Authors: Andrew Wagdy Farag Ghaly
Abstract: The assessment of second language (L2) writing is often influenced by rater-subjectivity factors that extend beyond linguistic competence. This study investigates the "legibility effect"—the impact of handwriting quality on evaluative outcomes—among 50 Senior 2 students at a language school in Alexandria, Egypt. Using a within-subjects design, student essays were graded once in their original handwritten form and once after being transcribed into a standardized typed format. Despite the use of an analytical rubric that excluded penmanship as a criterion, results from a paired-samples t-test revealed a significant increase in scores for the typed versions (M = 38.16, SD = 5.12) compared to the handwritten versions (M = 33.42, SD = 7.84); t(49) = 5.38, p <.001, d = 0.72. These findings suggest that poor legibility imposes a cognitive load on raters, triggering a "horns effect" that penalizes students, while neat handwriting creates a "halo effect" that may inflate scores. The study concludes that the transition to digital assessment in the Egyptian secondary system is a necessary step to ensure psychometric validity and educational equity.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19850325
