| Abstract: | Recent work in reading and writing theory, research and pedagogy has raised questions about relationships between Fluent reading processes and holistic scoring of essays (e.g., Huot 1993). In holistic scoring settings, are the raters behaving as normal Fluent readers (i.e., readers interacting critically and personally with the text) or, are they somehow disconnected From their normal reader responses because they are using reliable scoring guides? Related questions concern the behavior of such holistic raters when they are teachers (e.g., Barritt, Stock, & Clark, 1986), and when those teachers respond to student writing (Connors & Lunsford, 1993). How are teachers/raters behaving, and what are they responding to in judging the writing? Previous research has suggested a role for personality type in the study of the process of writing evaluation (Jensen & DiTiberio, 1984, 1989).Thus, it seems reasonable to ask what role personality types play in the holistic evaluation of writing.This empirical study addressed the general question: What role, if any, do personality types of writers and of raters play in the holistic rating of writing? Moreover, is there a relationship between writers' personalities and raters' personalities?Writers were native English-speaking university freshman composition students; raters were native English-speaking university freshman composition instructors.Results indicate that the personality types of writers affect the ratings their essays receive, and the personality types of raters affect the ratings they give to essays. However, there is no significant relationship between writers' styles and raters' styles. Implications for future research, as well as classroom implications of these results are discussed. |
