9.1 The writing skills
Five general components or main areas of writing skills:
9.2 Testing composition writing
9.3 Setting the composition
what is the difficulty in constructing the compositions?
If the description of the situation is too long, the text becomes more of a reading comprehension test and there will be no common basis for evaluation.
On the other hand, sufficient information must be conveyed by the rubric in order to provide a realistic, helpful basis for the composition.
9.4 Grading the composition
Markers may award their marks on
what a student has written
what they believe the student meant by what he or she wrote
handwriting and general appearance of what the student has written
previous knowledge of the student
9.5 Treatment of written errors
What’s the difference between “global” and “local” errors?
Those errors which cause only minor trouble and confusion in a particular clause or sentence without hindering the reader's comprehension of the sentence are categorised as local errors.
Global errors are usually those errors which involve the overall structure of a sentence and result in misunderstanding or even faiure to understand the message which is being conveyed.
9.6 Objective tests: mechanics
Spelling:
Type2: Multiple-choice items
Type4: Error-recognition items
9.7 Objective tests: style and register
Style
It measures students' sensitivity to style
Register
It denotes the ability to write for a specific purpose with a special audience in mind.
9.8 Controlled writing
Benefit
increasing the reliability of the scoring
Danger
: certain students will feel inhibited rather than helped
