Instructor Companion
Rubrics and Where Language Accuracy Fits
Use this page when you are building or revising a rubric, or deciding how much grammar should count.
What students experience
A rubric is one of the hardest texts in a course to read. It is dense, its levels differ by a single adverb, and its vocabulary (“sophisticated,” “adequate,” “demonstrates command”) describes a judgment without saying what to do. Students reading in an additional language meet all of that at once.
The language row causes three specific problems:
- The top level is out of reach. A description such as “free of grammatical errors” tells a writer who is still learning English that the highest level is closed, whatever the quality of the thinking.
- Language is graded twice. Sentence-level errors lower the reader’s impression of the whole paper, and the scores for ideas and organization fall with it.
- Language is graded in secret. The rubric has no language row, but points come off for grammar anyway. Students cannot plan for a criterion they cannot see.
The CCCC statement on multilingual writers addresses the second problem directly. It asks instructors to weigh several features of a text, including topic development, organization, grammar, and word choice, “rather than focus only on one or two of these features that stand out as problematic.” The same statement describes learning academic literacy in an additional language as “a complex, recursive, lifelong process.” One semester will not finish it, and a rubric should not assume that it will.
Decide first: is accuracy an outcome of this assignment?
How much language should count depends on what the assignment is for. Answer this question before you write the rubric.
| If | Then |
|---|---|
| Sentence-level accuracy is a stated outcome of the course, as in a writing course | Give language its own row, with a weight that matches the outcome. Describe each level by its effect on a reader. |
| The assignment measures content knowledge, as in a history or biology paper | Give language a small row, or none. If there is no row, do not take points off for language anywhere else. |
| The writing is low stakes, such as a journal or a discussion post | Consider grading ideas and completion only, and say so. |
In every case the principle is the same: one row, one weight, stated in advance.
Six practices
Give language one row, and keep it there
When you score the other rows, set sentence-level errors aside. A paragraph with a clear main idea and article errors still has a clear main idea.
Describe language by its effect on the reader
“Errors do not affect meaning” is a standard a developing writer can reach and an instructor can apply consistently. “Free of errors” and counts of errors are neither.
Write each level as something a student can see or do
Replace adverbs with actions. “Explains how each source supports the argument” can be checked. “Integrates sources effectively” cannot.
Show the weights
Put points or percentages on each row. Students use them to decide where to spend their time, and the weights hold you to your own priorities when you grade.
Share the rubric with the prompt, and show the top level
The CCCC statement says that, when possible, “instructors should provide students with a rubric that articulates assessment criteria.” An annotated example of strong work shows what the words in the top row mean (Winkelmes et al., 2016).
Comment on patterns, not on every error
The CCCC statement recommends “prioritizing two or three mechanical or stylistic issues” for each writer to work on during a course. A student can act on two patterns. A page covered in corrections gives no starting point.
Score a paper in two passes. On the first pass, read for the argument, the evidence, and the organization, and score those rows. On the second pass, score the language row. This is practitioner advice, not a research finding.
Before and after
Both versions are the language row of a rubric. The second is the one students see on the paired student page.
Mechanics, 10 points
Excellent: Free of grammatical and spelling errors.
Good: Few errors.
Fair: Several errors.
Poor: Numerous errors that are distracting.
Language, 20 of 100 points
Strong: Sentences are clear. Errors are few and do not affect meaning.
Developing: Some errors make the reader slow down, but the meaning is clear.
Beginning: Errors often make the meaning unclear.
What changed
- “Free of errors” is gone. The top level now describes clear writing with a few errors, which is what strong student writing looks like.
- Counts became effects. “Few” and “several” leave the line between levels to each grader. “The meaning is clear” gives a test.
- “Distracting” became “unclear.” The first measures the reader’s patience. The second measures the writing.
- The weight is shown as part of the whole. “20 of 100” tells a student how language compares with everything else.
- The level names changed. “Developing” and “Beginning” describe a stage. “Fair” and “Poor” describe a verdict.
Wording you can copy
Replace the text in brackets.
When language has a row
Language is graded in one row of the rubric, worth [amount]. In that row, I look at whether your meaning is clear. Errors that do not affect your meaning will not lower your score in the other rows.
When language is not graded
In this assignment, I grade your [ideas, evidence, and organization]. Grammar and spelling are not graded. If a sentence is unclear to me, I will ask you about it.
Level descriptions for a language row
Strong. Sentences are clear. Errors are few and do not affect meaning.
Developing. Some errors make the reader slow down, but the meaning is clear.
Beginning. Errors often make the meaning unclear.
Links for students
The paired student page teaches the parts of a rubric, how to use the points, and how to read the small words that separate one level from the next. You can add this line to an assignment in Blackboard:
Before you start, read Reading a Rubric. It shows you how to use the rubric to plan and check your work.
The Assignment prompt builder asks how grammar and word choice count, and adds your answer to the prompt.
Sources
- Conference on College Composition and Communication. (2020). CCCC statement on second language writing and multilingual writers (opens in a new tab). See Part One; “Assessment” in Part Two; and “Response to Student Writing” in Part Four.
- Winkelmes, M., Bernacki, M., Butler, J., Zochowski, M., Golanics, J., & Weavil, K. H. (2016). A teaching intervention that increases underserved college students’ success. Peer Review, 18(1/2), 31–36.