Guidelines for tutors on the marking of written assignments

Introduction
In subjects with large enrolments (such as first-year French) and several tutors, it can be
difficult to guarantee consistency in marking. Assignment numbers often run into the
hundreds and discrepancies in the level of severity/generosity applied in marking and the
amount of feedback given can rapidly emerge.
The following guidelines aim to address these issues in such a way as to benefit tutors and
students alike: tutors will be more self-assured about marking procedures and be able to
provide targeted feedback more efficiently; students will have increased confidence in a
practice which sees the consistent application of marking criteria to the same assignments in
a year-group and encourages comparable feedback amongst tutorial groups.
The guidelines apply only to formative assessments which are set during the semester, not
to exams.

Principles of Marking
In the marking of most language-based assignments, three distinctive forms of feedback
predominate:
(1) Corrections (when the correct form of a word or a sentence is written over the
erroneous text).
(2) Annotations (including ticks and crosses, underlinings, crossing out, omission signs
and abbreviations such as sp for spelling mistake).
(3) Comments (identifying the works strengths and weaknesses).
It is recommended that the three types of feedback above be combined according to the
following principles:
(1) Corrections should be written over the text if the student could not have
reasonably known the correct word or phrase in question (e.g. when a lexical item or
point of grammar was not previously covered in class).
(2) Annotations should be used when it can be reasonably assumed that the
student would realise the nature of his/her error when attention is drawn to it.
Annotations can also be used to pinpoint quickly a range of minor errors.
(3) At the end of the students work, the tutor should add comments which identify
some of the assignments weaknesses (providing a focus for his/her independent
study) as well as a positive point to offer him/her encouragement. The feedback
should only be as long as needs be and can thus be formulated with concision. For

the very best and very worst students no feedback may be necessary (the lack or
abundance of annotations will speak for themselves).
If the tutor is typing feedback or entering it into Moodle, it is worth considering whether key
phrases / sentences / mini-paragraphs shouldnt be saved in a document and re-used in the
feedback given to successive students.

Consistency
Whereas the principles above are on no account meant to be prescriptive, strenuous efforts
should however be made to use the same annotations and apply the same assessment
criteria when marking a piece of work. For this reason, the tutor is referred to the two
sections below. These include (i) the annotations to be used in correcting written
assignments (when writing out corrected words/sentences is not necessary) and (ii) the
marking criteria (or assessment rubric) that should be applied to students written
work when determining their mark.

Annotations
Annotations placed in the margin (identifying error types)

Conj

Conjugation

Verb incorrectly conjugated

Exp

Expression

Unidiomatic usage/collocation or inappropriate

stylistic level

Gender

Incorrect gender

Meaning

Unclear, ambiguous and at worst incomprehensible.

Agr.

Agreement

Check agreement of adjectives and nouns in terms of

number and gender.

Article

Incorrect or missing article or determiner.

Ref

Referencing

You have omitted to give the source of a quotation

or have failed to give the reference in the correct
format.

Accent

Incorrect or missing accent.

Punctuation

Incorrectly placed or missing full stop, comma, etc.

Prep

Preposition

Incorrect preposition.

Sp.

Spelling

Spelling mistake.

Tense

Incorrect choice of tense.

Vocab

Wrong choice of word.

Gr(am)

Grammar

Grammatical error.

Sing.

Singular

Word requires singular form.

Plu.

Plural

Word requires plural form.

WO

Word Order

Mistake in the word order of the sentence.

Omission

Missing word, phrase or sentence.

Annotations used in students text (identifying errors as well as good points)

Underline

= Error

Double underline

= Serious error

Wobbly line

= Less serious error or not quite right

Needle eye line

= Error without deduction (repeated error, error

resulting from another error, error not taken into
account for some other reason).

Line and star

= The two words/phrases marked with a * taken

together constitute an error or instance of repetition.

Tick

= Correct (good work).

Two ticks

= Particularly well formulated (very good work).

Writing Tasks Assessment Rubric

Tutors should give a mark for (i) grammar and accuracy (ii) language and content according
to the criteria in the assessment rubric below. Both categories are marked out of 25. These
marks as well as the total of the two marks should be written somewhere on the
assignment. When giving the mark out of 25, the tutor shouldnt lose sight of the connection
of this mark to the percentages which relate to Australian grade delineations (these have
been given in the left-hand column of the table below and show the percentage ranges
which correspond to HD, D, C, etc).

Mark
85-100%
HD

75-84%
D

65-74%
C

Grammar and Accuracy

(/25)

Language and Content

(/25)

Mark

Throughout the written task

grammatical errors are minimal
and even complex areas of
grammar have been dealt with
adeptly. Mastery of verb
conjugations, genders, word
order, adjectival agreements,
articles/determiners and
prepositions is demonstrated.
The correct feminine and plural
variations of words are given
throughout. Spelling mistakes
are few or non-existent. There
are no missing accents. The
written task has clearly been
proof-read and intelligently
edited prior to submission.
Throughout the written task
grammatical errors are few in
number and despite some
infelicities even complex areas
of grammar have been dealt
with competently. Despite some
errors, there is good knowledge
of verb conjugations, tenses,
genders, word order and
adjectival
agreements, articles/determiner
s and prepositions. On the
whole, the correct feminine and
plural variations of words have
been sought. Spelling mistakes
are few in number or not of a
serious nature. There are few
missing accents. Despite some
errors, there is every indication
that the written task has been
proof-read and edited prior to
submission.
The written task contains some
grammatical errors though they
do not obscure meaning and
relate mainly to more complex
areas of grammar. Some errors
have occurred in one or more of
the following: verb conjugations,
tenses, genders, word order,
adjectival
agreements, articles/determiner
s and prepositions. At times, the

All points in written task are

communicated with clarity and
dexterity. Student employs a
wide range of words and
expressions. Prose is idiomatic
and Anglicisms have been
avoided totally. Style and
register are appropriate to the
style of writing stipulated by the
assessment task. Content of
written task is original and
engaging.

21.25-25
HD

All points in written task are

clearly and ably communicated.
Student employs a reasonably
wide range of words and
expressions. Prose makes use
of idiom and Anglicisms are
generally avoided. Style and
register are appropriate to the
style of writing stipulated by the
assessment task. Content of
written task is informative and
engaging.

18.75-21
D

Most of the points in the written

task are well-communicated
though may lack polish and
sophistication. Student has a
good grasp of basic words and
stock expressions though
should aim to widen his/her
range of vocabulary somewhat.
Prose may not always be
entirely idiomatic and some
Anglicisms may have been

16.25-18.5
C

(out of
25)

50-64%
P

0-49%
Fail

correct feminine and plural

variations of words have not
been employed. There may be
some spelling mistakes
and missing accents. More time
could have been spent proofreading and editing the written
task prior to submission in order
to avoid the mistakes made.
The written task contains a
good number of grammatical
errors including both basic
errors and those relating to
more complex areas of
grammar. Mistakes have been
made in relation to more than of
one the following: verb
conjugations, tenses, genders,
word order, adjectival
agreements, articles/determiner
s and prepositions. Correct
feminine and plural variations of
words have not been employed
consistently. At times the errors
may have obscured meaning.
There are a good number of
spelling mistakes. Accents may
be missing. There is little
indication that the written task
was proof-read or edited prior to
submission in order to avoid the
mistakes made.
The written task is riddled with
grammatical errors including
both basic errors and those
relating to more complex areas
of grammar. Mistakes have
been made in relation to most of
the following: verb conjugations,
tenses, genders, word order,
adjectival
agreements, articles/determiner
s and prepositions. The errors
made have frequently obscured
meaning. Feminine and plural
variations of words have not
been employed at all. There are
numerous spelling mistakes
and many accents missing from
words. There is no indication
that the written task was proofread or edited prior to
submission in order to avoid the
mistakes made.

included. Some words and

expressions may have been
used which arent appropriate to
the style of writing stipulated by
the assessment task. Content of
written task is matter-of-fact
though possibly somewhat
pedestrian.
The level of communication is
basic and may at times lack
clarity. Student uses basic
words and stock expressions
though even these may not
always be employed correctly.
On the whole, prose is not
idiomatic and contains some
Anglicisms or unidiomatic turns
of phrase. A good number of
words and expressions have
been used which arent
appropriate to the style of
writing stipulated by the
assessment task. Content of
written task lacks flair and may
at times be difficult to follow.

12.5-16
P

The level of communication is

sub-standard and apt to confuse
the reader. Student struggles to
use the most basic words and
stock expressions to
communicate what he/she
wishes to say. Prose is not at all
idiomatic and contains many
Anglicisms or unidiomatic turns
of phrase. Many words and
expressions may have been
employed which arent
appropriate to the style of
writing stipulated by the
assessment task. The content
of the written task is difficult to
decipher.

0-12.25
P