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Testing Writing

Essay Tests

Educators have realised the value of extended discourse for assessing learners’ understanding and for interpreting their academic and personal experience, since the time of Aristotle.  Essay examinations are widely used in school systems throughout the world.  They are given during school terms to monitor the development of subject matter and writing skill, at the end of the courses and schooling levels to certify achievement, and as entrance examinations to determine qualifications for admissions to a higher level.

Though many countries have now abandoned essay examinations in favour of more easily scored objective tests, in India we still use it to a large extent.  Even in countries like the US where multiple choice testing has replaced essay examinations at all levels a lot of criticism is voiced.  It is said that the learners’ ability to engage in disciplined thought and the ability to express it in coherent, supported discourse is seriously deficient.  The NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1981) challenges the construct validity of multiple choice questions for measuring the subject matter and especially writing skill development.  They think more emphasis should be placed on test formats which stimulate learners to use higher level reasoning processes as they formulate extended discourse, solve complex problems or apply subject matter concepts and principles.  The ETS (Educational Testing Service, 1983) research report describes the attempt made to determine the extent to which the current version of TOEFL is a valid indicator of the English Writing Skills’ which mainly consists of multiple choice items.  TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) has conducted a survey research to suggest that a well-constructed test can serve both the functions. The same test could help us evaluate the level and development of the learners as well as compare them normatively to the progress of other population of learners.

a.         Components of Essay Examinations

Essay examinations have often been criticised for their lack of objectivity.  Critical components of essay examinations methodology need to be identified and analysed, if we want to make better use of essay examinations.

Some of the important components identified are as follows:

$   The skill to be assessed,

$   The essay problem assignment, and

$   The scoring criteria

The skill to be measured should be sufficiently defined if the test is t o be reliable. The first step in formulation test specifications is to define the skills assessed. Skill specifications are generally considered to include definitions of the content and behaviour.  In subject matter essay examinations the content would be facts, concepts and principles.  The behaviour would not be just the observable behaviour “write”, but the procedure, strategies and solution routines the learner was to apply to the content.  In tests of writing ability the focus is not on content points covered but on the discourses features of the requested essay, for example, whether the composition is a well-formed example of narrative or expository writing.

b.         Structures of assignment

In tests of writing ability the structures of assignments have varied considerably. At one end of the continuum essay tasks are described as topics.  Topics could be a simple one word clue which might bring out different kinds of responses.  At the other end of the continuum essay tasks direct learners treatment of discourse, mode, topic and audience or the reader.  The one word prompt implies the view that writing is a skill that can be equally demonstrated in response to any one of the myriad writing tasks.  The kind of writing tasks presented in class is often criticised as they do not present full rhetorical contexts that sufficiently inform the learners about the writing purpose, topic, audience, writers role and intended criteria for judging the essay  (Britton1975).
 
Recent rhetorical studies suggest that different rhetorical purposes (to express, persuade, inform) place different cognitive demands on the writer and consequently, learners write differently when writing for different rhetorical aims and audience.  In a study conducted by Quellmalz, Capell and Chou (1982) writing competency profiles derived by tests differing in discourse mode and response mode were compared.  Their findings establish the fact that levels of performances vary on tasks with different writing purposes.  Measures of writing which demand different discourse modes, such as narrative or expository, tap different cognitive skills and hence it is important to clarify the demands that are required by different, specific writing tasks.

Tests of written assignments should also take into account the time allotted for planning, writing and at least reviewing, if not revising the written work.  The amount of time scheduled for essay writing varies widely across countries.  Time can support or constrain learners chance to demonstrate their competence.  The current test theory and research support the advisability of structuring essay examination prompts that clearly specify the aim, topic, audience, writers, role and evaluation criteria and that which permit sufficient time for learners to engage in all aspects of the writing process.