The CATESOL Journal

Many instructors adopt a process approach to writing, assigning multiple drafts and offering feedback for revision; they nonetheless maintain that ultimately a student must receive a grade based on the instructor-determined caliber of the final product in order to maintain high academic standards. This traditional grading system can be demotivating, increase anxiety, discourage creativity and risk-taking, and unleash linguistic bias. In contrast, labor-based grading focuses on effort and improvement and can result in greater student engagement, innovation, and growth. This article explains labor-based grading, illustrates its use in an L2 first-year writing class, and suggests ways to adopt it in other L2 teaching contexts. With testimonials from students, the authors show how labor-based grading, when used in conjunction with revision and a process approach to writing, can foster learning from error and a greater enjoyment of writing as an act of creation.