Assessing writing

Conclusion
This intent of the present study was to further explore the measurement of LD in writing assessments. As such, it conf i rmed previous research fi ndings that there is a signif i cant positive relationship between LD and writing; however, a less strong relationship between LD and writing prof i ciency was observed in the present study than in previous work. It may be that the effect of LD is smaller than in untimed conditions and when random effects are not accounted for. Further research is needed to explore these possibilities. This study also demonstrated that multiple-measure models are better able to account for more variance than single-measure models for the three LD measures. Further exploration should examine the extent to which these results remain true under other conditions such as in untimed writing as well as in productive speaking tasks, both timed and untimed, as well. Future research should also explore why multiple LD measures is better than using only one to ascertain whether variability has subcomponents. Although this study shed light on the relationship between LD and writing prof i ciency in L2 English writers, there are some sampling limitations that must be acknowledged. First, our sample was mostly young, college-age students who were learning English as a foreign language. Second, the analyzed writing samples were all responses to timed prompts, which differ from responses to untimed prompts. Third, this study focused only on English, so the generalizability of the results of this study to other languages is yet unknown. Finally, although spelling is often corrected when measuring LD in learner writing (e.g., Yu, 2010), it was not correct for in this study because the human raters did not have corrected spelling when judging writing prof i ciency of responses in our corpus. These limitations should be addressed in future research. Samples could include a larger age range, untimed responses, or a different L2. Additionally, it would be useful to look at the relationship between working memory and LD in various timing conditions to see if working memory is a moderating factor. It would also be useful to look at different writing conditions (e.g., on a computer versus on paper). If a response is written on a computer, researchers could also look at what tools are available to the writer, such as spell check or a thesaurus, and see how those affect LD. Also, the interaction between spelling and perceptions of lexical diversity could also use further exploration. Such studies could support and expand on what has been found here. Funding This research did not receive any specif i c grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-prof i t sectors. Declaration of Competing Interest None. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Amy Barlow for help in assembling metadata for the corpus as well as the staff at the English Language Center for collecting the data for the corpus and the students there for contributing their writing. We would also like to thank Troy Cox for information regarding the development of the test used for this study. Appendix A. Sample writing prompts 10-minute prompts. • Write at least a paragraph about people that you live with now or that you lived with in the past. This could be your family or roommates. What do they look like? Describe their interests, jobs, schedules, and personalities. What do you or did you like about living with these people? You have 10 min to write your response. Some people say that physical exercise should be a required part of every school day. Other people believe that students should spend the whole school day on academic studies. Which opinion do you agree with? Use specif i c reasons and details to support your opinion and describe the potential immediate and long-term consequences of this opinion. You have 30 min to write your response. • What is the most important animal in your country? Why is the animal important? In the future will this animal’s importance increase, decline or remain the same. Use reasons and specif i c details to explain your answer. You have 30 min to write your response. • Identify one improvement that would make your city a better place to live for people your age and explain why people your age would benef i t from this change. Use specif i c reasons and examples to support your opinion and describe the potential immediate and long-term consequences of this improvement. You have 30 min to write your response. • Do you agree or disagree with this statement? ’Colleges and universities should require their students to spend at least one semester studying in a foreign country." Use specif i c reasons and examples to support your opinion and describe the potential immediate and long-term consequences of this opinion. You have 30 min to write your response.