ASSESSINGWRITING

(from H. D. Brown. 2004. Language Assessment. Principles and Classroom Practices. PearsonLongman.Chapter9.)
Notmanycenturiesago,writingwasaskillthatwastheexclusivedomainofscribesand scholarsineducationalorreligiousinstitutions.Almosteveryaspectofeverydaylifefor commonpeoplewascarriedoutorally.Businesstransactions,records,legaldocuments, politicalandmilitaryagreementsallwerewrittenbyspecialistswhosevocationitwasto renderlanguageintothewrittenword.Today,theabilitytowritehasbecomean indispensableskillinourgloballiteraturecommunity.Writingskill,atleastatrudimentary levels,isanecessaryconditionforachievingemploymentinmanywalksoflifeandissimply takenforgrantedinliteratecultures. Inthefieldofsecondlanguageteaching,onlyahalfcenturyagoexpertsweresayingthat writingwasprimarilyaconventionforrecordingspeechandforreinforcinggrammaticaland lexicalfeaturesoflanguage.Nowwe understandtheuniquenessofwritingasaskillwithits ownfeaturesandconventions.Wealsofullyunderstandthedifficultyoflearningtowrite wellinanylanguage,eveninourownnativelanguage.Everyeducatedchildindeveloped countrieslearnstherudimentsofwritinginhisorhernativelanguage,butveryfewlearnto expressthemselvesclearlywithlogical,welldevelopedorganizationthataccomplishesan intendedpurpose.Andyetweexpectsecondlanguagelearnerstowritecoherentessayswith artfullychosenrhetoricalanddiscoursedevices! //Itfollowslogicallythattheassessmentofwritingisnosimpletask.Asyouconsider assessingstudentswritingability,asusualyouneedtobeclearaboutyourobjectiveor criterion.Whatisityouwanttotest:handwritingability?correctspelling?writingsentences thataregrammaticallycorrect?paragraphconstruction?logicaldevelopmentofamainidea? Allofthese,andmore,arepossibleobjectives.Andeachobjectivecanbeassessedthrougha varietyoftasks,whichwewillexamineinthischapter.// TYPESOFWRITINGPERFORMANCE Fourcategoriesofwrittenperformancethatcapturetherangeofwrittenproductionare consideredhere.Eachcategoryresemblesthecategoriesdefinedfor theotherthreeskills,but thesecategories,asalways,reflecttheuniquenessoftheskillarea. 1. Imitative.Toproducewrittenlanguage,thelearnermustattainskillsinthe fundamental,basictasksofwritingletters,words,punctuation,andverybrief sentences.Thiscategoryincludestheabilitytospellcorrectlyandtoperceive phonemegraphemecorrespondencesintheEnglishspellingsystem.Itisalevelat whichlearnersaretryingtomasterthemechanicsofwriting.Atthisstage,formisthe primaryifnotexclusivefocus,whilecontextandmeaningareofsecondaryconcern. 2. Intensive(controlled).Beyondthefundamentalsofimitativewritingareskillsin producingappropriatevocabularywithinacontext,collocationsandidioms,and correctgrammaticalfeaturesuptothelengthofasentence.Meaningandcontextare ofsomeimportanceindeterminingcorrectnessandappropriateness,butmost assessmenttasksaremoreconcernedwithafocusonform,andareratherstrictly controlledbythetestdesign.

3. Responsive.Here,assessmenttasksrequirelearnerstoperformatalimiteddiscourse level,connectingsentencesintoaparagraphandcreatingalogicallyconnected sequenceoftwoorthreeparagraphs.Tasksrespondtopedagogicaldirectives,listsof criteria,outlines,andotherguidelines.Genresofwritingincludebriefnarrativesand descriptions,shortreports,labreports,summaries,briefresponsestoreading,and interpretationsofchartsorgraphs.Underspecifiedconditions,thewriterbeginsto exercisesomefreedomofchoiceamongalternativeformsofexpressionofideas.The writerhasmasteredthefundamentalsofsentencelevelgrammarandismorefocused onthediscourseconventionsthatwillachievetheobjectivesofthewrittentext.Form focusedattentionismostlyatthediscourselevel,withastrongemphasisoncontext andmeaning. 4. Extensive.Extensivewritingimpliessuccessfulmanagementofalltheprocessesand strategiesofwritingforallpurposes,uptothelengthofanessay,atermpaper,a majorresearchprojectreport,orevenathesis.Writersfocusonachievingapurpose, organizinganddevelopingideaslogically,usingdetailstosupportorillustrateideas, demonstratingsyntacticandlexicalvariety,andinmanycases,engaginginthe processofmultipledraftstoachieveafinalproduct.Focusongrammaticalformis limitedtooccasionaleditingofproofreadingofadraft. MICROANDMACROSKILLSOFWRITING Weturnonceagaintoataxonomyofmicroandmacroskillsthatwillassistyouindefining theultimatecriterionofanassessmentprocedure.Theearliermicroskillsapplymore appropriatelytoimitativeandintensivetypesofwritingtask,whilethemacroskillsare essentialforthesuccessfulmasteryofresponsiveandextensivewriting.

Microandmacroskillsofwriting
Microskills 1. ProducegraphemesandorthographicpatternsofEnglish. 2. Producewritingatanefficientrateofspeedtosuitthepurpose. 3. Producean acceptablecoreofwordsanduseappropriatewordorderpatterns. 4. Useacceptablegrammaticalsystems(e.g.,tense,agreement,pluralization),patterns, andrules. 5. Expressaparticularmeaningindifferentgrammaticalforms. 6. Usecohesivedevicesinwrittendiscourse. Macroskills 7. Usetherhetoricalformsandconventionsofwrittendiscourse. 8. Appropriatelyaccomplishthecommunicativefunctionsofwrittentextsaccordingto formandpurpose. 9. Conveylinksandconnectionsbetweenevents,andcommunicatesuchrelationsas mainidea,supportingidea,newinformation,giveninformation,generalization,and exemplification. 10. Distinguishbetweenliteralandimpliedmeaningswhenwriting. 11. Correctlyconveyculturallyspecificreferencesinthecontextofthewrittentext. 12. Developanduseabatteryofwritingstrategies,suchasaccuratelyassessingthe audiencesinterpretation,usingprewritingdevices,writingwithfluencyinthefirst drafts,usingparaphrasesandsynonyms,solicitingpeerandinstructorfeedback,and usingfeedbackforrevisingandediting.//

ISSUESINASSESSINGRESPONSIVEANDEXTENSIVEWRITING Responsivewritingcreatestheopportunityfortesttakerstoofferanarrayofpossiblecreative responseswithinapedagogicalorassessmentframework:testtakersarerespondingtoa promptorassignment.Freedfromthestrictcontrolofintensivewriting,learnerscanexercise anumberofoptionsinchoosingvocabulary,grammar,anddiscourse,butwithsome constraintsandconditions.Criterianowbegintoincludethediscourseandrhetorical conventionsofparagraphstructureandofconnectingtwoorthreesuchparagraphsintextsof limitedlength.Thelearnerisresponsibleforaccomplishingapurposeinwriting,for developingasequenceofconnectedideas,andforempathizingwithanaudience. Thegenresoftextthataretypicallyaddressedhereare shortreports(withstructuredformatsandconventions) responsestothereadingofanarticleorstory summariesofarticlesorstories briefnarrativesordescriptionsand interpretationsofgraphs,tables,andcharts. Itisherethatwritersbecomeinvolvedintheart(andscience)of composing, orrealwriting, asopposedtodisplaywriting. Extensive,orfreewriting,whichisamalgamatedintoourdiscussionhere,takesallthe principlesandguidelinesofresponsivewritingandputsthemintopracticeinlongertexts suchasfulllengthessays,termpapers,projectreports,andthesesanddissertations.In extensivewriting,however,thewriterhasbeengivenevenmorefreedomtochoose: topics, length,style,andperhapsevenconventionsofformattingarelessconstrainedthaninthe typicalresponsivewritingexercise.Atthisstage,alltherulesofeffectivewritingcomeinto play,andthesecondlanguagewriterisexpectedtomeetall thestandardsappliedtonative languagewriters. Bothresponsiveanextensivewritingtasksarethesubjectofsomeclassic,widelydebated assessmentissuesthattakeonadistinctlydifferentflavorfromthoseatthelowerend productionofwriting. 1. Authenticity.Authenticityisatraitthatisgivenspecialattention:iftesttakersare beingaskedtoperformatask,itsfaceandcontentvalidityneedtobeassuredinorder tobringoutthebestinthewriter.Agooddealofwritingperformanceinacademic contextsisconstrainedbythepedagogicalnecessitiesofestablishingthebasic buildingblocksofwriting.Butoncethosefundamentalsareinplace,thewouldbe writerisreadytoflyoutoftheprotectivenestofthewritingclassroomandassumehis orherownvoice.Offeringthatfreedomtolearnersrequiresthesettingofauthentic realworldcontextsinwhichtowrite.Theteacherbecomeslessofaninstructorand moreofacoachorfacilitator.Assessmentthereforeistypicallyformative,not summative,andpositivewashbackismoreimportantthanpracticalityandreliability. 2. Scoring.Scoringisthethorniestissueatthesefinaltwostagesofwriting.Withso manyoptionsavailabletoalearner,eachevaluationbyatestadministratorneedstobe finelyattunednotjusttohowthewriterstringswordstogether(theform)butalsoto whatthewriterissaying(thefunctionofthetext).Thequalityofwriting(itsimpact andeffectiveness)becomesasimportant,ifnotmoreimportant,thanall thenutsand boltsthatholdittogether.Howareyoutoscoresuchcreativeproduction,someof whichismoreartisticthanscientific?Adiscussionofdifferentscoringoptionswill

continuebelow,followedbyareminderthatrespondingandeditingarenonscoring optionsthatyieldwashbacktothewriter. 3. Time.Yetanotherassessmentissuesurroundstheuniquenatureofwriting:itisthe onlyskillinwhichthelanguageproducerisnotnecessarilyconstrainedbytime, whichimpliesthefreedomtoprocessmultipledraftsbeforethetextbecomesa finishedproduct.Likeasculptorcreatinganimage,thewritercantakeaninitialrough conceptionofatextandcontinuetorefineituntilitisdeemedpresentabletothe publiceye.Virtuallyallrealwritingofprosetextspresupposesanextendedtime periodforittoreachitsfinalform,andthereforetherevisingandeditingprocessesare implied.Responsivewriting,alongwiththenextcategoryofextensivewriting,often reliesonthisessentialdraftingprocessforitsultimatesuccess. Howdoyouassesswritingabilitywithintheconfinesoftraditional,formalassessment proceduresthatarealmostalways,bylogisticalnecessity,timed?Wehaveawholetesting industrythathasbasedlargescaleassessmentofwritingonthepremisethatthetimed impromptuformatisavalidmethodofassessingwritingability.Isthisanauthenticformat? Canalanguagelearner oranativespeaker,forthatmatter adequatelyperformwritingtasks withintheconfinesofabrieftimedperiodofcomposition?Isthathastilywrittenproductan appropriatereflectionofwhatthatsametesttakermightproduceafterseveraldraftsofthe samework?Doesthisformatfavorfastwritersattheexpenseofslowerbutpossiblyequally goodorbetterwriters?Alderson(2002)andWeigle(2002)bothcitedthisasoneofthemost pressingunresolvedissuesintheassessmentofwritingtoday.// SCORINGMETHODSFORRESPONSIVEANDEXTENSIVEWRITING Atresponsiveandextensivelevelsofwriting,threemajorapproachestoscoringwriting performancearecommonlyusedbytestdesigners:holistic,primarytrait,andanalytical.In thefirstmethod,asinglescoreisassignedtoanessay,whichrepresentsareadersgeneral overallassessment.Primarytraitscoringisavariationoftheholisticmethodinthatthe achievementoftheprimarypurpose,ortrait,ofanessayistheonlyfactorrated.Analytical scoringbreaksatesttakerswrittentextdownintoanumberofsubcategories(organization, grammar,etc.)andgivesaseparateratingforeach.// BEYONDSCORING:RESPONDINGTOEXTENSIVEWRITING //Mostwritingspecialistsagreethatthebestwaytoteachwritingisahandsonapproach thatstimulatesstudentoutputandthengeneratesaseriesofselfassessments,peereditingand revision,andteacherresponseandconferencing(Raimes,1991,1998Reid,1993Seow, 2002).Itisnotanapproachthatreliesonamassivedoseoflecturingaboutgoodwriting,nor onmemorizingabunch ofrulesaboutrhetoricalorganization,noronsendingstudentshome withanassignmenttoturninapaperthenextday.Peoplebecomegoodwritersbywriting andseekingthefacilitativeinputofotherstorefinetheirskills. Assessmenttakesonacrucialroleinsuchanapproach.Learninghowtobecomeagood writerplacesthestudentinanalmostconstantstageofassessment.Togivethestudentthe maximumbenefitofassessment,itisimportanttoconsider(a)earlier stages(from freewritingtothefirstdraftoftwo)and(b)later stages(revisingandfinalizing)ofproducing awrittentext.Afurtherfactorinassessingwritingistheinvolvementofself,peers,and teacheratappropriatestepsintheprocess.