Playing for Stakes, Grading and Evaluation in the Teaching of English

Abstract

Introduction:  "Does this count?" and "How much does this count?" are two of the questions high school students most often ask. They are also the questions that most frustrate their teachers. Students, looking at their questions from a practical perspective, are generally innocent of their irony. How much does Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl count? Does it count if we know who Suzanna Moodie was? How much does spelling count? And that short story we read just because it was funny - does that count? Read in a different way, these are issues that lie at the heart of the teaching of English.