Singh, Praveen
(2014)
Assessing writing: A
critical sourcebook.
Language and Language Teaching, 3 (2).
pp. 52-53.
ISSN 2277-307X
Abstract
This is a collection of already published papers
(twenty-four) aimed at researchers and teachers
of composition/writing and (writing)
assessment. The editors discuss the need for
and the challenges of writing assessment. They
notice that even though no one denies that
assessment is a critical component of teaching
writing/composition, there exists a paradox.
While on the one hand it is important that an
effective writing teacher knows the writing
assessment needs of the students, faculty and
institutions, on the other hand some view it as a
“punitive force”.
The papers in this book aim at helping the
audience “understand the theory and practice
Language and Language Teaching
of writing assessment” (p.1). The contributions
range from scholars who are part of the
academic setup to those who bring fresh insights
as administrators or executors of the findings
within the field. This volume, however, does not
concern itself with the “assessment [that]
writers do as they write” and even “the
responses and classroom evaluation” have [also]
been left out (p.1).
The book is divided into three sections,
Foundations, Models and Issues. Here I discuss
some of the papers.
The first three articles in the “Foundations” may
be seen as a dialogue on some of the common
goals. The first paper discusses the “differences
between holistic, analytic and primary trait
scoring”, helping one to understand and
compare common writing assessment
procedures. The second paper offers a strong
argument for holistic scoring and the third paper
discusses the “reliability issues in holistic
assessment”. Therefore, these help the reader
understand at least one of the major approaches
in writing assessment.
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