We compared three assessor types (self-assessors, peer-assessors, and teacher assessors) to determine whether they differed in the levels of severity they exercised when rating essays. We analyzed the ratings of 194 assessors who evaluated 188 essays that students enrolled in two state-run universities in Iran wrote. The assessors employed a…

An increasing number of writing programs and assessments are employing writing-from-sources tasks in which reading and writing are integrated. The integration of reading and writing in such contexts raises a number of questions with regard to writers' use of sources in their writing, the functions these sources serve, and how proficiency affects…

Raters of Georgia's (USA) state-mandated college-level writing exam, which is intended to ensure a minimal university-level writing competency, are trained to grade holistically when assessing these exams. A guiding principle in holistic grading is to not focus exclusively on any one aspect of writing but rather to give equal weight to style,…

Supporting undergraduate students with their academic literacies has recently been a major focus in higher education in the UK. This paper explores the value of tutor mediation in the context of academic writing development among undergraduate business studies students in open and distance learning, following the dynamic assessment (DA) approach…

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…

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…

College and university instructors who assess student writing, including but not limited to teachers of first-year composition, sometimes keep the gate. Gatekeeping by writing instructors is an activity directly related to grading practices and, in many cases, to grading practices which emphasize formal, mechanical, usually sentence-level choices…

This paper reports the effects of the properties of source texts on summarization. One hundred and fifty-seven undergraduates were asked to write summaries of one of three extended English texts of similar length and readability, but differing in other discoursal features such as lexical diversity and macro-organization. The effects of…

Persistent gaps between optimistic state and pessimistic national academic performance assessment results are increasingly leading to calls for unified national standards in the US. Critics argue that these gaps reveal vast differences in how proficiency is conceptualized; however, little is known about how conceptualizations compare among…

The use of reading-to-write tasks for assessing academic writing in English is increasing, often replacing traditional impromptu writing-only tasks. This shift has led to a number of studies comparing the written products of these two task types. To add to this literature, this article reports on a study comparing test takers' processes in…

In this article, we present findings from a survey study of portfolio assessment practices in four Norwegian higher education institutions after a major educational reform had introduced more varied assessment forms, more compulsory writing and closer follow-up of students. The purpose behind the study was to map these newly emerging writing and…

Attempts to put the field of writing assessment into a historical, linguistic, and geographical/cultural context, in order to stimulate work in writing assessment from across as broad a set of perspectives as possible. Presents a history of writing assessment, looks at writing assessment in the modern period, and considers the future of writing…

Considers what the best assessment practices are for ESL (English as a Second Language) and international students at two- and four-year institutions in the United States. Presents results of an Internet search of one set of prominent American institutions' placement practices. Argues that second language composition specialists need to examine…

Reports an exploratory case study examining notions of success in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing course from the perspectives of three non-native students and their teachers. Aims to investigate how the individual learners constructed activities and their own success in the course. Supports other studies of student and teacher…

Answers questions about how a performance-based assessment of critical thinking skills would correlate with a multiple-choice measure of students' critical thinking skills. Determines whether students' critical thinking abilities would improve after completing a general education course focused on critical thinking and after completing a core…