Research into portfolio assessment ("PA") typically describes teachers' development and implementation of different portfolio models in their respective teaching contexts, however, not much attention is paid to student perceptions of the portfolio approach or its impact on the learning of writing. To this end, this study aims to investigate how…

This action research demonstrates the answer to this question: How can literacy professors provide effective training in evaluating writing to preservice graduate education students? The study examines writing assessment instruction in the context of a literacy course required of preservice teachers seeking secondary (7-12) certification in…

We explore how a local rating scale can be based on the Common European Framework CEF-proficiency scales. As part of the scale validation (Alderson, 1991; Lumley, 2002), we examine which adaptations are needed to turn CEF-proficiency descriptors into a rating scale for a local context, and to establish a practicable method to revise the initial…

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental study comparing the effects of peer-editing to self-editing on improving students' revised drafts. The study involved two intact classes (experimental and control groups) of an English course. The experimental group practiced peer-editing while the control group engaged in self-editing. After receiving…

Teachers' feedback on students' written work is an important aspect of pedagogy. However, theoretical views differ on what constitutes "good" feedback, both among applied linguists and academics in other disciplines. In-depth research needs to be carried out into the contextual difficulties of evaluating and assessing academic assignments, and the…

Much of second language (L2) class time, particularly in school and university classes, is devoted to the teaching of writing, and written assignments form an important component of assessed work. We assume that learners' L2 writing develops over time, in response to instruction, feedback, and practice. However, to date there has been very little…

This paper examines the use of portfolios as pedagogical tools for developing academic writing. In particular, it considers the value of multi-drafting, where learners reflect on the learning of a text type as well as focusing on micro and macro aspects. The paper outlines a situated pedagogical approach, where students come to understand their…

This paper reports on the feedback and assessment practices of Canadian grades 4-8 teachers; the data are drawn from a national study of the teaching of writing at the middle grades in all ten Canadian provinces and two (of three) territories. Respondents were 216 grades 4-8 teachers from rural and urban schools. Data sources were audio-recorded…

Traditionally, feedback to writing is written on drafts or given orally in roving or more formal conferences and is considered a significant part of instruction. This paper locates written response within an assessment for learning framework in the writing classroom. Within this framework, quality of response was defined in terms of providing…

Existing comparative studies between peer and teacher feedback in English writing classes have predominantly used frequency measures of peer and teacher feedback in learners' revisions to suggest their relative values for developing learners' writing proficiency. However, learners do not necessarily understand the feedback that is used in their…

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 paper…

Writing is a highly valued skill that is often neglected in the classroom; one reason is that teachers often do not receive adequate training in writing assessment and instruction. Teachers, particularly preservice teachers, need practice making detailed assessments of student writing and to build their confidence for assessing student writing,…

While much of L2 teacher feedback research has focused on the effectiveness of feedback and its impact on student revision and writing, little has been done to examine teachers' feedback in the larger classroom context of teaching and learning to ascertain the functions teacher feedback serves from an assessment-for-learning perspective. Using…

The training of raters for writing assessment through web-based programmes is emerging as an attractive and flexible alternative to the conventional method of face-to-face training sessions. Although some online training programmes have been developed, there is little published research on them. The current study aims to compare the effectiveness…

Classroom assessment of writing is considered from an anthropological perspective as practitioners' tool use. Pan Canadian data from a 2002 English teacher questionnaire (N = 4070) about self-reported assessment practices were analyzed in terms of tool choice and use by secondary teachers of different experience and qualification levels. Four…