Using a combination of Error Gravity and Composition Evaluation research methods, the author examined unguided responses to three non-native speaker compositions by 16 college composition and 10 TEFL teachers. A total of 13 to 15 content or form items per paper were rated, but for each paper, no more than five were selected by 50% or more of the teachers. The lack of agreement among the respondents concerning the items rated for seriousness throws doubt on the feasibility of producing meaningful rank orders of weaknesses using authentic written discourse as the sample. The findings show that the respondents rated content weaknesses as more serious than form weaknesses, but there was evidence that attention to form can obscure content problems for some teachers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/182883 |
| Date | January 1984 |
| Creators | Clark, Virginia B. |
| Contributors | Stahlke, Herbert |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 42 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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