Reading
Brown, H. D. 2010. Assessing writing, pp. 259-291.
Escamilla, K. & Coady, M. 2001. Assessing the writing of Spanish-speaking students: Issues and suggestions, in Hurley & Villamil Tinajero, pp. 43-63.
Flippo, R. F. 2014. Assessing and using information qualitatively, pp. 153-188.
*Gottlieb, M. 2006. Documenting performance assessment, pp. 111-132.
1. Activity/Journal
a. Go online to www.google.com (or any other search engine of your choice). Look for sources on ‘assessing second language writing.’ Scan through the listing of hits until you identify an article of interest to you. Read and take any pertinent notes. Share some of the main ideas you thought were of particular relevance.
Think about what you have learned about the issues and concerns pertinent to assessing 2L writing from the assigned readings for today. Do you feel that you can integrate any of this into your teaching practice? What are some major considerations to take into account? Also, look at the scoring scale on page 286-287 of the Brown text. Do you find this useful? How so? What do you think of the five major areas (Roman numerals on the left column)? What do these suggest about the priorities of writing instruction/ assessment for beginners vs. advanced learners?
Escamilla and Coady (pp. 46-47) make a case about the discourse style and patterns of different languages and how these compare to English. Briefly summarize the issue (argues by Kaplan and others, i.e. ‘cultural thought patterns’) in terms of ESL writing and why is it said that writing rubrics would need to be modified when used to assess the writing of ESL students.
b. Read the assigned chapter from Assessing readers: Qualitative diagnosis and instruction, 2nd ed. By Flippo, R. F. Identify what you think are some major points made by the author in this chapter (1-3?). Briefly discuss any apparent connection to what you have been reading in the main texts. How is the chapter content relevant to you own practice when teaching/assessing ELLs? How would you address/ apply what you have read in your own present/ future praxis? At the end of each chapter you will find a section titled “Questions for reflection and response.” Choose any two (2) questions from this section to address as part of your entry for this module.
c. Make a list of five (5) new terms you learned from your readings. Write about two sentences defining each of these terms/ concepts.
d. Read the assigned chapter from Assessing English language learners. Take time to write a reaction/ reflection to what the author says. What are some of the major concepts presented? Anything that was of particular interest to you? How so? What do you think about some of these ideas? Do you agree/ disagree with what the author states? Why? Elaborated briefly on your response. Could you identify any connections to what the authors in the other texts are saying? Any inferences or conclusions that you can draw based on your reading of this chapter? (this section applies only to students in ENGL 428)
2. Discussion Question
This is a one-day module.
a. Share your ideas, based on the assigned readings, on three (3) major considerations teachers working with ELL students should be most aware of in regards to assessing writing (elaborate briefly on each of your choices). Why do you feel that this information is important? What would you consider a viable ‘objective’ when testing 2L writing (just one)? Explain.
b. Consider the table in Brown (p. 262-3) on Micro- and macroskills of writing. Choose one and discuss how you would go about identifying a suitable assessment task to evaluate this skill.
c. In assessing the writing of ESL students in intermediate grades, should mechanics and content be given equal weight? Justify your answer.
d. Briefly discuss one practical application derived from reading the assigned chapters that will help you develop effective tools for assessing ESL students’ writing skills