Engaging learners in the assessment

of writing skills

Gerardo Valazza, MEd ELT, RSA Dip TEFLA

to help teachers deal with issues surrounding motivation to write in the 21st century

to provide teachers with a set of teaching ideas/classroom activities which they can take away to use with their learners

to develop teachers’ understanding of the ways in which different types of classroom assessment can be used to help develop learners’ writing skills

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Aims of the Seminar

Overview of the Seminar

Discuss the issues facing teachers trying to engage their learners in writing, and how assessment can increase motivation.

Writing skills, motivation and assessment

Teaching ideas and classroom activitiesTeaching ideas to show different means of assessment and ways to involve learners.

PART 1:Writing Skills ,

Motivation and Assessment

Gerardo Valazza, MEd ELT, RSA Dip TEFLA

lack of a genuine reason to write

lack of immediate feedback

lack of basic skills

lack of familiarity with the required text type

It’s boring

It takes too long

It’s too difficult

I don’t know what to write

Learners’ Motivation to Write

Some Possible Solutions

https://padlet.com/gvalazza/teachingwriting

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https://answergarden.ch/499045

Personalising tasks

Focusing on one writing skill at a time

Brainstorming ideas (Padlet / Answer Garden)

Giving model answers

Some Possible Solutions

Motivating learners via assessment

Authentic writing tasks: blogs, forums

Immediate feedback

Time limits and regular breaks

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Purposes of Assessment

Placement1 to decide what class to put a new learner in

Summative(OF learning)

2 to check whether outcomes have been met, to assign a level or grade

Diagnostic3 to help teachers decide what to teach

Formative(FOR learning)

4 to help teachers check what learning has taken place and what learning needs have not been met

5 Sustainable(AS learning)

to help learners assess their own learning and reflect on their abilities

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Means of Assessment

Taking a summative test, e.g. Cambridge English: Key, at the end of a course; diagnostic testing

External written assessment

Homework or short in-class test, could be used summatively or formatively

Teacher assessment

Learners assess each other’s work; formative or assessment as learning

Peer assessment

Learners compile over time a collection of their work; learning and formative assessment

Portfolio assessment

Learners assess their own work; assessment as learning

Self-assessment

Assessment Criteria!

Assessment Criteria for writing

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OrganisationThe way the candidate has put together the piece of writing.

ContentHow well the candidate has done what they were asked to do.

Communicative AchievementHow appropriate the writing is for the task. Has the candidate used appropriate register?

LanguageVocabulary and grammar. It includes range as well as accuracy.

Beliefs about Teaching WritingSurvey

https://create.kahoot.it/(Teacher)

https://kahoot.it/(Student)

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Beliefs about teaching writingSurvey: True or False? 1. Learners always want a grade or a mark for their writing, so

teachers should always give one. 2. Learners don’t read comments or feedback, so there is no point in

giving any. 3. Learners need to understand what the assessment criteria for a

test are. 4. The teacher is the only person who can mark a learner’s piece of

writing. 5. The teacher should always correct all the mistakes in a learner’s

piece of writing. 6. Correct grammar is the most important writing skill. 7. Learners should learn to correct their own pieces of writing. 8. Teachers should only show learners pieces of writing which fulfil

all the assessment criteria.

PART 2:Teaching Ideas

and Classroom Activities

Gerardo Valazza, MEd ELT, RSA Dip TEFLA

You are going to move to a new house. Write an emailto your English friend Sam. In your email you should:- Say where you are moving to- Explain why you are moving- Invite your friend to visit you

Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.

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Sample B1-Level Task

Dear SamI have a good news! Next week we moving to London.We find a new house there, near the park. We needmove there because my hussband get new job in thehospital. I very excited. Would you like visit me in newhouse?Write soon!

Sample B1-Level Task

TASK:- Say where you are moving to - Explain why you are moving - Invite your friend to visit you

DISCUSS IN PAIRS:What different ways could you use to give feedback on this piece of writing?

Write comments and feedback, including suggestions for improvement (2 Stars; 1 Wish)(WWW; EBI)

Correct it (no mark or grade)

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Give an overall mark or grade (no correction)

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Ask another student to evaluate it

Ask the student who wrote it to evaluate it

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Mark up what needs to be corrected, but don’t make the corrections

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Feedback Options

Dear SamI have a good news! Next week we moving to London.We find a new house there, near the park. We needmove there because my hussband get new job in thehospital. I very excited. Would you like visit me in newhouse?Write soon!

Sample B1-Level Task

TASK:- Say where you are moving to - Explain why you are moving - Invite your friend to visit you

DISCUSS IN PAIRS:How many different types of mistakes can you identify?

Correction Code

You need to add a word here/ This word is not necessaryP The punctuation is wrongVOC or WW This is the wrong wordVT The verb tense is wrongVF The verb form is wrongGR There is a grammar mistake hereSP There is a Spelling mistake hereART There is a mistake with the articleWO The word order is wrong? This part is not clear

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Correction Code Sample

Research Notes Issue 61

https://writeandimprove.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EwJnFRfK9I

https://youtu.be/_MtcVMK7AGUhttps://www.sketchengine.co.uk/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3zBLrlBWG8

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Self and Peer assessment

Learners don’t know what they’re looking for.

1 Agree on a set of ‘success criteria’ at the beginning of the writing process.

Learners can be overly critical or negative of each others’ work.

2Get learners to use ‘two stars and a wish’ or ‘WWW and EBI’.

Learners aren’t capable of using assessment criteria.

3Make assessment criteria clear, and practise applying them to example texts first.

Learners aren’t satisfied if the teacher doesn’t mark the work.

4Mark the work only after the peer/self-assessment; mark the peer/self-assessment as well.

5 Learners don’t take the activity seriously.

Show learners how much their writing improves.

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Using Writing Checklists

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Using Writing Checklists

Download lesson plan – Level B2

Giving feedback on writing- Approaches to correction - Using a word processing tool to give feedback - Using Microsoft Word and Google docs

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The Digital Teacher

https://thedigitalteacher.com/training/giving-feedback-on-writing-training

to help teachers deal with issues surrounding motivation to write in the 21st century

to provide teachers with a set of teaching ideas/classroom activities which they can take away to use with their learners

to develop teachers’ understanding of the ways in which different types of classroom assessment can be used to help develop learners’ writing skills

1

2

3

Aims of the seminar

“It is undoubtedly the best time in history to be alanguage learner. Websites and smartphone appshave facilitated foreign language study like no othertechnology to date.”

Sam Barclay (2017)English Teaching Professional, Issue 110

Isn’t it the best time in history to be a language teacher as well?!

Thank you

Gerardo Valazza, MEd ELT, RSA Dip TEFLAgvalazza@anglo.edu.uy

https://angloseminars.wordpress.com/

/AngloExamenesInternacionales

www.anglo.edu.uy

/CambridgeEnglishTV