Tips for Grading Grammar
Here are a few strategies that instructors in the CCCU, and in universities nation-wide, recommend to expedite the grading process, especially for nitpicky points of grammar. These suggestions may prove feasible individually or in conjunction with the others; i.e., you may want to adopt one or two that seem useful to you.
- Mark only the first two
pages (and/or comment on a separate sheet), noting symptomatic errors
occurring throughout document
- Use a rubric
(click here for sample) with a “top-down” order of
document priorities:
Content > Coherent Sentences > Word choice > Punctuation/Spelling > Formatting
- Adopt a holistic grading
system
(click here for sample)
:
A = nearly perfect; B = good (2 major mech. errors); C = competent (3 major
syntax errors)
- Refuse to accept papers
until they meet your minimum standard (students may resubmit for late
penalty)
- Hire a work study (TA) to
grade for grammar so that you can focus on content