The effects of teacher background on how teachers assess L1-like and L2-like grammar errors: An eye-tracking study

Both composition teachers and L2 writing teachers have the responsibility of teaching effective academic English writing skills. Although composition teachers and L2 writing teachers may have similar objectives, researchers have shown that these groups of teachers may focus on different writing features and may even have differing views on error gravity when assessing student writing (Brown, 1991; Elder et al., 2003; Rifkin & Roberts, 1995). Common methods for examining these differences include analyzing rater scores and using reflective protocols. Only one study has used eye-tracking methodology to explore the raters’ reading behaviors. The current study expounds on that study to examine whether L2 or composition teachers rate differently. Three L1-like errors and three L2-like errors were identified and introduced into eight paragraphs. Composition and L2 writing teachers assessed the eight paragraphs while an eye-tracker measured their eye-movements. Results indicated that L2 writing teachers assigned overall higher scores to L2 students than composition teachers. Although both composition teachers and L2 teachers may have similar teaching objectives, when rating L2 papers different scores are assigned.