Assessing Second Language Writing in Academic Contexts / Edition 1

by Liz Hamp-Lyons

Overview

This is the first volume to focus on the assessment of second language writing. The collection as a whole provides coverage of all issues in second language writing assessment, starting from the context in which and for which assessment must occur, moving through the aspects of decision-making and design in a writing assessment program, and then considering how the need to evaluate any program on assessment can be carried out. After a discussion of issues of public reporting, an area which will receive increasing attention in the next few years, the volume closes with a discussion of what new issues and answers the future may bring. The book reflects the current belief in direct writing assessment in second language writing assessment. While it is often expected that those working with ESL students will focus on language error, throughout the book themes of needs, attitudes, ideas and content dominate. For second language writers the use of written language to learn, to create knowledge and to share ideas and beliefs are vitally important. Additionally, issues of cross-cultural academic literacy, practical information on criteria and scoring models for use with ESL writers, and research on the efficacy and effects of various assessment models are provided. The book blends theory and practice in a way which offers all those who are concerned with the writing skills of nonnative users of English an invaluable resource.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780893917920
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/01/1991
Series:	Communication and Information Science Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	366
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

mp-Lyons /f Liz

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Series Preface
Introduction
Basic Concepts
PART I: THE WRITER
Assessment by Misconception: Cultural Influences and Intellectual Traditions
Reading the World Differently: A Cross-Cultural Approach to Writing Assessment
The Writer's Knowledge and Knowledge of the Writer
PART II: THE TASK
ESL Writing Assessments: Contradictions and Resolutions
Pre-text: Task-Related Influences of the Writer
PART III: THE READER
Holistic Assessment: What Goes on in the Raters' Minds?
Reconstructing "Academic Writing Proficiency"
Statistical Support for Training ESL Composition Rating
PART IV: RELATING THE ASSESSMENT TO THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
Faculty Assessment of ESL Student Literacy Skills: Implications for Writing Assessment
Error Gravity: Faculty Response to Errors in the Written Discourse of Nonnative Speakers of English
Placement of ESL/EFL Undergraduate Writers in College-Level Writing Programs
Linguistic/Rhetorical Measures for Evaluating ESL Writing
Using Performance Assessment Instruments with ESL Student Writers
Scoring Procedures for ESL Contexts
PART V: ACCOUNTABILITY
Issues in Evaluating and Maintaining an ESL Writing Assessment Program
Program Evaluation Procedures: Reporting the Program Publicly within the Political Context
CONCLUSION
Issues and Directions in Assessing Second Language Writing in Academic Contexts
Glossary
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index