Discusses the lack of clarity in which proficiency in written English was taken into account in the assessment of the academic writing of second-language students at a South African university. Argues that, if universities are to be accountable to their students, the criteria used in the assessment of assignments and examinations should be made…

Discusses three studies: (1) the effectiveness of semantic analyses of written narratives of students with hearing losses in determining language ability; (2) written-language characteristics of writers matched by reading abilities alone and matched by reading ability and age; and (3) written-language characteristics of writers with hearing…

Evaluates the writing of Hispanic students in bilingual and submersion programs, comparing it with the writing of native English speakers in regular programs. Five dependent variables are evaluated: rhetorical effectiveness, overall quality of writing, productivity, syntactic maturity, and error frequency. (46 references) (Author/OD)

Examines the effect of raising university students' awareness of term paper conventions through formal instruction in L2 on producing this genre in the same language or another language (L1). Results indicate that, although formal instruction is important, variations in professors' evaluation of these aspects are the main factor affecting whether…

Discusses writing techniques and assessment methods used in an interdisciplinary writing course. Recommends freewriting, small-group writing assignments, and peer tutoring. Supports assessment by more than one faculty evaluator, peer feedback, and optional versus mandatory rewriting. (CFR)

Considering the complicating effect of cultural differences in writing conventions, this study examines discourse tradition as influenced by Confucian/Taoist precepts and those of U.S. academic environments, the latter requiring rational argumentation, justification, and proof. Pedagogical implications of native-speaker and nonnative-speaker…

Describes a study of the validity and reliability of a writing skills assessment test taken by 4,284 2-year college students in 1986-87. Assesses interrater reliability, influences of nonperformance factors (e.g., gender, native language, and form of test), predictive validity of test for future performance, and implications of findings. (DMM)

Describes a cooperative writing project involving a college-level psychology class and a ninth-grade English class. Discusses different concepts of psychology held by the two student groups. Concludes with suggestions for improving writing skills and helping students become more authoritative writers. (CFR)

A college faculty member who has graded Advanced Placement exam essays on U.S. government and politics, taken mostly by high school juniors and seniors, suggests that high school teachers and college faculty who assess the essays are not the best qualified persons to do so and that despite efforts to ensure consistency, the resulting scores are…

A faculty consultant to the Educational Testing Service for advanced placement (AP) test reading in U.S. government and politics responds to an article criticizing essay evaluation methods and criteria, finding in it a fundamental misunderstanding of the AP reading process and explaining why the essays are subject to less scrutiny for style,…

Provides ideas for using computer technology in language arts classrooms, including learning the mechanics of writing; word choice; rewriting; small group formats; evaluation of writing; group-editing software; e-mail; writing for the Web; and hypertext. (LRW)

Explores issues of whose work is actually being evaluated when raters outside the classroom context make judgments about students based on work composed with the support of peers, teachers, and parents. Data from an evaluation of a statewide assessment and a study of scoring elementary school writing portfolios illustrate the issues. (SLD)

Examines whether targeting instruction to students' weak points has an effect on their writing quality. Upper intermediate students in an English for academic purposes course were asked to write a composition before and after the instructional treatment. Comparison of results from the two tasks shows a significant increase in scores on both…

A professional development initiative in writing provided a context in which teachers could be researchers their own knowledge about writing, writing assessment and writing instruction. Through close attention to student writing samples, and debate in ascertaining writing levels using the English Exemplars, teachers articulated growing confidence…

Automated Essay Scoring (AES) is defined as the computer technology that evaluates and scores the written prose (Shermis & Barrera, 2002; Shermis & Burstein, 2003; Shermis, Raymat, & Barrera, 2003). AES systems are mainly used to overcome time, cost, reliability, and generalizability issues in writing assessment (Bereiter, 2003; Burstein,…