Volunteer Support of English as an Additional Language (EAL) for Doctoral Students

Abstract

The volunteerism model requires quite careful negotiation of the ethical issues. Whose responsibility is the volunteer support advice? How might the spectre of ghost writing be laid to rest? The model described has survived for several years now and has proved to be a sustainable community of practice; the article discusses the safety issues that arose in its construction and the factors that have contributed to its success, including our care around several institutional policies. A survey of the students who have made use of the programme shows what they expected to get from this and what they actually found from their experience, confirming the pedagogical underpinning. Evaluations from students inform this reflection. The article concludes by looking at this community of practice from several positions--student, supervisor, institution and volunteer, and my own as a tertiary learning advisor.