Assessing Second Language Writing

2000 ◽  
Vol 127-128 ◽  
pp. 37-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yili Li
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Subjective Evaluation ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Analytical Scheme ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
Grammatical Accuracy ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Rhetorical Features ◽  
High Level

Abstract This article examines the relationship between two kinds of methods used to assess the quality of second language writing : 1) objective computerised text analysis focusing on the linguistic features of written texts, and 2) subjective evaluation performed by human raters using a combination of holistic and analytical scoring procedures. In particular, it attempts to explore the potentials and possible limitations of using computerised programs as research tools in second language writing research. The written sample consisted of a total of 132 short essays written b y ESL students enrolled in various academic programs at an American university. The first method used computerized programs to assess the written texts in terms of syntactic complexity, lexical complexity and grammatical accuracy, whereas in the second method, two ESL raters evaluated the same sample of texts by first assigning a holistic score to each piece of writing, then applying an analytical scheme to assess linguistic features at the syntactic, lexical and grammatical level as well as textual and rhetorical features at the discourse level. A series of correlation analyses were performed using the scores obtained from these two kinds of assessment procedures at the correspondent levels. The results show that a significant correlation was consistently found between these two kinds of scores at the level of grammatical accuracy, yet n o significant correlation was found in any of the other categories. The results also indicate a high level of internal consistency in t he computerized analysis.

scholarly journals The Writer, the Text and the Reader: An Exploration of  Identity in Second Language Academic Writing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kirsten Reid
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Students studying in university contexts often find learning to write English for academic purposes especially challenging. Some of the challenges reside in acquiring the necessary skills and strategies to be successful academic writers. A less tangible consideration which has received recent attention from first and second language writing researchers is the relationship between writing and identity. How do student writers become part of a situated community in which some discourses may be privileged over others? While all writing can be a potential site of struggle, this may have particular significance for second language students who bring their own unique backgrounds and literacy histories to their academic writing and may find becoming part of a new and heterogeneous discourse community profoundly unsettling. Using case study methods, this dissertation explores the experiences of four undergraduate students as they become academic writers in a second language. It also carries out an analysis of some of the linguistic features one particular student essay to examine how writers simultaneously construct their texts and are constructed by them.</p>

SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING RESEARCH AND WRITTEN CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN SLA

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana R. Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
History Of

For more than a decade now, a great deal of research has been done on the topic of written corrective feedback (CF) in SLA and second language (L2) writing. Nonetheless, what those research efforts really have shown as well as the possible implications for practice remain in dispute. Although L2 writing and SLA researchers often examine similar phenomena in similar ways, they do not necessarily ask the same questions. SLA-focused researchers investigate whether written CF facilitates the acquisition of particular linguistic features. In contrast, L2 writing researchers generally emphasize the question of whether written CF helps student writers improve the overall effectiveness of their texts. Understanding these differences in starting points is important because it provides a possible explanation for the conflicting methodologies and conclusions of various reviews on this topic (e.g., Ferris, 2003, 2004; Truscott, 1996, 2007). This article briefly traces the history of these two parallel lines of research on written CF and notes both contrasts and convergences. It then moves to a focused discussion of the possible implications and applications of this body of work for the L2 language and writing classroom and for future research efforts.

scholarly journals The Writer, the Text and the Reader: An Exploration of  Identity in Second Language Academic Writing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kirsten Reid
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Students studying in university contexts often find learning to write English for academic purposes especially challenging. Some of the challenges reside in acquiring the necessary skills and strategies to be successful academic writers. A less tangible consideration which has received recent attention from first and second language writing researchers is the relationship between writing and identity. How do student writers become part of a situated community in which some discourses may be privileged over others? While all writing can be a potential site of struggle, this may have particular significance for second language students who bring their own unique backgrounds and literacy histories to their academic writing and may find becoming part of a new and heterogeneous discourse community profoundly unsettling. Using case study methods, this dissertation explores the experiences of four undergraduate students as they become academic writers in a second language. It also carries out an analysis of some of the linguistic features one particular student essay to examine how writers simultaneously construct their texts and are constructed by them.</p>

CONTRASTIVE RHETORIC REVISITED AND REDEFINED. Clayann Gilliam Panetta (Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2001. Pp. xx + 134. $39.95 cloth, $17.95 paper.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-464
Author(s):  
Douglas Biber
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Contrastive Rhetoric ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
Text Types ◽  
Extensive Range ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Different Cultures

Contrastive rhetoric—an analytical framework for the study of second language writing—has had incredible staying power. Since Kaplan's (1966) original paper, this framework has been used in dozens of studies that compare the rhetorical organizations of written texts produced by writers from different cultures and native languages (L1s). Additionally, the framework has been elaborated and refined considerably to account for the extensive range of linguistic variability found among written texts from different text types; more recent treatments include Grabe and Kaplan (1996, chap. 7) and Connor (1996).

scholarly journals The Effects of Direct and Indirect Corrective Feedback on Accuracy in Second Language Writing

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Abbas Mustafa Abbas ◽  
Hogar Mohammed Tawfeeq
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Grammatical Accuracy ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Post Test

The effectiveness of providing Corrective Feedback (CF) on L2 writing has long been a matter of considerable debate. A growing body of research has been conducted to investigate the value of various types of CF on improving grammatical accuracy in the writing of English as a second or foreign language. This article is mainly concerned with the role of Corrective Feedback (CF) in developing the L2 writers’ ability to produce an accurate text, and argues that CF is considered to be one of the fundamental techniques in teaching second language (L2) writing. Bearing this in mind, it attempts to maintain the effectiveness of CF on the L2 students’ abilities to develop the accuracy of their written output. This topic has recently produced a significant interest among both teachers and researchers in the areas of L2 writing and second language acquisition. A key issue to be addressed is the degree to which CF effectively helps the second language writers obtain long-term accuracy. Currently, the author of this paper has been conducting a PhD study on the effect of direct and indirect corrective feedback on the academic writing accuracy of Kurdish EFL university students, and the data was collected from writing testing samples (pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test) produced by105 undergraduate students of English department from two public universities. The results could be obtained from the study should have important implications for L2 writing practitioners and researchers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document