Effects of Preexamination Disclosure of Essay Topics

To determine the effects on test performance and test validity of releasing essay topics before a writing examination, researchers asked 300 prospective graduate students to write 2 essays, 1 on a previously unseen topic and 1 on a topic that was made available about 2 weeks before the test. Although for each of the 4 essay topics studied, performance was slightly better when a topic had been disclosed, overall analyses did not reveal any statistically significant effect of disclosure on test performance. Consequently, there was no detectable effect of disclosure on the relation of test performance to several independent indicators of writing skill. Limitations of the study are discussed in terms of its generalizability to a high-stakes testing situation and the extent to which it addressed both the positive and the negative effects of disclosure.     

Test-Takers' Judgments of Essay Prompts: Perceptions and Performance

This study gathered the judgments of Graduate Record Examination test takers-actual and prospective-about a sample of essay prompts being considered for possible use in a graduate admissions writing test. Our thesis was that test-takers' views, which have not been frequently considered in any systematic fashion, may provide valuable information to developers of writing assessments. The specific objective was to determine the kinds of prompts and topics on which examinees feel they can write strong essays, as well as those that they perceive as more difficult. The study identified several features that underlie examinee perceptions of essay prompts. Prominent among these features was the extent to which prompts allow writers to draw on their personal experiences. Some study participants also wrote essays on a small subset of the prompts. With these data, the relation of examinee opinions to performance on the prompts was examined. Though apparent, this relation was less dramatic than writers' strong opinions would suggest.     

Relating Performance on a Standardized Writing Assessment to Performance on Selected Academic Writing Activities

Our objective was to study the relation between (a) the kinds of writing skills that can be elicited in a relatively brief, standardized writing assessment and (b) several nontest indicators of prospective graduate students' writing skills. Various nontest indicators were considered as criteria, but a particular focus was the quality of students' course-related writing samples. Two such writing samples were collected from each participant, along with considerable information about the nature of these samples. Thus, we were able to analyze the conditions and circumstances under which performance on a standardized writing assessment is (and is not) related to performance on course-related assignments. The results reveal modest relations between writing assessment essays and the various nontest indicators of writing skill. Performance on the writing assessment exhibited the strongest relation with course-related writing samples, arguably the most compelling of the nontest indicators of students' writing ability. There was no indication that the relation between performance on the writing assessment and the quality of course-related writing samples may depend on particular characteristics of the writing samples.     

个人陈述体裁分析

个人陈述是一篇向录取委员会介绍申请者的短文,它是研究生院录取过程中最重要的申请文书。本文运用系统功能语言学的体裁分析理论。探讨个人陈述语篇结构和语言特点。     

Effects of composition mode and self-perceived computer skills on essay scores of sixth graders

This study was conducted to gather evidence regarding effects of the mode of writing (handwritten vs. word-processed) on compositional quality in a sample of sixth grade students. Questionnaire data and essay scores were gathered to examine the effect of composition mode on essay scores of students of differing computer skill levels. The study was replicated across two writing prompts; essays were assessed on six elements of writing on which a Writing Process Model theoretical framework predicted differences across modes. Statistically significant effects for mode and computer skills were found for some essay elements, although no statistically significant effects were found for others. These results were inconsistent across writing prompts. With the surge in high-stakes testing in American schools and with increasingly more importance being placed on writing skills in many areas, it is critical that test developers ensure that the composition mode of these tests is not putting certain students at a disadvantage. Accordingly, this article concludes with implications for writing instruction and assessment.     

On the basis of source: Impacts of individual differences on multiple-document integrated reading and writing tasks

Few studies have explored how general skills in both reading and writing influence performance on integrated, source-based writing. The goal of the present study was to consider the relative contributions of reading and writing ability on multiple-document integrative reading and writing tasks. Students in the U.S. (n = 94) completed two tasks in which they read text sets about a socioscientific issue, generated constructed responses while reading, and then composed integrated essays. They also completed individual difference measures (general knowledge, reading skill, reading strategy use) and wrote independent essays to assess their writing ability. Mixed effect models revealed that general knowledge and reading skills contributed to integrated essay performance, but that once general writing ability was entered into the model, it became the strongest predictor of integrated writing scores. These results suggest the need for deeper consideration of the role of writing skills in integrated reading and writing tasks.     

Are There Gender Differences in How Students Write Their Essays? An Analysis of Writing Processes

This study compared gender groups on the processes used in writing essays in an online assessment. Middle‐school students from four grades responded to essays in two persuasive subgenres, argumentation and policy recommendation. Writing processes were inferred from four indicators extracted from students’ keystroke logs. In comparison to males, on average females not only obtained higher essay scores but differed from males in their writing processes. Females entered text more fluently, engaged in more macro and local editing, and showed less need to pause at locations associated with planning (e.g., between bursts of text, at sentence boundaries). That these differences were detected after controlling for essay scores suggests that they cannot be attributed solely to disparities in group writing skill.     

散文起源语言说

散文起源文字说认为与人类生产劳动、现实生活关系最为密切、最适宜实用的散文的起源，迟于那些并非最为实用，与人类生产劳动、现实生活关系并非最为密切的诸多文体，是不合理的。散文和其他许多文体一样，也是可以口耳相传，存在于口头语言中的。连属语言，亦谓之文。所以，人类语言的产生，就是散文的起源。     

Assessing writing: Are we bound by only one method?

The present study describes the way one institution operationalized the notion of process-oriented writing assessment in its entry placement testing context. In an attempt to enhance how it assesses academic writing ability, a workshop-based essay test was proposed in place of the existing, traditional timed essay test. The study looked at how the tests from the two different approaches in writing assessment (product-oriented and process-oriented) affected examinees’ test performance by comparing both the textual quality of the test essays and the placement results. Content-area faculty evaluations of the examinees’ writing ability and the examinees’ view on the tests were also used in evaluating the quality of the tests. The results suggested that assessment methods have an impact on the examinees’ test performance. Even though further evidence is needed for a better understanding of the result, a traditional method of direct writing assessment seemed to put examinees at a disadvantage. The new test was implemented in the given research context and implications of writing assessment in general are discussed.     

Effects of Applying Different Time Limits to a Proposed GRE Writing Test

In order to determine the role of time limits on both test performance and test validity, we asked approximately 300 volunteers–prospective graduate students–to each write two essays–one in a 40-minute time period and the other in 60 minutes. Analyses revealed that, on average, test performance was significantly better when examinees were given 60 minutes instead of 40. However, there was no interaction between test-taking style (fast vs. slow) and time limits. 'That is', examinees who described themselves as slow writers/test takers did not benefit any more (or any less) from generous time limits than did their quicker counterparts. In addition, there was no detectable effect of different time limits on the meaning of essay scores, as suggested by their relationship to several nontest indicators of writing ability.     

论沈从文散文的对比艺术

沈从的散擅长于通过人物的对比、事件的对比、景物的对比、场面的对比、古今的对比等手法，增强思想的深度和艺术的感染力。这一重要艺术特色，对于当代散创作颇具借鉴意义。     

Teaching Writing to Students With Attention Deficit Disorders and Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

The self-regulated strategy development approach to instruction was used to help 3 middle school students who had learning problems, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and specific language impairment, learn a strategy for planning and writing expository essays. The composition strategy helped students to consider their topic in advance and to use text structure knowledge to develop 5-paragraph essays. Regular education teachers provided instruction to the target students in inclusive classrooms; special education teachers facilitated the writing program. A multiple-probe design across students (R. D. Horner & D. M. Baer, 1978) was used to assess the effects of the strategy. Instruction had a positive effect on the students' approach to writing and overall writing performance. Four weeks following instruction, students' papers remained improved and were still longer and more complete.     

Analysis of lexical quality and its relation to writing quality for 4th grade,primary school students in Chile

Few studies have addressed vocabulary quality in developing writing skill in Spanish. Even less addressed it within the Chilean educational system. The specific objective of this study was to characterize, using a comprehensive set of indicators, the quality of the vocabulary produced by Chilean 4th grade students. Based on a national writing survey, a sample of 2056 texts written by 685 students was collected (narrative, persuasive, and informative texts). Current literature defines lexical quality as a composite of diverse factors that, while distinct, are interrelated. To represent the properties of the vocabulary, a set of indicators were selected: (a) lexical diversity; (b) lexical sophistication; and (c) lexical density. Using multilevel modeling (students and schools as levels 1 and 2) to explain a global writing score we found that diversity was a significant determinant for narrative and persuasive texts, density was a significant determinant for the three genres and sophistication was a significant determinant for narrative and expository text. In addition, indicators related to gender and socioeconomic conditions were only significant determinants of narrative stories. The parts of speech most often used also varied according to the purpose of each text. In all genres, words had a short extension and were very sensitive to the input presented in the stimuli. These results imply a significant challenge to this education system: how to promote the development of vocabulary in all children in order to support language learning.     

论散文写作艺术

散文是一种相对自由的文体，很多经验和感受是作家在写作实践中探索出来的，融入了个人的审美体会，具有独特性和创造性，其中的奥妙难以化成简单的教条来传授?然而，教学虽“不能使人巧”，却“能与人规矩”，“怎样写散文”是可教可学的。本文从散文写作实践出发，重点解析散文的构思、赋形、选技，探寻散文的写作路径。     

Text-based writing of low-skilled postsecondary students: relation to comprehension,self-efficacy and teacher judgments

Summarization and persuasive writing are important in postsecondary education and often require the use of source text. However, students entering college with low literacy skills often find this type of writing difficult. The present study compared predictors of performance on text-based summarization and persuasive writing in a sample of low-skilled adult students enrolled in college developmental education courses. The predictors were general reading and writing ability, self-efficacy, and teacher judgments. Both genre-specific and general dependent variables were used. A series of hierarchical regressions modeling participants’ writing skills found that writing ability and self-efficacy were predictive of the proportion of functional elements in the persuasive essays, reading ability predicted the proportion of main ideas from source text in the summaries, and teacher judgments were predictive of vocabulary usage. General reading and writing skills predicted written summarization and persuasive writing differently; the data showed relationships between general reading comprehension and text-based summarization on one hand, and between general writing skills and persuasive essay writing on the other.     

Assessing the relationship between different types of student feedback and the quality of revised writing

This paper reports on a quasi-experimental study comparing the effects of peer-editing to self-editing on improving students’ revised drafts. The study involved two intact classes (experimental and control groups) of an English course. The experimental group practiced peer-editing while the control group engaged in self-editing. After receiving sufficient training in their respective type of editing, both groups wrote a graded argumentative essay in two drafts. Results of a MANCOVA test carried out on the graded essay written by the two groups showed a statistically significant difference in revised writing in favour of peer-editing. A random sample of seven peer-edited and self-edited essays was analyzed to determine the differences between peer-editors’ and self-editors’ ability to notice errors, revise, and improve them. Results revealed that while peer-editors and self-editors had more or less the same noticing ability, writers who engaged in self-editing revised more errors than writers who received peer-feedback. In contrast, writers who engaged in peer-editing improved their revised drafts more than self-editors did. Differences in revised writing performance between the two groups are attributed to the use of language learning strategies, peer interaction, and engagement with language. The paper concludes with implications for classroom teaching/learning and recommendations for future research.     

Impersonal statements: aspiration and cruel optimism in the English higher education application process

ABSTRACT

Full-time undergraduate applicants to English universities must apply via the University and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). By analysing the UCAS statements of 15 undergraduate applicants this article attempts to develop a critical understanding of the role that the personal statement has in applicants’ formation of themselves as subjects within higher education. The article explores how UCAS’s advice around the personal statements draws on discourses that frame higher education as an investment in human capital. Through a textual analysis of applicants’ statements, the article explores how applicants come to present themselves as competitive subjects within their personal statements, and suggests they adopt this position not because they are preparing themselves for the unlimited number of student places in higher education, but for the limited number of graduate jobs that await afterwards. The article suggests there is a ‘cruel optimism’ to this element of the application process, linked to structural inequalities.     

Discourse complexity of college writers with and without disabilities: a multidimensional analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine specific word- and sentence-level features most frequently used in the expository writing of four groups of college writers. Three groups were writers who demonstrated disabilities. Group 1 students (n = 87) demonstrated learning disabilities (LD); Group 2 (n = 50), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and Group 3 (n = 58), combined LD and ADHD. Group 4 consisted of writers with no history of a documented disability (n = 92). Computer-based analysis and structural equation modeling were used to group specific linguistic features identified in the expository essays across all four groups. The frequency of linguistic features, not errors, was analyzed. Four communication dimensions (factors) were identified for the four groups of writers, but the factor loadings and correlations were significantly different across groups. Furthermore, the relationships of specific linguistic features were studied as to their impact on the verbosity, quality, and lexical complexity of students' expository essays. It is interesting to note that very high correlations were found between verbosity, quality, and lexical complexity, suggesting that these constructs are not as separate in their functioning as might be supposed. Implications for assessment and instruction are provided.