Chapter 9 Assessing Writing

Chapter 9. Assessing Writing

In the PAST… Writing was a skill that was the exclusive domain of scribes and scholars in educational institutions as well as in religiouss institutions. religiou

In the PRESENT… This ability has become an INDISPENSABLE INDISPENSABL E skill in our global literate community.

In the field of SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING… several years ago, it was thought that writing was just for recording recording speech, for reinforcing reinfor cing grammatical and lexical features of language. NOW, teachers understand the UNIQUENESS of writing as a skill with its OWN features and conventions.

Writing in ANY language is difficult. Children Childre n learn to write, but they do not explain themselves clearly, with logical, welldeveloped organization that accomplishes an intended purpose. And yet, teachers expect second language learners to write COHERENT essays.