Language Teacher Agency in the Making: Landscape of Evolving Beliefs and Agentive Stances Regarding Writing Assessment Rubrics

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Language Teacher Agency in the Making: Landscape of Evolving Beliefs and Agentive Stances Regarding Writing Assessment Rubrics
Language: English
Authors: Ana Ruiz-Alonso-Bartol (ORCID 0000-0002-0281-6762), Nataliya Borkovska (ORCID 0000-0002-3314-2756), Pablo Robles-García (ORCID 0000-0003-4780-8552)
Source: Educational Linguistics. 2026.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail:customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://www.springer.com/series/5894
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 33
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Reports - Research
Descriptors: Language Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Second Language Instruction, Spanish, Foreign Countries, Writing Evaluation, Evaluation Methods, Scoring Rubrics, Decision Making, Grading, Writing Assignments
Geographic Terms: United States, Canada
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-15648-8_3
Abstract: Rubrics' relation to language teacher beliefs and decision-making remains under-researched. This mixed-methods study examined longitudinal data from L2 Spanish instructors (The terms "teachers" and "instructors" will be used interchangeably to avoid redundancies) in U.S./Canadian higher education settings. Instructors (N = 33 in each Phase 1 and Phase 2) completed surveys about rubric implementation--exploring attitudes, perceived benefits/drawbacks, institutional dynamics. Follow-up interviews (N = 6 each Phase) illuminate their preferences and agentive negotiations when developing, implementing, and adapting rubrics. Results showed teachers valued rubrics' contributions to grading fairness, consistency, and transparency, helping build shared assignment expectations and connections to feedback. However, some teachers felt rubrics could restrict students' writing creativity. Regarding different rubric types, analytic ones were favored for specificity and clarity, facilitating more objective, multi-faceted evaluation of writing, yet often seen as time-consuming. Holistic rubrics were valued as efficient in low-stakes tasks, yet potentially subjective. The study also explored teachers' evolving agency within institutional ecologies/systems, illustrated by a continuum of agentive curricular stances--spanning from strong programmatic consistency, to flexible consistency, and finally consistent flexibility. Implications for professional development, and teacher education include advocating for assessment literacy and training to navigate affordances/constraints of implementing rubrics within situated contexts. [For the complete volume, "Reimagining Language Teacher Agency: Transperspectival Insights and Actionable Strategies. Educational Linguistics. Volume 70," see ED679531.]
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED679566
Database: ERIC
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