samples of participants’ writing were scored by two raters using toefl writing scoring rubric. the readability index of each text was calculated through the use of six readability formulae and graphs, i.e., flesch-kincaid index, reading ease index, fog index, smog formula, fry’s graph, and dale-chall readability index. the scores given to each essay were later compared to the obtained readabili...

IELTS preparation courses have gained significant popularity in Iran in the past decade. Although teachers in such an exam-oriented context have started to use formative assessment to improve their writing instruction, their knowledge and beliefs about assessment for learning are still a myth. This mixed-methods study investigated Iranian IELTS teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about the four mai...

This data article contains information based on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress in Writing Restricted-Use Data, available from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES Pub. No. 2014476). https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/researchcenter/datatools.aspx. The data include the statistical relationships between survey reports of teachers and students regarding prior...

This study sought to investigate dynamic assessment (DA) - an assessment approach that embeds inter- vention within the assessment process and that yields information about the learner’s responsiveness to this intervention - and the writing performance of the second language (L2) learners in Web 2.0 contexts. To this end, pre and post-treatment writings of 45 par...

a number of pedagogical arguments support self- and peer-assessment in language classrooms to improve the quality of learning by students’ involvement in the final judgments of one’s work. considering editing as a method of communicative testing of writing, this study aimed at finding out whether self- and peer-editing of assignments could result in the improvement in iranian efl students’ writ...

Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have an ability to communicate effectively. Assessment of this outcome occurs at two levels: assessing students' writing abilities and assessing a program's effectiveness in developing their abilities. The paper gives an overview of the two forms of assessment and gives examples of each. The paper then advocates assessment tools that ca...

The present study attempted to investigate the impact of electronic portfolio assessment on performance of Iranian EFL learners’ writing. To do so, 30 advanced EFL learners who participated in a TOEFL preparation course were selected as the participants of the study. After administrating a truncated version of TOEFL proficiency test, they were randomly assigned to control and experimental...

An important area of development for second language (L2) students is learning how to share ideas with an audience through writing. Some researchers suggest that writing is a primary language skill that holds greater challenges for L2 learners than speaking, listening, or reading (Bell & Burnaby, 1984; Bialystok, 1978; Brown & Yule, 1983; Nunan, 1989; White, 1981). Writing skills are especially...