Personality Type as a Key to Teacher Understanding of Student Writing Styles

Authors

  • Vanessa Wenzell California State University, Dominguez Hills Author
  • Beth A. Shibata Redondo Beach, California Author

Abstract

What is believed to constitute a good essay can vary significantly among writing instructors. A gap also exists between an individual instructor's concept of the "ideal" essay and actual student papers. We believe that this is not primarily a matter of content, mastery of material, or depth of analysis. Rather, it occurs largely as a result of personality differences between the instructor-reader and the student-writer. The authors explore the role personality plays in shaping the connections and disconnections between writing instructors, student writers, and the "ideal" essay. They examine language use in student writing and describe how it characterizes four Myers-Briggs personality types.

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Published

2024-03-22