Assessing Writting

 

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background

Teaching how to write effectively is one of the most important life-long skills educators impart to their students. When teaching writing, educators must be sure to select resources and support materials that not only aid them in teaching how to write, but that will also be the most effective in helping their students learn to write. Students need to be personally involved in writing exercises in order to make the learning experience of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once the target skill areas and means of implementation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.

 

Problem Formulation

1.      What is definition of writing ?

2.      How to Designing Assessment Tasks?

3.      How to do test of written English?

4.      How to Scoring Methods for Responsive and Extensive Writing?

Purposes

1.      To know definition of formulation

2.      To know how to design assessment  task

3.      To know how to do test written English

4.      To know how to scoring method for responsive and extensive writing

 

 

 

CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

Definition of writing

Writing is the process of using symbols to communicate thoughts and ideas in a readable form. Writing can also refer to the work or career of an author.

 

Genres of Written Language:

Academic Writing

Papers and general subject reports

Essays, compositions

Academically focused journals

Short answer test responses

Technical reports (e.g./ lab reports)

Theses, dissertations

Job-related Writing

Messages (e.g., phone messages)

Letters/emails

Memos (e.g., I nteroffice)

Reports (e.g., job evaluations, project reports)

Schedules, labels, signs

Advertisements, announcements

Manuals

Personal writing

Letters, emails, greeting cards, invitations

Messages, notes

Calendar, entries, shopping lists, reminders

Financial documents (e.g., tax forms, checks, loan applications)

Forms questionnaires, medical reports, immigration documents

Diaries, personal journals

Fiction (e.g., short stories, poetry)

 

Types of writing performance:

Imitative

To produce written language, the learner must attain skills in the fundamental, basic tasks of writing letters, words, punctuations and very brief sentences. This category includes ability to spell correctly and to perceive phoneme-grapheme correspondences in the English spelling system. It is a level at which learners are trying to master the mechanics of writing. At this stage, form is primary if not exclusive focus, while context and meaning are of secondary concern.

Intensive (Controlled)

Beyond the fundamentals of imitative writing are skills in producing appropriate vocabulary writing a context, collocations and idioms and correct grammatical features up to the length of a sentence. Meaning and context are of some importance in determining correctness and appropriateness but in assessment tasks are more concern with a focus on form, and are rather strictly controlled by the test design.

Responsive

Here, assessment tasks require learners to perform at a limited discourse level, connecting sentences into a paragraph and creating a logically connected sequence of two or three paragraphs. Tasks respond to pedagogical directives, lists of criteria, outlines and other guidelines. Genres of writing include brief narrative and descriptions, shorts reports, lab reports, summaries, brief responses to reading and interpretations of charts or graphs. Under specified conditions, the writer begins to exercise some freedom of choice among alternative forms of expression of ideas. The writer has mastered the fundamentals of sentences-level grammar and is more focused on the discourse conventions that will achieve the objectives of the written text.  Form focused attention is mostly at the discourse level, with a strong emphasis on context and meaning.

Extensive

Extensive writing implies successful management of all the processes and strategies of writing for all purposes, up to the length of an essay, a term paper, a major research project report, or even a thesis. Writers focus on achieving a purpose, organizing and developing ideas logically, using details to support or illustrate ideas, demonstrating syntactic and lexical variety, and in many cases, engaging in the process of multiple drafts to achieve a final product. Focus on grammatical form is limited to occasional editing, or proofreading of a draft.

 

Micro and Macro Skills of Writing

Micro-skills

Micro-skills apply more appropriately to imitative and intensive types of writing task.

1.      Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.

2.      Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.

3.      Produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate word order patterns.

4.      Use acceptable grammatical system (e.g., tenses, agreement, pluralization, patterns and rules).

5.      Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms.

6.      Use cohesive device in written discourse.

Macro-skills

Macro-skills are essential for the successful mastery of responsive and extensive writing.

1.      Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.

2.      Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written text according to form and purpose.

3.      Convey links and connections between events and communicate such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization, and exemplification.

4.      Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing.

5.      Correctly convey culturally specific references in the context of the written text.

6.      Develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately accessing the audience’s interpretation, using prewriting devices, writing with fluency in the first draft, using paraphrases and synonyms and soliciting peer and instructor feedback, and using feedback for revising and editing.

 

Designing Assessment Task

Imitative Writing

Imitative writing is used for the beginning level English learner which needs basic training in and assessment of imitative writing: the rudiments of forming letters, words, and simple sentences. We examine this level of writing first.

Task in (Hand) writing letters, words, and punctuation

Copying

The example :

Listening cloze selection task

    The  example :

Picture-cued task; familiar pictures are displayed and test takers are told write the word that the picture represent.

Form completion task; a variation on pictures is the use of simple for registration, application, etc. that asks for name, address, phone number, and other data.

Converting numbers and abbreviations to words; some test have a section on which numbers are written for example hours of the day, dates, or schedules and test takers are directed to write out the numbers.

Test takers see; 9:00_____________      5:45________________ Tues ____________       5/3________________ 726 S Main St________________________

Example;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spelling task and detecting phoneme-grapheme correspondences

Spelling test: in a traditional, old fashioned spelling test, the teacher tats a simple list of words, one word at a time, followed by the word.

Picture cued-task; picture are displayed with the objective of focusing on familiar words whose spelling unpredictable.

Multiple choices techniques; presenting words and phrase in the form of a multiple choice task risks crossing over into the domain of assessing reading.

The example :

Matching phonetics symbols; if students have become familiar with the phonetic alphabet, they could be shown phonetic symbol and asked to write correctly spelled word alphabetically.

The Example:

 

Intensive (Controlled) Writing

This next level of writing is what second language teacher training manuals have for decades called controlled writing. It may also be thought of as form focused writing, grammar writing, or simply guided writing. A good deal of writing at this level is display writing as opposed to real writing: students produce language to display their competence in grammar, vocabulary, or sentence formation, and not necessarily to convey meaning for an authentic purpose. The traditional grammar/vocabulary test has plenty of display writing in it, since the response mode demonstrates only the test-taker’s ability to combine or use words correctly. No new information is passed on form one person to the other.

Dictation and Diction-Comp;  paragraph is read at normal speed, usually two or three times, then the teacher asks students to rewrite the paragraph from the best of their recollection.

Example : Test taker hear / read at normal speed, usually two or there times

Petroleum products, such as gasoline, kerosene, home heating oil, residual fuel oil, and lubricating oils, come from ones source. Crude oil found below the earth surface, as well as under large bodies of water, from a few hundred feet below the surface to as deep as 25.000 feet into the earth interior. Crude oil is obtained by drilling a hole through the earth, but sometimes more dry holes are drilled than those producing oil. Pressure at the source, or pumping, forces the crude oil to the surface. Crude oil wells flow at varying rates, from the to thousands of barrels per hour. Petroleum products vary greatly in physical appearance: thin, thick, transparent, or opaque. Their chemical compositions are made up of only two elements: carbon and hydrogen, which form compounds called hydrocarbons. Other chemical elements found in the union with the hydrocarbons are few and are classified as impurities. Trace elements are also found, but these are of such minute quantities that they are disregarded. The various petroleum products are refined from the crude oil by heating and condensing the vapors of crude oil. These products are called light oils such as gasoline, kerosene, and distillate oil.

The test taker rewrite the paragraph from the best of their recollection.

 

Grammatical transformation tasks; the task are virtually devoid of any meaningful value. Sometimes test designer attempt to add authenticity by providing a context.

Example : Test takers read or hear:
o Change the tenses in a paragraph into past tense
She does not follow the examination with her friend
James reads a adventure book with his close friend

o Change statements to yes or no or wh-question
She was happy because she gets a present from her boyfriend
My friend writes a letter to her teacher
o Change questions into statements
Are you studying today?
Are James get low score in this semester?
o Change direct speech to indirect speech
Ann said,” I am hungry”
Ryan said,” I was happy yesterday”
o Change active to passive voice
The teacher corrects our homework

 

Picture cued tasks :  in detaching the almost ubiquitous reading and writing connection and offering instead a nonverbal means to stimulate written responses.

Short sentences; a drawing of some simple action is shown

Picture description; a somewhat more complex picture may be presented showing, say, a person reading on a couch, a cat under a table, books, and pencils on the table.

Picture sequence description; a sequences of three to six pictures depicting a story line can provide a suitable stimulus for written production.

 

 

Vocabulary assessment tasks; the major technique vocabulary are defining, using a word a sentences.

 

Ordering tasks; while this somewhat inauthentic task generates writing performance and may be said to tap into grammatical word-ordering rules, it presents a challenge to test takers whose learning styles do not dispose them to logical mathematically problem solving.

Short answer and Sentence completion tasks; participation of reading performance in there compilation

Responsive and Extensive

In this section we consider both responsive and extensive writing tasks. They will be regarded here as a continuum of possibilities ranging from lower-end tasks whose complexity exceeds those in the previous category of intensive or controlled writing, through more open-ended tasks such as writing short reports, essays, summaries, and responses, up to texts of several pages or more.

Paraphrasing

Example : Test takes read:
Read the article below, then rewrite with your own words. Avoid plagiarizing.

Education, Primary
Education, Primary, first years of formal education. In most countries the emphasis in the early years is on the core skills of reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. In the United Kingdom, the National Curriculum begins at the age of five, and primary schools are required to cover English, mathematics, history, geography, science, technology, physical education, music, and art. Some religious instruction is also provided, and some schools begin to teach a foreign language. In most countries, elementary education is free and is usually compulsory. In some, for example, India, children may learn three or four languages.

 

Guided question and answer

Guided writing stimuli
1. Where did this story take place? (Setting)
2. Who were the people in the story? (Character)
3. What happened first? And then? (Sequence of event)
4. Why did ___________ do _____________ ? (Reason, causes)
5. What did __________________ think about ______________ ? (Opinion)
6. What happened at the end? (Climax)
7. What is the moral of this story? (Evaluation)?

Paragraph construction tasks

Topic sentence writing

Topic development within a paragraph

Development of main and supporting ideas across paragraphs

Strategic options

Attending to task

Attending to genre

Reports

Summaries of Reading/lectures/videos

Responses of Reading

Narration,Description,persuasion/Argument and exposition

Interpreting Statistical,Graphic or Tabular Data

Library Research Paper

 

Issues in Assesing Responsive And extensive Writing

Authenticity: It is a trait that is given special attention. You need to check the validity of the production presented by a test-taker and it needs to be authentic in order to bring out the best in the writer. In this case the teacher becomes less of an instructor and more of a coach or facilitator.

Scoring: These two last stages (responsive and extensive) are the hardest to be assessed. You must assess not only the form (the way the writer put words together), but also the function of the text (what the writer is trying to say).

Time: It is the only skill in which the writer is not constrained by time. The writer is free to write as many drafts as he wants before it becomes a final product.

 

Test of Written English (TWE)

One of a number of internationally available standardized tests of writing ability is the Test of Written English (TWE). Established in 1986, the TWE has gained a reputation as a well-respected measure of written English, and a number of research articles support its validity (Frase et al., 1999; Hale et al., 1996;Myford et al., 1996). In 1998, a computer-delivered version of the TWE was incorporated into the standard computer-based TOEFL and simply labeled as the “writing” section of the TOEFL. The TWE is still offered as a separate test especially where only the paper based TOEFL is available. Correlations between the TWE and TOEFL scores (before TWE became a standard part of TOEFL) were consistently high, ranging from 57 to 69 over 10 test administrations from 1993 to 1995.

The TWE is in the category of a timed impromptu test-takers are under a 30 minute time limit and are not able to prepare ahead of time for the topic that will appear. Topics are prepared by a panel of experts following specifications for topics that represent commonly used discourse and thought patterns at the university level.

Test preparation manuals such as Deborah Phillips’s Longman Introductory Course for the TOEFL test (2001) advice TWE test takers to follow six steps to maximize success on the test:

Carefully identify the topic.

Plan your supporting ideas.

In the introductory paragraph, restate the topic and state the organizational plan of the essay.

Write effective supporting paragraphs (show transitions, include a topic sentence, specify details).

Restate your position and summarize in the concluding paragraph.

Edit sentence structure and rhetorical expression,

The scoring guide for the TWE follows a widely accepted set of specifications for a holistic evaluation of an essay. Each point on the scoring system is defined by a set of statements that address topic, organization and development, supporting ideas, facility (fluency, naturalness, appropriateness) in writing, and grammatical and lexical correctness and choice.

 

Scoring Methods For Responsive and Extensive Writing

Holistic Scoring

The TWE scoring scale is a prime example of holistic scoring. Each point on a holistic scale is given a systematic set of descriptors, and the reader-evaluator matches on overall impression with the descriptors.

Holistic scoring is a method by which trained readers evaluate a piece of writing for its overall quality. The holistic scoring used in Florida requires readers to evaluate the work as a whole, while considering four elements: focus, organization, support, and conventions. This method is sometimes called focused holistic scoring. In this type of scoring, readers are trained not to become overly concerned with any one aspect of writing but to look at a response as a whole.

Focus

Focus refers to how clearly the paper presents and maintains a main idea, theme, or unifying point. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale demonstrate a consistent awareness of the topic and do not contain extraneous information.

Organization

Organization refers to the structure or plan of development (beginning, middle, and end) and whether the points logically relate to one another. Organization refers to (1) the use of transitional devices to signal the relationship of the supporting ideas to the main idea, theme, or unifying point and (2) the evidence of a connection between sentences. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale use transitions to signal the plan or text structure and end with summary or concluding statements.

Support

Support refers to the quality of the details used to explain, clarify, or define. The quality of support depends on word choice, specificity, depth, credibility, and thoroughness. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale provide fully developed examples and illustrations in which the relationship between the supporting ideas and the topic is clear.

Conventions

Conventions refer to punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and variation in sentence used in the paper. These conventions are basic writing skills included in Florida's Minimum Student Performance Standards and the Uniform Student Performance Standards for Language Arts. Papers representing the higher end of the scale follow, with few exceptions, the conventions of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling and use a variety of sentence structures to present ideas.

Development

Developments are all major ideas are set off by paragraphs which have clearly stated or implied topics; the main idea and all major topics are supported by concrete, specific evidence.

Style

Style is sentences relate to each other and to the paragraph topic and are subordinate to the topic; word and phrase choice is felicitous; tone is consistent and appropriate.

Correctness

Correctness there are no major mechanical errors (e.g., agreement) and only a few minor errors (e.g., spelling).

References

References are source material is incorporated logically, insightfully and elegantly; sources are documented accurately, elegantly and emphatically.

Advantages of holistic scoring include:

Fast evaluation

Relatively high inter-rater reliability

The fact that scores represent “standards” that are easily interpreted by lay persons

The facts that scores tend to emphasize the writer’s strengths

Applicability to writing across many different disciplines

 

Disadvantageof holistic scoring:

One scores masks differences across the subskills within each score

No diagnostic information is available (no washback potential)

The scale may not apply equally well to all genres of writing

Raters need to be extensively trained to use the scale accurately

Primary trait scoring

A second method of scoring, primary trait, focuses on “how well students can write within a narrowly defined range of discourse”. This type of scoring emphasizes the task at hand and assigns a score based on the effectiveness of the text’s achieving that one goal. In summary, a primary trait score would assess:

The accuracy of the account of the original (summary)

The clarity of the steps of the procedure and the final result (lab report)

The description of the main features of the graph (graph description), and

The expression of the writer’s opinion (response to an article)

Analytic Scoring

For classroom instruction, holistic scoring provideslittle washback into the writer’s further stage of learning. Primary trait scoring focuses on the principal function of the text and therefore offers some feedback potential, but no washback for any of the aspects of the written production that enhance the ultimate accomplishment of the purpose. Classroom evaluation of learning is best served through analytic scoring, in which as many as six major elements of writing are scored, thus enabling learners to home in on weakness and capitalized on strengths.

Analytic scoring may be more appropriately called analytic assessment in order to capture its closer association with classroom language instruction than with formal testing. Brown and Bailey (1984) designed an analytical scoring scale that specified five major categories and a description of five different levels in each category, ranging from “unacceptable” to “excellent”.Here are the five categories:

Organizations (Introduction, body and conclusion)

Logical Development of Ideas (Content)

Grammar

Punctuation, Spelling and Mechanics

Style and Quality of Expression

 

Assessing Initial Stages of the Process of Composing

Focus your efforts primarily on meaning, main idea, and organization.

Comment on the introductory paragraph.

Make general comments about the clarity of the main idea and logic or appropriateness of the organization.

As a rule of thumb, ignore minor (local) grammatical and lexical errors.

Indicate what appear to be major (global) errors.

Do not rewrite questionable, ungrammatical, or awkward sentences; rather. Probe with a question about meaning.

Comment on features that appear to be irrelevant to the topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER III

SUMMARY

Advanced writing skills are an important aspect of academic performance as well as subsequent work-related performance. However, American students rarely attain advanced scores on assessments of writing skills. In order to achieve higher levels of writing performance, the working memory demands of writing processes should be reduced so that executive attention is free to coordinate interactions among them. This can in theory be achieved through deliberate practice that trains writers to develop executive control through repeated opportunities to write and through timely and relevant feedback. Automated essay scoring software may offer a way to alleviate the intensive grading demands placed on instructors and, thereby, substantially increase the amount of writing practice that students receive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Brown Douglas.2003.Languange assessment Principles and Classroom Practices.California:Pearson Longman.