at universities
in Japan. This essay should be considered a discussion paper rather than a fully researched2

academic paper because the key arguments made and the evidence that supports those arguments
are in the early stages of formulation.

2. Writing Center Activities at U.S. Universities
The academic writing center trend in the United States began in the 1980s along with the
Writing Across the Curriculum movement, with global efforts energized by the establishment of theInternational Writing Center Association in 1982. Writing centers provide students at most colleges
and universities in the United States with an interactive, collaborative and highly structured venue
for learning how to write for academic purposes. For example, at the University of Washington in
the city of Seattle at least 20 writing centers serve students and faculty, with most of these centers
discipline-specific. Although most writing centers at the University of Washington shareinstitutional features such as required appointments with tutors, there are differences among thecenters with regard to tutor demographics, consulting philosophy and goals. One illustration ofthese differences is the perception among writing center clients that certain writing centers at the
University of Washington will actively edit or even re-write essays, whereas some other writing
centers will instead coach writers without actively editing. These differences result from theindependent development of writing centers at the University of Washington and the lack of any
single coordinating or governing body to oversee writing center activities. Funding for writing
centers at the University of Washington also is secured by individual academic departments, andthere is not much professional communication between directors of the writing centers on campus.
In February 2009 one of the authors, Daniel Dolan, visited the University of Washington in
Seattle, Washington to document the activities of academic writing centers on campus. I focused on
two writing centers with key importance to this project:(a) the Business Writing Center(b) the English Department Writing Center
In what follows I describe the central features of these two writing centers.

32.1 Business Writing Center
Operations
The Business Writing Center is a small center that assists clients with academic writing
related to business and economics. The center is open weekdays from 11:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
and conducts an average of 15-20 tutoring sessions per day. Tutoring sessions are 30 or 60 minutes,
with an average of two tutors providing consulting services per day.
Tutors
Tutors are exclusively University of Washington undergraduate students rather than graduate
students. The Center director explained to me during an interview that the decision to hire
undergraduate students as tutors is based on two main factors. First, research suggests that peer
tutors are more effective than tutors who are older than their clients. Second, undergraduate tutors
are less expensive to hire than graduate students, who are members of a labor union and therefore
demand a minimum wage higher than the state mandated minimum wage. Tutors are trained andmust do observation of tutoring sessions conducted by working tutors.
Consulting
Tutoring sessions focus on assisting clients with papers written for two required writing
courses at the Business School. At least half of all clients are non-native English speakers. Tutors
are trained to never, in principle, edit client writing using a pen. Instead, tutors are trained to ask
questions and direct clients to focus on problems.
Clients

Half of these students are non-native English speaking foreign students, many from China. A small
percentage of clients are represented by non-native English speaking graduate students who are
writing their dissertations.

42.2 English Department Writing Center
Operations
The English Department Writing Center is one of the largest and most active writing
centers at the University of Washington. The center is open weekdays from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
and conducts an average of 15-20 tutoring sessions per day. Tutoring sessions are 50 minutes.
During academic year 2007-2008 there were 2,021 available tutoring hours, with 1,560 hours (78%)
used. Clients must sign up in advance for tutoring sessions, either online or in person, but walk-ins
are accepted depending on availability of both tutoring session hours and tutors.
TutorsSimilar to the Business School Writing Center, all tutors at the English Department Writing
Center are University of Washington undergraduate students. Tutor training is rigorous, andaccording to the Center’s website the English Department Writing Center tutors “are the mosthighly trained and experienced writing tutors on the Seattle campus.” Tutors are selectedcompetitively based on writing samples and interpersonal communication skills, and selectedindividuals must then pass satisfactorily a required writing center tutor training course offered by
the English Department consisting of a minimum of 40 hours.
Consulting
The guiding philosophy of the English Department Writing Center is described in the Center’s
mission statement, which reads in part: “our job is to produce better writers, not better writing.” Themission statement also clarifies what clients can expect from tutors. For example, tutors might workwith clients to develop organizational strategies, determine when outside sources should be
documented and cited, create outlines and become aware of error patterns. However, tutors will notby themselves suggest content, edit writing line by line, give ideas, or supply vocabulary.
Clients
In 2007, 55% of all visitors to the English Department Writing Center were students enrolled
in English courses. In 2006-2007, 40% of all clients were ESL students, but this number increased5

in 2007-2008 to 44%. At the same time, native English speaking client numbers dropped from 60%
in 2006-2007 to 56% in 2007-2008. Among the 253 non-native English-speaking students who
visited the center in 2007, the vast majority was Korean (90), with Japanese native speakers
numbering slightly more than 20.

2.3 Effectiveness of U.S. University Writing Centers
Although evidence for the effectiveness of writing centers at universities in the United Statesis neither extensive nor conclusive, one study of 1,519 students enrolled in an English writing
course at one university found that the more frequently a student visited the campus writing center
the better the student’s grade in the English writing course. Although the authors of the study
caution that the results may be relational rather than causal, data on student attendance at writing
centers at the University of Washington also suggests that writing centers can be effective forhelping students write better. At the English Department Writing Center at the University ofWashington, available tutoring hours in 2007-2008 represented a 3.7% increase since 2006-2007,
and available hours used in 2007-2008 reflected a 5.5% increase. Return visits by clients also
indicate effectiveness. In 2007-2008 there were 636 return visits by clients to the English
Department Writing Center.

3. Writing Center Activities at Universities in Japan
In Japan the academic writing center movement is in a very early stage, with only a few
writing centers at universities nation-wide. In this section we describe the activities of the ALESS
Writing Center at the University of Tokyo.

3.1 ALESS Writing Center
Operations

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The writing center at the University of Tokyo’s ALESS program began in April 2008.

The

ALESS (Active Learning of English for Science Students) program is a one-semester course
designed to improve English language academic writing and presentation skills. The course isrequired during the first three semesters of study and is taught by trained native English speakers.
The Writing Center is open approximately 15-20 hours per week.
TutorsWriting Center tutors are native Japanese graduate students of arts or sciences, who must passa writing pedagogy course to become tutors. Currently there are eight tutors working part-time at
the center for a maximum of 10 hours per week per tutor. Tutors at the center typically speak
Japanese with center clients while guiding students in the writing of required 2-5 page English
language experiment reports.
Consulting
In 2008 the ALESS Writing Center served 199 different ALESS students (10% of the total
number of students) during 383 tutorial sessions lasting 30 minutes or sometimes longer. Most
ALESS Writing Center sessions focus on the writing of the 2-5 page experiment-based paper
mandatory for ALESS students.
Clients
All clients of the ALESS Writing Center are first-year undergraduate College of Arts andSciences students enrolled in science, engineering, and medical courses.

4. Economics Writing Centers in Japan: Potential Effectiveness and Challenges
4.1 Potential EffectivenessThe potential effectiveness of writing centers to support the English language academic
writing of economics students in Japan is suggested by at least two factors: (1) the apparent successof writing centers in the United States, and (2) the current lack of academic writing training among
Japanese university students in both Japanese and English languages (see Orr & Yamazaki, 2004).

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Writing centers at their best serve not to churn out polished essays, but rather to help student writers
become better writers. From this perspective, writing centers established in the economics
departments of Japanese universities likely would assist Japanese economics students to learn how
to write like economists write. However, establishment of writing centers at universities in Japan
would face significant challenges with regard to institutional support and funding. Below I discussboth of these challenges.

4.2 Challenges
Institutional support
The directors of the University of Washington Business Writing Center and the English
Department Writing Center both revealed during our interview sessions that one significant
challenge they face even after many years of Center operation is motivating professors and teachingassistants to encourage students to engage in writing center consultations. It is reasonable to suspectthat this problem would be even more pronounced in Japan given the relatively poor level ofacademic writing instruction here. Establishment of sustainable writing centers in economics
departments at Japanese universities would require recognition among faculty members that
effective academic writing is a sufficiently important skill for students to develop that scarce
university resources should be used to support such activities. However, it is not clear that such
recognition currently is widely shared among Tohoku University economics faculty members. For
example, earlier attempts by Dolan to interest faculty members in a plagiarism avoidance education
program within the department was greeted with little enthusiasm. Yet at universities in most otherindustrialized nations clear guidelines on avoiding plagiarism, including penalties for engaging inplagiarism, are standard features of new student orientation activities and usually are explained indetailed writing as part of the published student code of conduct. The failure of Japanese
universities to conduct such basic training in academic writing protocols signals the importance of
establishing writing centers on campuses.

8Investment in writing center initiatives also would include identification and hiring of center
directors and qualified tutors, followed by intensive tutor training, program development andongoing center activity coordination. These institutional support mechanisms require sufficientfunding, which is the focus of the next section.
Funding
Securing budgets for writing centers at Japanese university economics departments will bedifficult at both national and private universities. Although the cost of establishing and running amodest writing center is not a significant amount compared with many other institutional functionsat universities, private universities are struggling to fill seats as the population of college-age
applicants decreases year by year. National universities, particularly the prestigious imperial
universities, are not experiencing such enrollment problems due both to the high status accorded tonational universities and also to the relatively low cost of tuition. However, since efforts to semiprivatization national universities began in 2005, national university budgets are being reduced one
percent every year by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Therefore, the financing of writing centers in the face of general budget cutbacks will be difficult tosell.

5. Conclusion
In this paper we have argued for serious consideration of establishment of academic writing
centers attached to departments of economics at universities in Japan. We explained the central
features of writing center operation in the United States and we discussed the admittedly scarceevidence for effectiveness of such centers. We also laid out the institutional and funding challenges
facing the establishment and operation of writing centers at universities in Japan.

To successfullylaunch writing centers at economics departments across Japan it will be important to argue for andthen demonstrate the long-term value of writing centers in advance of significant allocation ofrequired resources. For this purpose establishment of a test case writing center at just one

9department of economics would make sense, perhaps modeled in part after existing writing centers
at U.S. universities or the ALESS Writing Center at the University of Tokyo. Detailed discussion ofsuch a proposal is beyond the scope of the present essay, but might be worth developing in a future
paper.

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References

Mohr, E. (1998). Researching the effectiveness of a Writing Center. Paper presented at theAnnual Meeting of the International Writing Centers Conference, September 1995.
Orr, T., & Yamazaki, A. K. (2004). Twenty problems found in English research papers
authored by Japanese researchers. Conference Proceedings of the IEEE International Professional
Communication Conference (IEEE IPCC 04), pp. 23-35.

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