1. IMPROVING WRITING Writing Assessment Practices SAMINA IMRAN KHAN D A College for Women – PhVIII July 28, 2011

2. O BJECTIVE : To reflect on the current assessment practices by the teachers at intermediate level. To reach a consensus in formulating a consolidated rubric for effective assessment. Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

3. YOUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT PRACTICES: How do you assess the writing skills of your students at intermediate level? Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

4. WORKING TOWARDS IMROVEMENT : Marking: Workload Pressure of time Minimal contribution with a dissatisfied feeling Redrafting: Evaluate Rethink Rewrite Editing: Post-writing Check accuracy Final revision Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

5. H OW CAN WE HELP ? Let’s answer these questions: What are we looking for in our student’s writing? How can we help our learners to see how their writing is improving? Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

6. WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN OUR STUDENT’S WRITING? But before answering we need to reflect on components of skilled writing. Revision from all!!!!!!! Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

7. W E ARE LOOKING FOR --- Having something to say(a sense of purpose) content, length Being aware of the reader(a sense of audience) length and style Developing the ideas(i.e direction) Organization Authoring Logical and clear content – org. Manipulating the script- handwriting Using the conventions(Sp, layout)- accuracy Getting the grammar right- complexity Developing sentence structure- complexity Linking ideas- complexity Range of vocabulary- range Crafting Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

8. RSA C OMMUNICATIVE USE OF E NGLISH BASIC LEVEL INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED Accuracy No confusing errors of lexis and punctuation. Grammar may be shaky but intelligible and unambiguous. Orthography uncertain. Grammatical, lexical and orthographical accuracy may be high, though some errors which do not destroy communication are acceptable. Handwriting is legible without any effort. Standards of orthography, punctuation, lexis and grammar are extremely high. Hand writing is easily legible. Appropriacy Range Complexity Any other Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

9. STUDENTS NEED FEEDBACK! Grading Criteria: Example 1 1. Organization of content(Clarity, coherence, paragraph development) 20 2. Range ( grammatical structure, vocabulary) 15 3. Complexity of sentence structure 15 4. Accuracy of grammar (tenses, agreement) 30 of sentence structure(word order, connectives) of spellings of punctuation 5. Fluency (feel for the language, appropriateness, 20 use of idioms, etc) =100 Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

10. GRADING CRITERIA: E XAMPLE 2 ExcellentGoodAdequateInadequateWeak General develop- ment 1.Interes t and force of conten t 2.Develo pment of ideas 3.A sense of audien ce and style Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

11. G RADING C RITERIA : E XAMPLE 2 C ONT --- Excelle nt GoodAdequa te Inadeq uate Weak Specific components in writing 4. Grammatical skills 5.Complexity of sentence structure 6.Use of vocabulary 7. Spelling 8. Punctuation 9. Presentation Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

13. H OW CAN WE HELP OUR STUDENTS TO SEE HOW THEIR WRITING IS DEVELOPING AND CAN BE FURTHER IMPROVED ? Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

14. PROCESS APPROACH IS THE ANSWER! D OES IT RING ANY BELL ??? Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

15. T HE PROCESS APPROACH Being motivated to write Getting ideas together Planning and outlining Revising Planning Redrafting First draft Making notes Editing Ready Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

16. I DEA OF A RUBRIC Introduce a consolidated rubric based on a marking policy document; this document can be derived after a mutual consensus in a staff meeting. Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

17. W HY A RUBRIC ? Rubric serves as a guide to the quality of work that they should demonstrate. With the use of rubric, they are able to identify areas in performance or in an output that needs to improve and areas where they are already good. (Self Assessment) It can be used to gauge students’ needs and understanding, monitor their progress and encourage them to develop skills like collaboration, self-direction and critical thinking. (Peer Assessment) Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

18. QUESTIONS FOR STAFF MEETING A MARKING POLICY DOCUMENT RUBRIC Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

19. SOURCES: Tricia Hedge Writing. OUP Jasmine Angelie v. Albelda Writing Assessment in 21 st Century Classroom ( Intel’s Website) S.D. Krashen Writing Research: Theory and Applications. OUP Royal Society of Arts Communicative Use of English as a Foreign Language. London:RSA Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII

20. T HANK YOU ALL !!! Samina Imran Khan, DCW Phase - VIII