Scoring Judgment of Pre-Service EFL Teachers: Does Writing Proficiency Play a Role?

Abstract

The current study explores how the scoring judgments of pre-service English-as-aforeign-language (EFL) teachers relate to their levels of writing proficiency in the context of the Chinese mainland. Eighty one pre-service EFL teachers from a national normal university participated in the study. Three groups of teachers were then identified in terms of their levels of writing proficiency. Four teachers in each group were selected to rate a selected sample of twelve student scripts holistically while conducting think-aloud protocols for the scores assigned. Many-Facet Rasch Model and non-parametric tests were performed to evaluate the differences in the both the scores and scoring behaviors across groups. Qualitative analysis of the data was conducted to provide further explanation of the scoring judgment. The findings of the study highlighted the particular role of EFL teachers’ writing proficiency in assessing student writing. Pedagogically, the study serves to inform teacher training and the development of assessment literacy in the context of both high-stake and classroom assessments.