Rater's perception of handwriting legibility and word- processing in l2 writing assessment
Craig, Daniel Allen
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125876
Description
Title
Rater's perception of handwriting legibility and word- processing in l2 writing assessment
Author(s)
Craig, Daniel Allen
Issue Date
2001
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Berg. Catherine
Davidson, Fred
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Teaching English as a Second Language
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Teaching English as Second Language
Computerization in education
ESL testing bias
Handwriting quality
Word-processing in testing
Language
eng
Abstract
The roar of technology can be heard in every hall and classroom in the nation. Schools are in a rush to "computerize" everything from classrooms to testing. Research in the effectiveness of these moves has been brushed to the wayside and scientific scrutiny has given way to blind obedience. It is time to step back and investigate the basic tenets of computerization. This study focuses on the issue of handwriting quality and word-processing as biasing factors in English as a Second Language testing, specifically the English as a Second Language Placement Test (EPT) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Four expert EPT raters rated a total of forty essays, twenty original and twenty transcribed in either messy or neat handwriting or on a word-processor. Results indicate an interesting biasing effect for word-processed transcriptions. Word-processed transcriptions were scored lower than their handwritten counterparts regardless of original legibility. No such effect was found for handwriting legibility, though regardless of legibility handwritten transcriptions were rated higher than their original counterparts.
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