Ardeshir Cowasjee Centre for Writing at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan: A Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents the case of Ardeshir Cowasjee Centre for Writing at IBA, Karachi, Pakistan as a useful solution for the writing related needs of university students of ESL background. The study determines that in addition to general concerns, Pakistani writing centers need to deal with unique challenges as well. Writing Center approach is acquiring a global significance. With North American origin, it continued to reach out; starting from the West to Asia and more recently to South Asia. Institutes in EFL/ ESL countries are experimenting with the approach to determine the best solution for their unique situations. This paper presents the case of Ardeshir Cowasjee Centre for Writing at Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan; the first writing center of the country. English, despite being second or a foreign language for Pakistani users, is the language of instruction and assessment in higher education. English composition courses alone cannot fully focus on specific individualised writing issues of students. The study establishes that writing center approach, one-on-one consultation focusing on students' writing , is an unprecedented but a pragmatic solution to the writing related needs of university students in Pakistan. This inquiry not only endorses that some major concerns of writing center administration are global; it also identifies and discusses challenges and scenarios that are unique to a Pakistani writing center, a postcolonial ESL situation.