Communication and Communication Barriers in the Writing Classroom: How Students Think ENGL 102 Writing Grades Work
Grading is an act of communication between teachers and students. At least, it’s supposed to be, especially between first year writing teachers and writing students. English 102 courses are, after all, classes about good communication. A writing teacher handing back a paper, marked up, commented on, and graded, should inform the student about how well he or she understood, applied, and built on the class material so the student could use the feedback to improve his writing. Unfortunately, the reality of grading often interferes with the communication it should facilitate. There are a host of issues with grading student writing. This paper and the survey it is based on focus on communication barriers ENGL 102 professors and students face in the classroom, including students’ past experience, self-perceptions as writers, grade orientation, motivation, grade expectations, reception of feedback, fear of asking for help, beliefs about good writing and good grades, and locus of control. The goal was to generate data that will help first year writing instructors overcome real communication barriers between them and their students so first year writing classes can thrive.
Sarah Floyd has a double major in English-professional writing and Spanish. She spent last spring semester honing her language skills at the Tandem Escuela Internacional in Madrid. Sarah also worked as a legislative assistant and campaign manager for Rep. John McCravy and as a policy research fellow at Lander. Her writing has been featured by several blogs, websites, and local newspapers. A member of Sigma Tau Delta honor society, Sarah also earned the Symposium Scholar Award at the Lander Academic Symposium for her research in linguistics and psychology.
