>---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>Sender:       Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>              <[log in to unmask]>
>Poster:       "Paul E. Doniger" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:      holistic scoring
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Hello Grammarians,
>
>It has been a long while since I've seen any messages on this listserve, and
>I miss them.  I thought we could re-open the discourse with a topic I have
>recently been reading and thinking about: the holistic scoring of student
>writing.
>
>I just finished reading a short article by Liz Hamp-Lyons, called "Rating
>Nonnative Writing: The Trouble with Holistic Scoring" TESOL QUARTERLY 29:4
>(1995):759-762.  Ms. Hamp-Lyons, I think, hits the nail on the head when she
>says that this kind of rating system fails to provide "knowledge about what
>weaknesses and problems need to be worked on or what strengths illuminate
>the writing" of students (761).
>
>One area of writing which is not assessed by a holistic score is the
>question of grammatical competence or the application of grammar to
>composition.  We have a series of tests in my state (CT) which assesses
>reader responses to literature with a holistic grade.  Grammar and spelling
>are not assessed in this score.
>
>I'm curious what experiences and opinions you all have regarding this issue.
>Perhaps we can engage in a dialogue here on the listserve.  I'll be looking
>forward to your comments.
>
>Read you later,
>
 
My response to this is that there are two things going on here.  In the
first place, grammar and spelling ARE assessed in holistic scoring of
composition. One can rule them out of the score, of course, as seems to be
done in CT, but normal holistic scoring includes everything about the
composition, including grammar and spelling.
 
It is true that holistic scoring does not tell us anything about what is
wrong with a piece of writing. It is not intended to do that. If you want
to know what the weaknesses are, you need to list the aspects you're
interested in and rate them separately.
 
Of course, if you list grammatical competence as one of the aspects you're
interested in, you still get a holistic score if there is only one score
for this aspect. You still have no idea which aspects of grammatical
competence the student may have weaknesses in.
 
In short, it seems to me that there are various schemes of scoring, and
each scheme has its purpose.
 
Bill McCleary
 
William J. McCleary                     Editor: Composition Chronicle
Associate Prof. of English              Viceroy Publications
Coordinator of Secondary English        3247 Bronson Hill Road
SUNY at Cortland                        Livonia, NY 14487
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