Assessing Writing 91.12.04 by Cristina, Crystal, David, Rachel, Roy

1. Assessing Writing91.12.04by Cristina, Crystal, David, Rachel, Roy I. Principles for assessing writingII. Existing writing assessment methodsIII. Comparison of traditional and alternative assessment IV. Sample elicitation and evaluationV. References

2. Principles Reliability Give writing assignments before real tests Avoid unclear or too difficult instructions Give instructions as specific as possible Validity Testing only writing ability, and nothing else Set as many tasks as is feasible Ensure samples long enough Practicality--ensure ease of access (online writing) Positive washback--give authentic writing tasks Scoring Holistic scoring Analytic scoring

3. Holistic Scoring NS Native speaker standard NS- Close to native speaker standard MA Clearly more than adequate MA- Possibly more than adequate A Adequate for study at this university D Doubtful NA Clearly not adequate FBA Far below adequacy

4. Traditional 1.Grammar and structure 2.Control Writing 3.Free Writing Alternatives 1.Diary (日記) 2.Online discussion board 3.Dictocomps 4.Think-aloud writing 5.Portfolio 6.Peer evaluation Existing writing assessment methods

5. Traditional      I. Grammar and structure a. Multiple-choice items       b. Error-recognition items       c. Re-arrangement d. Changing words e. Blank-filling

6. Error-recognition a. choose the underlined words or phrases which are incorrect. e.g. 1. It was a terrible accident at an air showin west a b c d Germany yesterday. 2. One of the aircraft was crashed into two other a b c aircraft during the display. etc d

7. Error-recognition b.students are told that there is a mistake in grammar in each sentence and instructed to write the letter of that part of the sentence in which it occurs. e.g. 1. It was/ a terrible accident/ at an air show / a b c yesterday. d 2. One of the aircraft/ was crashed into/ two other a b c aircraft /during the display. etc d

8. Re-arrangement e.g. 1.She was wearing a ………………………. new/ jacket/ leather/ red / lovely 2.Susan ……………………………………… the phone/ when already/ rang / suddenly/ finished/ had

9. e.g. I said if I (1) to discover the fire earlier,I (2) to succeed in (3)to extinguish it before it (4)to catch hold. etc. (1)________________ (2)________________ (3)________________ (4)________________ Changing words

10. Traditional      I. Grammar and structure a. Multiple-choice items       b. Error-recognition items       c. Re-arrangement d. Changing words e. Blank-filling

11. Traditional • II. Control Writing • a.Transformation • b.Broken sentences • c.Sentence and paragraph completion • d.Notes • e.Summary writing • f. Chinese-English translation

12. Transformation • Suitable for intermediate and advanced tests than elementary tests. a. re-writing sentences according to certain patterns e.g. 1.No other living plant grows so tall and fast as bamboo. Bamboo ______________________. 2.A stalk at Japan ‘s commonest bamboo has grown over a meter in only 24 hours. It has taken_____________________. etc.

13. Transformation • b. giving them a word in brackets and use the word to rewrite the sentence. 1. It is necessary to answer all the questions.(need) _______________________________________ 2. His angry out burst was completely unexpected.(took) _______________________________________ **weakness: lack of context.

14. Broken sentences Dear Cindy, Thanks/ lot/ your letter/ which/ arrive/ yesterday. 1._________________________________________________ Congratulations/ pass/ your entrance exams. 2._________________________________________________ You/ work/ very/ hard/ past/year/ but/now/ it/ all/be worthwhile 3._________________________________________________ I wonder/ if / you/ like/ stay/ me/ few days. 4._________________________________________________ I look forward/ hear/you/ very soon. 5._________________________________________________ Best wishes Cathy.

15. a. Most of the students in my class were rather lazy and did not enjoy the course. Pauline, however,___________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ b. A:__________________ B:So do I . I generally watch for an hour or two every morning. A:__________________ B: Immediately after I’ve finished my homework about eight. Sentence and paragraph completion

16. Traditional • II. Control Writing • a.Transformation • b.Broken sentences • c.Sentence and paragraph completion • d.Notes • e.Summary writing • f. Chinese-English translation

17. Using Picture for Writing Essay Writing Journal Choosing subjects : (Avoid very general abstract topic) Realistic writing task : (Think about the likely real life contexts in which your students ) Writing for purpose Specific instruction Clear, simple, and realistic Free Writing

18. Using Picture for Writing • You may want to use pictures to do any of the following tasks in your test: • 1.          to describe a scene, object or person • 2.          to compare two scenes, etc. • 3.          to tell a story • 4.          to give instructions or directions • 5.          to describe a process • Notes: 1. Cultural difficulty • 2. AGE

19. Essay and Journal Writing   1. The error count method 2. The analytic method 3. The impression (or multiple-marking) method

20. The Error Count Method • The error count method involves counting up the number of errors which a student has made…and deducting this number from a possible maximum total Flaws: 1. Completely ignores content 1. fails to take into account that some errors are more serious than another

21. The Analytic Method

22. The Impression Method

23. Alternative • Portfolio: • Dictocom • Discussion board • Think aloud writing • Peer Evaluation • Diary

24. Diary

27. Sample 1 • --Translation • 中譯英 說明：請將以下短文中劃線的五個中文句子，根據上下文譯成正確、通順、達意的英文。每題四分，共20分。

28. Sample 1 • 1.你有沒有想過未來的旅館會是什麼樣子？You need not wonder any longer. A hotel in Japan will give you a preview. The name of this hotel is the Capsule Inn; its rooms rent for eleven dollars a night. 2.每個房間附有一部收音機，一台電視機和一個鬧鐘。3.此外，所有房間都有空調。But here any resemblance to a twentieth-century hotel ends. The rooms are small plastic capsules, and each capsule is about five feet high, by five feet wide, and by seven feet deep. Guests have to crawl into bed through a large porthole entrance. 4.廁所及洗衣設施位於旅館的共同區域。 5.信不信由你，這家旅館經常是客滿，perhaps because the price of the rooms is as small as the rooms themselves.

29. Strength: A. Reliability— Students can practice many similar tasks before the real test B. Validity— Students know what to write from Chinese sentences Weakness: Validity– Not only writing process but also concept transference are involved in translation tasks

30. Sample Portfolio in assessing writing Portfolio assessment is a cumulative and ongoing collection of entries that are selected and commented on by the students, the teacher and/or peers, to assess the student’s progress in the development of a competency 1. Positive Washback A. Teachers' individual teaching B. Student’s individual improvement (1) Writing to learn (2) Writing for self-realization 2. Reliability 3. Validity—possibility of lacking validity 4. Scoring—difficulty in scoring 5. Time consuming

31. References • Brown, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. 2nd ed. New York: Longman, 2001. • Harris, David P. Testing English as a Second Language. USA: McGraw-Hill, 1969. • Heaton, J. B. Classroom Testing. New York: Longman, 1990. • Hughes, Arthur. Testing for Language Teachers. New York: Cambridge, 1989.