ESOL 0351—Advanced Intermediate Composition
Process Composition Scoring Rubric
CONTENT
Generalities /
Details
Originality
ORGANIZATION
Introduction/
Conclusion
Comparison / Contrast
Organization
Paragraph structure
Transitional
language
GRAMMAR &
VOCABULARY
Vocabulary and
word forms
Grammar
(Exs: verb tenses &
forms, sing./plural,
gerunds/infs., word
order, negs., question
forms, etc.)
Sentence structure
MECHANICS
Spelling
Punctuation/
Capitalization
TOTAL
1
2
3
4
The essay includes
almost all generalities,
or almost all details, but
not a balance of both
Writer says nothing
original about the topic
The essay includes some
generalities and some relevant details, but not
enough of one or both
Writer says little that is
original about the topic
The essay gives a fair
balance of generalities
and relevant supporting
details
Writer presents the
topic in a fairly original
way
The essay provides
both clearly stated
generalities and relevant supporting details
Writer makes the topic
original, fresh, very
interesting
Essay lacks both a
“hook” + thesis and a
clearly expressed
conclusion
Careless organization of
topic, with a loose
relation to time.
Essay lacks either a
“hook” + thesis or a
conclusion, or one or
both is/are not effective
Essay contains some
organization of topic, but
the process is often not
clear and precise
Paragraphs contain
identified topics, but are
not well developed
Essay has both a “hook”
+ thesis and a conclusion, but one or both
is/are just fair
The process is fairly
clearly organized
Essay has both an
effective “hook” +
thesis and a clearly
stated conclusion
The process is clear,
tightly expressed, and
relevant.
Paragraphs are fairly
well focused and well
constructed, and most
topics are fairly clearly
identified and
developed
There is a fair amount
of appropriate transitional language between
and inside paragraphs:
maybe not quite
enough, or maybe a bit
too much
All paragraphs are
clearly focused and
tightly developed, with
a clearly identified
topic for each
Vocabulary and/or word
form errors appear occasionally, but meaning
is always clear; vocabulary may be fairly
general
Grammar has some
errors, but meaning is
always clear
Vocabulary and word
forms have few or no
errors; vocabulary is
specific and appropriately used
Paragraph structure is
unfocused with no
clearly identified single
topic, or paragraphs
need much more development
There is very little
transitional language
between and inside
paragraphs, or much of
the transitional language
is not appropriately
used
There is some transitional language between
and inside paragraphs,
but not enough, or else
too much, or else often
not appropriately used
Wrong word choices,
word form errors, and/or
non-English words
make the meaning often
hard to understand
Vocabulary and/or word
form errors are sometimes hard to understand;
or vocabulary is very
simple and general
Grammar is so
uncontrolled that
meaning is often hard to
understand
Grammar has enough
errors that meaning may
sometimes be hard to
understand
Score
___ x3 = ___
___ x1 = ___
___ x2 = ___
___ x2 = ___
There is enough appropriate transitional
language between and
inside paragraphs to
help to make them
coherent and effective
___ x3 = ___
___ x2 = ___
___ x3 = ___
Grammar has few or
no errors
___ x3 = ___
Sentence structure is so
non-English that meaning is often hard to
understand
Sentence structure is very
simple with few errors, or
has so many errors that it
is sometimes hard to
understand
Sentence structure is
clear and has few
errors, but may be fairly
simple
Sentence structure is
complex and sophisticated, with few
errors; very clearly
expressed
Misspelling makes the
meaning often hard to
understand
Punctuation and/or
capitalization errors are
so non-English that
meaning is often hard to
understand
Numerous spelling errors
are sometimes hard to
understand
Punctuation and/or capitalization errors make the
essay sometimes hard to
understand
Spelling has occasional
errors, but the meaning
is always clear
Punctuation and/or
capitalization have
occasional errors, but
the meaning is always
clear
Spelling shows few or
no errors
___ x3 = ___
___ x1 = ___
Punctuation and
capitalization show
few errors
___ x2 = ___
%