E-learning is gradually gaining prominence in higher education, with universities enlarging provision and more students getting enrolled. The effectiveness of automated essay scoring (AES) is thus holding a strong appeal to universities for managing an increasing learning interest and reducing costs associated with human raters. The growth in…

Students in higher education (HE) are required to complete a variety of writing tasks for coursework and examinations. However, for some students writing presents a major challenge. In the UK, the availability of tools for specialist assessors to help identify difficulties with the quality of written composition is limited. The aim of this study…

Background/purpose: Writing is an essential skill for EFL learners, and the development of flawless writing proficiency in English is the intended learner outcome of every writing course in an EFL program. Development of flawless writing skills involves perfection in orthography (spelling, punctuation, capitalization), grammaticality and syntax,…

As a result of the Japanese Ministry of Education's recent edict that students' written and spoken English should be assessed in university entrance exams, there is an urgent need for tools to help teachers and students prepare for these exams. Although some commercial tools already exist, they are generally expensive and inflexible. To address…

This article contains two measurement development studies on writing apprehension. Study 1 reexamines the validity of the writing apprehension measure based on the finding from prior research that a second false factor was embedded. The findings from Study 1 support the validity of a reduced measure with 6 items versus the original 20-item…

This paper aims to investigate the extent to which teachers can play an effective role to develop students' writing skills through classroom interaction at the Arab Countries Universities. The researcher has adopted the qualitative method as well as the test as a tool for collecting data relevant to the study. It is an attempt to highlight the…

Proficiency with written communication (WC) is critical for success in college and careers. As a result, institutions face a growing challenge to accurately evaluate their students' writing skills to obtain data that can support demands of accreditation, accountability, or curricular improvement. Many current standardized measures, however, lack…

Written communication is considered one of the most critical competencies for academic and career success, as evident in surveys of stakeholders from higher education and the workforce. Emphasis on writing skills suggests the need for next-generation assessments of writing proficiency to inform curricular and instructional improvement. This…

This article describes and reviews the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level General Paper (GP) examination. As a written test that is administered to preuniversity students, the GP examination is internationally recognised and accepted by universities and employers as proof of English competence. In this article, the…

This study primarily investigated the validity and reliability of the writing assessments and their backwash effects on the undergraduates of Institute of International Studies, Ramkhamhaeng University (IIS-RU). The English-major students had academic writing skills problem, especially among the non-native English speakers, whose writing ability…

Presented at the national conference for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in April 2009. This study examined the utility of scores on the SAT writing test, specifically examining the reliability of scores using generalizability and item response theories. The study also provides an overview of current predictive validity…

In this article, the author reviews the TOEFL iBT which is the latest version of the TOEFL, whose history stretches back to 1961. The TOEFL iBT was introduced in the USA, Canada, France, Germany and Italy in late 2005. Currently the TOEFL test is offered in two testing formats: (1) Internet-based testing (iBT); and (2) paper-based testing (PBT).…

The focus of this report is to summarize the research that has been conducted thus far on the new SAT Writing section. The evidence provided reveals that the new writing section has satisfactory psychometric quality in that its reliability is acceptable; it is significantly related to first-year college GPA and college English grades; it has been…

This research aimed to investigate the effect of computers on the test and inter-rater reliability of writing test scores of ESL learners. Writing samples of 20 pen-paper and 20 computer group students were scored in analytic scoring method by two scorers, and then the scores were analyzed in Alpha (Cronbach) model. The results showed that the…

This research aimed to investigate the effect of computers on the test and inter-rater reliability of writing test scores of ESL learners. Writing samples of 20 pen-paper and 20 computer group students were scored in analytic scoring method by two scorers, and then the scores were analyzed in Alpha (Cronbach) model. The results showed that the…