Once you feel that you have established rapport, establish the purpose of the student’s visit to the Writing Center. Perhaps the student needs help at a very basic level: understanding the assignment. While clarifying the assignment and its purpose is important for all tutees, this is especially critical for ESL students. Perhaps the student is unclear about the assignment, either because of language barriers or cultural differences. For starters, help her clarify what exactly the teacher has assigned. In some cases, contact with the teacher or another student in the class may be necessary. Helping the student clarify the assignment can ease her mind greatly and can provide a sense of concrete accomplishment.

The conventions of written English demand that writing be clearly obvious and that ambiguity be avoided. As Muriel Harris says, “It is best, of course, to start [offering instruction] by presenting these writers with the rhetorical information they need to write English prose, explaining not just the syntax and grammar of the language but its rhetorical standards and its readers’ expectations as well” (92). Talk with students about their process, e.g., "Did you write the whole essay from start to finish?" Did you do separate paragraphs?" "Did you work from an outline?" "Did you brainstorm?"