Session 5

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Assessing WritingReview of genres (a partial list):Academic Writing

Papers and general subject reportsEssays, compositionsAcademically focused journalsShort-answer test responsesTechnical reports (e.g. lab reports)Theses, dissertations

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Job-Related WritingMessages (e.g. phone messages)LettersEmailsMemos (e.g. interoffice)Reports (e.g. job evaluations, project reports)Schedules, labels, signsAdvertisements, announcementsManuals

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Personal WritingLetters, emails, greeting cards, invitations Messages, notescalendar entries, shopping lists, remindersFinancial documents (e.g. checks, tax forms,

loan applications)Forms, questionnaires, medical reports,

immigration documentsDiaries, personal journalsFiction (e.g. short stories, poetry)

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Types of Writing Performance1. Imitative – for handwriting, punctuation,

spelling, phoneme-grapheme correspondence, numbers

2. Intensive (controlled) – esp. producing appropriate vocabulary in context, focus on form

3. Responsive – at a limited discourse level, connecting sentences into paragraph, sequencing, etc.

4. Extensive – management of all processes and strategies of writing for all purposes; focus is often on process – not just product

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Writing Microskills1. Produce graphemes and orthographic

patterns of English2. Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed

to suit the purpose3. Produce an acceptable core of words and

use appropriate word order patterns4. Use acceptable grammatical systems (e.g.

tense, agreement, pluralization)5. Express a particular meaning in different

grammatical forms6. Use cohesive devices in written discourse 6

Macroskills7. Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of

written discourse8. Appropriately accomplish the communicative

functions of written texts according to form & purpose

9. Convey links/connections between events, communicate relations as main idea, new info, etc.

10. Distinguish between literal and implied meaning11. Convey culturally specific references in context12. Develop and use batter of writing strategies (e.g.

interpreting audience’s interpretation, drafting, paraphrasing, using feedback, etc.)

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Designing Assessment Tasks:

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1. Imitative SkillsTasks in handwriting, words, punctuation

EXAMPLE:S reads: Copy the following words in the spaces

given:bit bet bat but ____ _______ ________ ________

Oh? Oh! Hello, John.______ ______ ________________

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EXAMPLE:Ss hear:Write the following words in each blank. Below

the story is a list of words to choose from.Have you ever visited San Francisco? It is a very

nice city. It is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I like the cable cards and bridges.

Ss see:Have ______ ever visited San Francisco? It

____ a very nice _____. It is _____ in ______ summer and _____ in the winter. I ______ the cable cars _____ bridges.

is you cool citylike and warm the

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Spelling & phoneme-grapheme correspondence tasksSpelling testsPicture-cued tasks (focusing on familiar words

whose spelling is unpredictable)

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Multiple-choice techniques:1.He washed his hands with __________.

a. soapb. sopec. sopd. soup

2. Using IPA (or other phonetic symbol system used by you and your students)

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2. Intensive (controlled) WritingControlled – or display – tasks – goal is for Ss

to produce language to display competence in grammar, vocabulary, sentence formation – not necessarily to convey meaning for an authentic purpose

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Dictation Dicto-Comp

Level appropriate text is read at normal speed, usually 2 or 3 times – then Ss recreate text from memory

Variation: T. distributes handout with key words, in sequence as cues for Ss

WORKSHOP :1.Listen as text read 3 times (no notes)2.Rewrite paragraph from memory3.Compare with neighbor4.If you were giving this “test,” which cue words

would you give students?14

Grammatical Transformation Tasks, e.g.Change the tenses in a paragraphChange full forms of verbs to contractionsChange statements to Y/N or wh- questionsCombine 2 sentences into 1 using a relative

pronounEtc.

CON: devoid of any meaningful valuePRO: easy to administer and score and does tap

into some grammatical knowledge15

Picture-Cued Tasks

What form(s) do you think these pictures could be used to test?

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Scoring scale for controlled writing2 Grammatically and lexically correct3 Either grammar or vocabulary is incorrect,

but not both0 Both grammar and vocabulary are incorrect

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Ordering TasksEXAMPLE:S reads: Put the words below into the correct order to

make a sentence: Cold / winter / is / weather / the / in / the

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Short-Answer and Sentence Completion TasksExamples:1.Jennifer: _________________?

Kathy: I’m studying English.2.Restate the following sentences in your own

words, using the underlined word. You may need to change the meaning a little.2a. I never miss a day of school. always2b. I’m pretty healthy most of the time. seldom

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3. Look at the schedule of Roberto’s week. Write two sentences describing what Roberto does, using the words before and after.

Write 3 sentences describing your preferences: a big, expensive car or a small, cheap car; a house in the country or an apartment in the city; money or good health

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3. Responsive and 4. ExtensiveWritingPresented together as a continuum of

possibilitiies

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Paraphrasing -Why is it important for learners to be able to

do this?

Example:Read the following sentence. Paraphrase this

sentence retaining the key information.

One of the most difficult concepts for second language learners to grasp is paraphrasing.

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Guided Question and AnswerReferring back to a narrative already presented,

teacher poses questions to stimulate the production of a sequence of sentences:

1.Where did this story take place? (setting)2.Who were the people in the story? (characters)3.What happened first? And then? And then?

(reasons, causes)4.Why did X do Y? (reasons, causes)5.What did X think about Y? (opinion)6.What happened at the end? (climax)7.What is the moral of the story? (evaluation)

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Paragraph Construction TasksTopic sentence writingTopic development within a paragraphDevelopment of main and supporting ideas

across paragraphs

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Academic WritingProcess: freewriting, brainstorming, outlining,

drafting, revisingAttending to task: e.g. compare/contrast;

problem/solution; pros/cons; cause/effectAttending to genre:

Reports (lab reports, project summaries, book reports) Summaries of readings, lectures, videos Responses to readings, lectures, videos Narration, description, persuasion/argument,

exposition Interpreting statistical, graphic, tabular data Library research paper

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Assessing ReadingIn order to become efficient readers, learners

need to master fundamentalBottom-up strategies for processing separate

letters, words, and phrases ANDTop-down, conceptually driven strategies for

comprehension PLUS Develop appropriate content and formal schemata

(background information and cultural experience) to carry out interpretations

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Genres of Reading1. Academic Reading, e.g.

technical reportstextbooks

2. Job-related Reading, e.g. interoffice memosjob evaluations

3. Personal Reading, e.g.Magazinesnovels

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READING and ASSESSMENT

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Types of Reading1. Perceptive – focusing on the components – letters,

words, punctuation. Bottom-up processing is implied2. Selective – to check recognition of lexical,

grammatical, or discourse features, within very short stretch of language.

3. Interactive – longer stretches of language where reader must interact (psycholinguistically) with text. Top-down processing required.

4. Extensive – more than 1 page

NOTE: you’ll find varying criteria for the definition of extensive

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Designing: 1. Perceptive ReadingReading aloud (caution: since task is to test

reading – any recognizable oral approximation of target is considered correct

Multiple-choice (here – a few different formats)

EXAMPLE:Circle “S” for same or “D” for Different1.led let S D2.Bit bit S D

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Grapheme recognition task

Circle the “odd” item, the one that doesn’t “belong.”

1.piece peace piece2.book book boot

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Picture-cuedWord ID

In the picture, point to the word you read here:

Lamp Chair Picture Table

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Picture-cued sentence identification

Point to the part of the picture that you read about here.

The woman is holding a cat.

The man is reading the newspaper.

It is snowing outside.

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2. Selective ReadingTesting for reading knowledge of vocabulary and

grammarEveryone’s favorite: Multiple-choice!!WORKSHOP :Working in pairs:On the following slides, you will see a stem.For each one, decide what you think the Key should be.Then write 2-3 distractors. Make your distractors

effective!After all are done, compare your product with another

pair.

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Write M-C Key and Distractors:Standard M-C:1. He’s not married. He’s _________________.

2. If there’s no doorbell, please _________ on the door.

Contextualized M-C:1. Oscar: Do you like champagne?

Lucy: No, I can’t _____________ it!

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Multiple-Choice Cloze

I’ve lived in the United States (1) _____ three years. I (2) ______ live in Costa Rica. I (3) _____ speak any English. I used to (4) __________ homesick, but now I enjoy (5) __________ here. I have never (6) _________ back home (7) ______ I came to the United States, but I might (8) _______ visit my family soon.

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Matching

WORKSHOP :

The test task is for Ss to match word with definitions

Look at the words being tested – then think of the definition word(s) you would use for the match. Then compare your ideas with another pair.

1.Exhausted

2.Disappointed

3.Enthusiastic

4.Empathetic

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Editing

Model:The abrasively action of the wind wears away

softer A B C

Layers of rock. D

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WORKSHOP:Look at the sentences below (they are 100%

correct).Decide which word(s) you will make “incorrect”

(you’ll need to change it. What grammar point are you testing with this “error”?

Then choose 3 other word(s) as your distractors.Label the key and distractors as A B C D.Show your ideas to another pair.

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1. There are two ways of making a gas condense: cooling it or putting it under pressure.

2. Researchers have discovered that the application of bright light can sometimes be used to overcome jet lag.

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