Critical Analysis of the IELTS Writing Test

Content validity is achieved when the content of the assessment matches the educational objectives. Criterion validity is demonstrated by the ability of the test to relate to external requirements. Construct validity takes into account the educational variables, such as the native language of the students, to predict the test outcomes. Reliable assessments have consistent results; Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. A test is considered reliable if we get the same result repeatedly.

The class I chose to observe was an eighth grade ELA class. There were twenty students in this class, eight of the students were English language learners. The ELL students’ overall WIDA scores ranged from 3.9 to 5.6. A review of the WIDA data indicated that speaking and writing scores for these six students were weaker skill areas in comparison to their overall score, ranging from 3.4 to 4.6.

Linguist James Paul Gee introduces the concept of literacy discourse by defining language as both what an individual says and how they present it. Literary language an important factor to maintaining academic discourse, because as Gee suggests this influences discourses being used correctly . Furthermore Gee suggests that in order to follow the intended guidelines correct discourse “must say or write the right thing in the right way while playing the right social role.” (pg.6) Indeed, within my academic experience using discourse here at Wayne State University, I agree with Gees definition of student’s adaptation of behavioral roles set by the institution. For example, students at Wayne State are expected to achieve a steady progression

After they submitted the essay, teacher revises the essay, evaluate according to rubric, gives written feedback and students are asked to write second draft. Therefore, it makes the task a formative test. Because they are expected to write second and final drafts, this task can be considered as a process assessment. This task provides the opportunity to observe the development of students. In addition, the task has objective testing features. As the task has a rubric, which guides the students how they have to write and how their papers are scored. Moreover, our aim to give that homework is not compare the students to one another but to see whether they accomplish to write a successful essay regarding the rubric one by one. We try to have information about what the student can actually do in the language. Tests that are designed to provide this kind of information directly are said to be criterion-referenced (Hughes, 2003, p. 20). The course name is Advanced Reading and Writing Skills and the task is directly measure what the course aims. As Hughes (2003, p. 17) states that Testing is said to be direct when it requires the candidate to perform precisely the skill that we wish to

The six course goals of this English 109W course are to Engage in writing as a process that includes planning, revision, and editing based on feedback from peers and instructors; Critically read and analyze academic texts; Understand, identify, and analyze the rhetorical situations of academic texts, including their contexts, audiences, purposes and personas; Understand, identify, and analyze the rhetorical situations of academic texts, which may include genre, format, evidence, citation, style and organization; Develop an awareness of and preparedness for the writing they will do through their majors through research, exploration, and or practice of the discourse community’s conventions; and Engage in formal and informal writing that analyzes and critically reflects on their major’s writing conventions and their own writing practices and choices. I perceive that I have achieved all the goals for this course through the various drafts I composed, polished papers I produced, and the supplemental work that I have selected to include enclosed within my portfolio.

Writing and reading are the two major components not only in any English course, but also in every other course such as Sociology. Thus, gaining more skills and improving on writing and reading outcomes is necessary for every student. By taking English courses, I am consistently gaining new skills and making improvements in the writing and reading outcomes. Like every other English courses, I have made some significant improvements and gained some crucial skills on writing and reading outcomes in the English 3010 course. In English 3010 course, writing and reading outcomes were related to each other in every assignment. For example,

Construct validity, pertains to the validity of the instrumentation used to capture the constructs/concepts a researcher is interested in measuring (Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002). In research, the concepts explored must be defined explicitly to communicate with others how the research was conducted. For this end, conceptual definitions are needed to explain the meaning of a concept. However, operational definitions provide specificity on how the concept will be captured and measured. Operational definitions contribute to: parsimony in theories and hypotheses; reliability as its enables replication; and transparency of the constructs being studied to avoid possible misinterpretations (Shadish et al., 2002). Of course,

In its setting is the expectation to have the ability to comprehend academic writings and be able to be tested on it. Even though I was a good reader, I found myself behind my peers when it came to testing. The same skills that I had gathered in my younger year seemed to have left me. I begun receiving average grades when it came to my reading and writing. Confused, I started to backtrack. I no longer read due to the negative memories that was attached. I additionally found it hard to write organized essays. What I had yet to realize was that Literacy can not only increase by reading, but by writing. While reading was beneficial, it had linked to other ways in which i could advance my literacy. Therefore, I began writing. Writing has not only become an essential hobby of mines, but had aided in my Advanced Placement classes. When writing, one should focus on

“Challenge 1: ELLs in my class don't have enough knowledge of academic discourse in English to be successful as content-area writers; Challenge 2: It takes more time for ELLs to complete writing assignments; Challenge 3: ELLs in my class don't have enough English vocabulary to write fluently; Challenge 4: There is just so much to comment on, their papers are covered in my marks, which discourages further writing (DelliCarpini, 2012).

I am not a professional writer, but I am a writer with sufficient imagination and positive attitudes. Through last two-semester-writing training, I understand the basic requirements of academic writing, such as the format, the citation and so forth. However, there is still an extensive space for me to improve my skills in both reading and writing. As a reader, I enjoy appreciating masterpieces and I am good at thinking through reading, but sometimes either cultural shock or linguistic barriers limit my reading speed and reduce my interests.

The Descriptive Writing task in Unit 3 is worth 7.5% of the subject award and is marked out of 20. The mark given for each of the examples provided is supported by comments related to the criteria given in the specification for (i) Content & Organisation; (ii) Sentence Structure, Punctuation & Spelling. A notional grade is indicated in each case, based on the way that the same mark scale for Writing has been used in the past, and consistent with the uniform mark scale which will be used in the future to report results. However, it is important to note that in practice grade boundaries are determined when units are awarded, and that prior to this individual students’ marks are subject to

Writing scores vary for many different reasons. The score of a person can increase or decease due to their gender, race, socio economic status, type of school, type of program, and their scores on other academic studies. In this paper, I will analyze each criteria individually as well as its affect or significant in relation to writing.

Writing takes an enormous part in our daily life: it represents in many occupations; it assists the communication and thinking skills; more importantly, it is a tool that helps us to refine, but at the same time explain our ideas. Knowing that, two months ago, I decided to register for an English class, with a pretension of advancing my writing plus reading skills. However, what I accomplished from the ENG1101 is beyond my expectation. Not only did it bring me numerous of valuable experience, but it also helped me prepare for my upcoming courses and future.

indicator of whether the desired trait is measured. If elements of the test are irrelevant to the main construct, then they are measuring something else completely, creating potential bias. In addition, criterion validity derives quantitative correlations from test course. Content validity is qualitative in nature, and asks whether a specific element enhances or detracts from a test or research program. How is content validity is measured by using surveys and tests, each questions is given to a panel of experts analysts, and they rate it. The analysts give their opinion about whether the question is essential, useful or irrelevant to measuring the construct under study. For example, a depression scale in which there is low content validity if it only shows

Preparing for IELTS requires a lot of determination, positive attitude, willingness to learn and of course, preparatory books. There is nothing as helpful as IELTS preparation books to understand the test and take the exam expecting what to expect.