© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.
Coherence in the assessment of writing skills
Robin Walker has worked in ELT since 1981 and has developed special interests in ESP and pronunciation. A member of the IATEFL ESP and Pronunciation SIGs, he is co-author of Tourism 1 (Provision) and Tourism 2 (Encounters) in OUP's Oxford English for Careers series. After 20 years at the Escuela Universitaria de Turismo de Asturias, he is now a freelance teacher, teacher educator, and materials writer
Carmen Pérez Ríu has a PhD in English Philology. She has wide experience in teaching ESP in tertiary education, including English for Tourism, for Chemistry, and for Business. She is a tutor at the Spanish National Distance University (UNED) and has carried out research into different aspects of ELT
Email: walkerrobin{at}wanadoo.es
Email: perezcarmen{at}uniovi.es
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Abstract |
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Unhappy with the contradiction of teaching writing skills through a process-genre approach and testing them by means of a timed essay, the authors devised the Extended Writing Project (EWP) as an alternative evaluation mechanism. This requires students to write an extended text in consecutive sections that are drafted and revised with external help. At the marking stage, the final version is compared with the drafts to gain an insight into the development of both content and language from the planning stage to the final version. The EWP allowed the incorporation of process into the assessment of writing skills, and encouraged increased learner autonomy. Despite flaws, the EWP was well received by students as is reflected in a voluntary questionnaire.