Analysis of the actual writing assignments and essay tests given to college students showed that tests and assignments were mostly highly controlled and fell into seven categories, including summary of/reaction to reading, comma-annotated bibliography, and research project. Implications for creating tasks in the English for Academic Purposes…

Compares the use of writing samples and standardized tests for college English placement, arguing that a single writing sample is not sufficient for proper evaluation, and provides guidelines for using standardized tests appropriately and accurately. (HTH)

Examines how teacher evaluation effects students' willingness and motivation and hence the writing process. Analyzes results of a survey measuring student responses to several kinds of evaluation of their essays. Concludes that informal evaluation (e.g. peer evaluation, conferences, ungraded writing) improves students' attitudes. (JG)

Several lines of social psychological research that indicate possible biases in assessment of students' written work are reviewed. These are sex bias, physical attractiveness, and prior knowledge. There is evidence of likely biases from all three areas; further research in real, as opposed to simulated, assessments is required. (Author/CH)

Examines the writing strategies of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) student writers at different levels of ESL instruction. Results indicate that native and non-native writers had many strategies in common, but ESL learners were less inhibited by attempts to correct their work. Little correlation was found among English proficiency, writing…

Lists and annotates books and articles on the following topics: (1) writing contexts; (2) status surveys; (3) writing instruction; (4) writing processes; (5) text analysis; (6) writing assessment; (7) writing and learning; (8) language processing; (9) language development; (10) language interrelationships; and (11) language and schooling. Also…

Noting that English teachers are often overwhelmed by the time they must spend grading papers, claims there is a need to rethink teaching philosophy and suggests specific methods for teaching writing and grading papers based on sound research-based theory. (NH)

Covariance structure modeling by LISREL was used in an analysis of relations between intellectual ability, as measured by the Finnish version of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA), and achievement in reading, writing, foreign language, and mathematics in longitudinal data on 234 Finnish school children. The validity of the ITPA…

Describes the objectives and background of a project designed to implement change in a school district's written communication program and analyzes the data obtained from writing evaluation forms. (HOD)

Presents three ideas for teaching content area writing, noting that such writing is most productive when assignments are based on real subject area topics and authentic styles. (HOD)

Suggests a computerized writing workshop provides an ideal setting for collaborative learning, enabling students to participate in activities such as peer evaluation and group brainstorming. (HOD)

Describes an approach to writing evaluation in which the teacher asks the student to write a student-teacher memo--a brief, informal not-to-be-graded communication--that explains the student's intention in responding to the writing assignment. (HOD)

Decries the narrow focus of teachers' comments on technique at the expense of content in students' essays. (HTH)

Describes a project that provided students with the opportunity to observe and comment on their own writing throughout the year through observations of their childhood writing, a series of journal writings, and writing taken through revision. (EL)

Describes the writing evaluation of an 11th-grade English class in which precourse and postcourse samples are graded by a team of English teachers. (EL)