Abstract

The assessment of student writing is an essential task for language teachers, both in terms of evaluating their own students’ classroom work and in preparing them for externally mandated large-scale tests, which they may not clearly understand. In this workshop we will explore essential considerations in both classroom and large-scale writing assessments. Topics to be discussed include defining the writing construct, designing tasks for writing assessment, developing and using scoring rubrics, and integrating writing with other language skills in assessment. We will also consider the sorts of evidence needed to support claims about the quality of writing tests and explore some of the methodologies for collecting validity and quality evidence. Finally, we will discuss how the introduction of generative AI is affecting the teaching and testing of writing in the language classroom. 

Sara Cushing is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at Georgia State University. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from UCLA.  She has published research in the areas of assessment, second language writing, and teacher education.  She has been invited to speak and conduct workshops on second language writing assessment throughout the world, most recently in Vietnam, Colombia, Thailand, and Norway.  Her current research focuses on assessing integrated skills and the use of automated scoring for second language writing.