Learning Commons
Writing Resources
Our Writing services create and curate resources to help students better understand the writing process. If you have a helpful idea, handout, or link that we might add here, please let us know!
Generate Ideas and Get Words Down
Review the Literature and Develop a Research Question
Read Effectively to Avoid Hassles with Writing
Identify and Question Your Underlying Assumptions
Consider Your Rhetorical Appeals
Write/Revise Your Introduction
Use Others' Words and Ideas Effectively and Ethically
Clarify Your Sentence Structure
Be Concise: Clarity, Verbs, Passive & Active Voice
Revise your Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
Mind your use of Punctuation with Quotation Marks
APA Style: Intro to 7th Edition
Chicago (17th ed) / Turabian (9th ed) Quick Sheet
Check for Commonly Confused Words
Statement on Linguistic Inclusivity
The Writing Center welcomes all voices. Though the use of Standard American English (SAE) dominates higher education and workplace environments, we recognize the fluidity and diversity of language across eras, cultures, disciplines, and genres. Therefore, bearing in mind that writing and language proficiency grant access to audiences, we strive to validate individuals’ vernaculars and preserve the agency of all writers to communicate using their own language.
For more information, please see the readings below:
Baker Bell, April. “‘We Been Knowin’: Toward Antiracist Language and Literacy Education.” Journal of Language and Literacy Education, vol. 16, no. 1, Spring 2020, pp. 1-12.
Delpit, Lisa. “Language Diversity and Learning.” Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. The New Press, 2006.
Disrud, Rebecca. “Do Students Think We Should Continue to Teach Standard English?” Presentation at the Pacific Northwest Writing Center Association Conference, April 18, 2021, video discussion.
Fish, Stanley. “What Should Colleges Teach?” NYTimes Opinionator, Aug. 24, 2009.
Greenfield, Laura. “The ‘Standard English’ Fairy Tale: A Rhetorical Analysis of Racist Pedagogies and Commonplace Assumptions about Language Diversity.” Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change, Utah State UP, 2011, pp. 33-60.
Jenkins, Rob. "We Must Help Students Master Standard English." The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 10, 2018.
Matsuda, Paul Kei. “The Myth of Linguistic Homogeneity in U.S. College Composition.” College English, vol. 68, no. 6, 2006, pp. 637-651.
Myers, Sharon A. “Reassessing the ‘Proofreading Trap’: ESL Tutoring and Writing Instruction.” Writing Center Journal, vol. 24, no. 1, 2003, pp. 51-70.
Williams, James. “Grammar and Writing.” Preparing to Teach Writing: Research, Theory, and Practice (3rd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: 2003.
Young, Vershawn. “Should Writers Use They Own English?” Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change, Utah State UP, 2001, pp. 61-72.
CWU News
CWU Army ROTC to host nighttime Norwegian Foot March this Friday
May 1, 2024
by Rune Torgersen
Grant-funded Limitless network brings Yakima students to CWU
May 1, 2024
by Rune Torgersen