The Use of a Writing Center by Non-Native Academic Writers: A Case Study in Taiwan

The purpose of the study is to examine the recent implementation of a writing center in an English-as-a-foreign-language context in Taiwan to facilitate students' academic writing. This study employed a qualitative multiple case study approach to gain an in-depth understanding of the perspectives of EFL students and writing consultants on writing consultation. The findings revealed that the students and writing consultants have different perceptions of the writing center in terms of the focus of the consultation and the approach to assist students with their writing. Moreover, the level of the disciplinary knowledge of the writing consultants, the role of the academic advisors of the students, and the language proficiency of the EFL students are all important factors that influence the implementation of the task of the writing center. The findings suggested that localization and negotiation need to be carried out when importing the writing center system into an EFL community.