This book tackles three choices that face developers of L2 writing assessments: defining L2 writing abilities; collecting evidence of those abilities (usually by getting L2 writers to write something); and judging their performance (usually by assigning a score or grade to it). It takes a historical view of how assessment developers have made those choices, how contemporary practices emerged, and of alternative techniques that have risen and fallen over time.
The three sections each tackle one of these choices. The first considers the social functions that define L2 writing and assessment; the second relates how assessment tasks have adapted to changing conceptions of languages, writing, and assessment; and the third explores how scoring systems have evolved. Each section brings the reader up to date with current issues confronting writing assessment (both in large-scale testing and in language classrooms) before considering the new opportunities and challenges of the digital age. This book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners in language assessment, language education, and applied linguistics.

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Springer International Publishing AG

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Research and resources in language teaching, Basingstoke, 2022

Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland, 2022

Switzerland, Switzerland

S.l, 2023

producers:
Adobe PDF Library 10.0.1

Acknowledgements 7
Contents 8
List of Tables 11
Part I: Getting Started with L2 Writing 12
Chapter 1: Introduction 15
Starting from Definitions 15
Key Terms 16
Writing Meaning 1: A Technology for Recording Language 17
Writing and Speech: A Complex Relationship 18
Lost in Transcription 19
The Global Spread of Writing 20
Writing Meaning 2: Putting Writing to Use 21
Writing as Activity 22
The Uses of Writing 23
Writing and the Social Order 24
Writing and Assessment 25
The Nature of Assessment 25
Assessment and Schooling in Ancient Societies 26
Public Examinations 28
Power, Surveillance, and Social Control 29
Access to Writing 31
Resisting the Advance of Literacy 31
Promoting Universal Literacy 32
Monoglossia and Heteroglossia 33
Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces 35
Other Meanings of Writing: Speech, Script, Text, and Profession 36
Texts and Social Contexts 37
Audio and Video Recording 40
L2 Writing Assessment and Text Types 41
Conclusions: Defining L2 Writing for Assessment 41
References 42
Part II: Getting Writers to Write 46
Chapter 2: Public Education, Rhetoric, and Examinations 47
Writing at Home, at School, and in the Public Sphere 47
Writing in School 48
Differences Between Writing in L1 and L2 49
Origins of L2 Writing Assessment 51
Rhetoric and Composition in the Language Classroom 52
From Oral Disputation to Written Examination 53
Written Composition in the Classroom 54
The Expansion of Public Education 56
Examinations in Modern Languages 57
Composition in Written Examinations 59
Prose Composition and Free Composition 59
The Reform Movement and Examinations 61
The Functions of School Examinations 66
Conclusions: The Nineteenth-Century Legacy 68
References 70
Chapter 3: The Dawn of the Language Test 75
Scientific Management in Education 75
Holding Teachers and Schools Accountable for Results 77
Testing and Social Efficiency 78
Educational Psychology and the New Era of Educational Measurement 80
School Surveys 81
Objections to Social Efficiency 83
Testing the World 85
Funding Efficiency 86
Meeting Resistance 87
The International Examinations Inquiry 88
Tests as Tools for Academic Selection 90
Composition and New Type Tests of Languages 93
The Appeal of New Type Testing 94
Foreign Language Learning: The State of the Art 96
Linguistic Science Enters the Fray 99
Applied Linguistics and the Expansion of English 101
The Birth of a Language Testing Profession 102
The Launch of TOEFL 104
Language Testing Outside the US 106
Conclusions: The Impact of the Efficiency Movement 109
References 109
Chapter 4: Assessment Trends and the Revival of Writing 115
Putting the Ingredients Together Again: Alternatives to Standardised Testing 115
Work Samples and Performance Tests 118
Compositions as Work Samples 118
Educational Objectives 119
Programmed Instruction and Mastery Learning 121
Criterion Referenced Testing 123
Criticisms of Mastery Learning 125
Composition Studies 126
Learner-Centred Composition 126
College Composition 128
The Process Approach 130
The Widening Scope of Applied Linguistics 131
Building on the Lado Model 132
CREDIF and the Council of Europe 134
Communicative Language Testing 138
The English Language Testing Service 139
Graded Objectives in Modern Languages 141
Communicative Use of English as a Foreign Language 142
Challenges for CLT 143
The Relationship Between Test and Criterion 144
Extended Writing Displaces Structure and Written Expression 146
Conclusions: Communicative Competence 147
References 148
Chapter 5: Shifting Views of L2 Writing 155
L2 Writing as Distinct from Communicative Language Ability 155
Models for the Assessment of L2 Writing 156
Criticisms of Contemporary L2 Writing Tests 159
L2 Writing Tests as Situated Practices 162
Ethical and Critical Perspectives 164
Language Policy Orientations 165
Plurilingualism and Pluriculturalism 167
Plurilingual, Pluricultural Testing 168
Portfolio Assessment and Writing Portfolios 171
The European Language Portfolio 172
Writing Portfolios 173
Writing Portfolios and Construct Representation 175
Writing Portfolios as High Stakes Assessments 176
Conclusions for Part II: Getting L2 Writers to Write 178
References 180
Part III: Judging Language Learners’ Writing 187
Chapter 6: Compelling Consensus: From Mark Schemes to the Scaling of Samples 188
Compositions and the New-Type Testing Revolution 188
Counting Errors 189
Comparative Judgement 191
Scaling Samples 192
Criticism of the Hillegas Scale 195
Sample-Based Scales and Reliability 198
Further Refinements and Innovations 198
Objections to the Method of Samples 200
Reactions from Teachers 201
The Quest for Reliability 203
The Unreliable Truth about Essay Scoring 203
Traditional Examinations and Reliability 204
Testing and Teaching 207
Conclusions: Achieving Efficiency of Scoring in the US and Europe 208
References 208
Chapter 7: Rating Scales and Beyond 212
From the Method of Samples to Descriptor-Based Scales 212
Impressionistic Rating 212
Rating Scales for Compositions 214
Qualities or Behaviours? 216
Classifying Raters 217
The Q-Technique 217
Options for Rating Scales 221
Progress, Proficiency, and Accountability 223
Keeping Track of Learning 223
Outcomes-Based Assessment 224
The FSI Scales and the Proficiency Movement 227
Progress, Proficiency and Accountability 229
The Triumph of Technology 231
Sidney Pressey and the Teaching Machine 231
Automating the Scoring of New-Type Tests 232
Automated Essay Scoring 233
The Wisdom of the Machine 234
Educational Effects of Automated Scoring 235
Questioning Reliability 238
Pluralism in Evaluating L2 Writing 242
Dynamic Criteria Mapping 245
Conclusions 247
References 247
Chapter 8: Directions in L2 Writing Assessment 255
Purposes and Consequences in L2 Writing Assessments 255
Stakeholders in Assessment 255
Selection and Guidance 256
You Get What You Assess 258
Teaching and Assessment Synergies and Tensions 261
Directions for L2 Writing Assessment Research 265
References 267
Index 269

2022-12-15