The. Ministry of higher and secondary special education

2.2. Assessing writing assignments: criteria and approaches

From the very beginning of a writing session, students must be aware of the main criteria and goals of the writing task. Whatever methods of assessment you choose, be sure to let students know how they will be evaluated. Here are several ways the writing task can be evaluated.

Guiding Questions

Using the questions below as a guide can help to assess ESL writing easily and fast. These guiding questions can be used for longer pieces of writing such as essays, reports or critiques.

1. 
   Does the writing effectively address the topic and task? Are there any sentences that do not relate to the points of the writing task? Was any necessary information ignored in the response?
   
2. 
   Is the writing well organised and well-developed? Is there a clear structure? (e.g. thesis statement, introduction, body, conclusion, etc.)
   
3. 
   Does the writing display unity, progression and coherence? Are transitional words used to connect paragraphs, sentences, and ideas? (e.g. first, finally, also, moreover, in conclusion, etc.)
   
4. 
   Does the writing display consistency in the use of language? Is there significant switching of tenses or pronouns? (shifting from past to present tense for no reason, changing we to I pronoun etc.)
   

Marking Keys

Low-level ESL learners should be taught conventional grammar and spelling to build a solid foundation for future, more complex writing tasks. So, when assessing basic writing assignments, it can be helpful to focus on correcting mechanical errors by using marking keys. This will allow students to reflect on their writing and try to find the errors on their own. Here is a list of the most widespread marking keys which will help to grade a writing task.

1. 
   GR=Grammar mistake
   
2. 
   SP= Spelling error
   
3. 
   WW=Wrong word
   
4. 
   ?=Unclear meaning
   
5. 
   WO=Incorrect word order
   
6. 
   INC=Incomplete sentence
   
7. 
   PU=Incorrect punctuation
   

Rubrics

Another popular way of evaluating writing tasks is doing it through rubrics (charts or grids) on which we identify the central requirements of the given writing assignment. Then, we evaluate whether or not, and how effectively, students met those criteria. Here is an example of grading rubrics.
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