Since Sinclair (1991) concretized the possibilities of processing and analyzing large quantities of text data through corpus linguistic techniques, the applications of corpus linguistic approaches employing authentic language data and empirical evidence have been widely accepted in language teaching and research. As the applications of corpus…

The purpose of this study was to investigate problems and potentials of new technologies in English writing education. The effectiveness of automated writing evaluation (AWE) ("MY Access") and of peer evaluation (PE) was compared. Twenty-two English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Taiwan participated in this study. They submitted…

Testing the hypotheses that reflective timed-essay prompts should elicit memories of meaningful experiences in students' undergraduate education, and that computer-mediated classroom experiences should be salient among those memories, a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods paints a richer, more complex picture than either…

Large-scale writing programs can add value to the traditional timed writing assessment by using aspects of the essays to assess the effectiveness of institutional goals, programs, and curriculums. The "six learning goals" prompt in this study represents an attempt to provide an accurate writing assessment that moves beyond scores. This…

To teach students how to write for the workplace and other professional contexts, technical writing teachers often assign writing tasks that reflect real-life communication contexts, a teaching approach that is grounded in the field's contextualized understanding of genre. This article argues to fully embrace contextualized literacy and better…

This article examines the influence of keyboarding versus handwriting in a high-stakes writing assessment. Conclusions are based on data collected from a pilot project to move Old Dominion University's Exit Exam of Writing Proficiency from a handwritten format into a dual-option format (i.e., the students may choose to handwrite or keyboard the…

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) software is designed to provide instant computer-generated scores for a submitted essay along with diagnostic feedback. Most studies on AWE have been conducted on psychometric evaluations of its validity; however, studies on how effectively AWE is used in writing classes as a pedagogical tool are limited. This…

This study addresses the response of social science and engineering science faculty to a naturally occurring sample of second language writing. Using a matched-guise protocol, faculty participants were led to believe that the one-page essay was produced by an international student whose first language was either Chinese or Spanish. The faculty…

Japanese poetry, haiku, has been widely accepted in western countries. While previous studies have reported on the applicability of haiku poetry to teaching practices in a variety of contexts, few researchers have discussed assessment which is one of the most important factors in language teaching. The aim of this study is to produce assessment…

Despite the debate among writing researchers about its viability as a pedagogical tool in writing instruction [e.g., Helms-Park, R., & Stapleton, P. (2003). "Questioning the importance of individualized voice in undergraduate L2 argumentative writing: An empirical study with pedagogical implications." "Journal of Second Language Writing," 12 (3),…

Describes, via a dialogic format, background and current practices in teaching and assessing writing in secondary schools in the People's Republic of China, as well as issues involved in assessing student writing on the current national university examinations. Suggests comparisons with similar issues and practices in the United States. (SR)

Describes the use of WordStar, Grammatik, and Proofreader software packages to evaluate students' writing in a business communications course. Shows how spelling and selected prose characteristics can be evaluated by computer. (SK)

Discusses the lack of professional agreement as to which components of writing should be evaluated and how. Offers eight suggestions as guidelines for writing evaluation. (HTH)

Among the scoring procedures investigated, Total Words Written, Words Spelled Correctly, Correct Letter Sequences, and Mature Words most strongly and consistently related to the criterion measures. (DB)

Describes a technique to create, administer, and monitor valid and reliable measures of basic students' writing skills. Shows how the test, requiring students to read a stimulus passage and prepare a written response, uses judgments of experienced language teachers to measure students' writing proficiency. Includes a sample exit-test prompt. (MM)