PhD/PsyD Grading international student papers

[MiniLop]

Not quite psych related, but I'm guessing that a number of the posters here have had similar experiences as TAs and instructors while in grad school and have some advice.

I'm TAing for psych 101 and something like a third of my class are international students (predominantly from East Asian countries). For the record, I am all for accepting international students and I have nothing but admiration for those who face the challenge of adjusting to a new country and learning in a language that is not their first.

However, I'm in the process of grading final papers and a large chunk of them are barely comprehensible. Apparently the school has a required English writing class for international students, but judging by the results it seems to be pretty inadequate. In some cases, it seems like the students did not even understand the assignment, which is especially worrisome given the large amount of class time that has already been dedicated to it.

So how do I handle this? Do I grade the same way I would grade the "domestic" students? Or do I grade more leniently, with the understanding that this is likely extremely difficult for them? I worry that if I do the former, I'm discouraging the students. I worry that if I do the latter, I'm reinforcing bad writing.

This also really worries me on a systemic level. I get that international students are attractive to a university because they pay higher tuition, but it almost seems exploitative. "Come to our school. We won't bother to check if you have the English skills necessary to succeed, nor will we help provide you with them. We'll just throw you into an environment where you'll be expected to have them." It's like they're setting them up to fail.

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[Tupelo Honey]

You should consult with the lead instructor about this. It's likely the policy changes across universities/departments. At my university, I was instructed to hold everyone to the same standards. (fair or not)

 

[smalltownpsych]

I second the advice of consulting with the lead. I have taught a Psych 101 course and since it is often one of the first courses that students take entering college, I used it as an opportunity to help them get acclimated to the college environment. Part of that is the expectations of college level writing. If a student has deficiencies in any area, the college where I worked had supports that the student could avail themselves. Providing them with the appropriate feedback will let them know early on that they need to address these issues and can help point them to those resources.

 

[Ollie123]

Definitely check with the instructor. Particularly if its a class with multiple sections, its important that all TAs be on (roughly) the same page with regards to grading standards.

I never dealt with this as a TA, but have as an instructor. In some cases, it was international students but in others it was just folks who flat out can't write worth a damn (sadly, not at all uncommon even for folks born and raised here).

My solution was to offer a one-time rewrite option I extended to the entire class, coupled with resources to point people towards the university writing center (most have one or something like it) with STRONG encouragement to go. Some did, some didn't, but I no longer felt bad giving a big fat F to someone who produced something incoherent. If you are grading final papers, its likely too late for something like that. I do think its important to be relatively equitable across the class (i.e. being from overseas is not a free pass to turn in shoddy work - not to mention you may not know that!). I'd make a clear grading rubric and run it by the instructor if you haven't already. I usually have grammar/coherence as a separate section accounting for maybe 10% of the grade and am usually relatively forgiving for undergrads but explicitly state they can lose more points if their incoherent writing impacts the content.

If its really terrible though...they should get a bad grade. I had an even bigger ethical dilemma the first time I reviewed a paper by international authors. It was an incoherent piece of garbage with what sounded like a semi-decent underlying study, but no way to know for sure. Wound up recommending rejection, as did the other reviewers. It is what it is and these are the risks one takes when doing things like that. I wouldn't submit to a spanish language journal without having one or more native speakers go over it with a fine tooth comb. These students are at a disadvantage, but part of transitioning to adulthood is becoming aware of your strengths/weaknesses and learning to compensate for the latter.

 

[MiniLop]

Thanks, everyone. I've talked about it a bit with the instructor but the feedback hasn't been especially helpful. I've been referring everyone to the writing center and I hope they actually take my advice.

I think mostly I'm just really angry at the school for putting these students (and me) in this position. It really is exploitative.

 

[MCParent]

Generally, all students should be graded on the same rubric. Grading "international" students differently makes no sense--would you apply the same lightened criteria to a Brit or Canadian?

Many U.S. students also have SHOCKINGLY little experience writing actual papers, depending on the state/school they are from and how education is administered there. For many U.S. students, this is the first time they have ever written a paper of any kind, likely. So it seems unfair to not apply a consideration to folks like that too; I don't consider the abysmal failure of high school systems to be the students' fault.

The best solution I have found, and implemented, is to encourage students to bring partial drafts to me for review for APA style and general writing. Most universities also have writing centers the students can visit. If they choose to not avail themselves of those services, that's their business--but I wouldn't pass an incomprehensible essay, regardless of who wrote it.