Editing Woes

[Fobe]

Not strictly about 'teaching,' but I think this fits best here.

 

I'm doing editing work for a fellow student at my school.  English is his second language, and at times (ok, most of the time) the writing is so bad I genuinely wonder how he was admitted to a PhD program in the humanities.  I'm getting incredibly frustrated editing his work.  I'm wondering about a couple of specific things, though.

 

In the past when I've edited for him, it's been as a teacher would mark his work - 'what do you mean by this?', 'clarify this', 'take this idea further'... stuff like that.  Now, though, he wants me to just change the document to what I feel works best.  But where do I draw the line on what to change?  A lot of the ideas need a lot of work and further development, so where is the line between editing/improving the paper and changing the ideas?  (I'm exhausted right now so I don't know if I'm making my meaning clear here, but hopefully you'll get what I'm saying.)  I'm just looking for thoughts/advice on this.

 

Also, every once in a while he'll have a very good, clear, understandable sentence amid the otherwise barely logical mess.  These sentences almost always have references after them, but no quotation marks.  There's obviously some level of plagiarism here (though I'm sure it's unintentional and he just hasn't realized it).  (How) do I tell him to check these sentences without saying that they stand out because the rest of his writing is terrible?  I want to be honest and helpful, but not hurt his feelings!

[m-ttl]

I would do a few things, but this is just me:

 

1. Unless he's paying you/you're a writing tutor, I would say I didn't feel like I was the right person for this kind of extensive help anymore. It's one thing to help someone out, another to liberally change things as you see fit (imo), and I would honestly put my foot down. Not only that but if you're feeling frustrated or confused as to how he got in, perhaps you're just simply not the right person to be helping anymore. That's not a bad thing, it's just the honest truth -- you can't exhaust yourself on just helping other people catch up. 
2. The only kind of editing I have received is the first kind "Clarify" or "explain" and "repetition here", etc. Sometimes I get suggestions "Re-construct the sentence like this...." but this never fundamentally changes anything without me being the one to do the work, which is I think what you're asking about. The work is his, and shouldn't be on you. 
3. Point out you notice he's referenced other authors/ideas but hasn't properly cited his sources. Suggest he review MLA/Chicago/whatever your field uses carefully to avoid accidental plagiarism, then that he find another editor who can help him. 

Edited March 15, 2014 by m-ttl

[Fobe]

Thanks for the response.  He is paying me for the editing - I had been helping as part of a TAship last term, but this term he contacted me again offering to pay me himself for my help.  Last term I was doing the "clarify" kind of help, though, so I didn't mind it.

 

Anyway, I have decided to stop doing the editing.  I really don't feel comfortable changing so much, and I certainly wasn't about to completely add all new sentences and totally change the structure of the essay (which the paper really needs to make sense).  I guess I'll just have to hope that it works out for him!

[danieleWrites]

Send him to the writing center, if your campus has one. They should have tutors that specialize in ESL. If he's not equipped to produce work that will get him passing grades, the writing center directors will know how to deal with the problem and get him the help he needs, or whatnot. You can also send him to the international student office so they can direct him to tutors, as well.