Writing Assessment Technique and Learner Performance: A Study in Instructors’ Perceptions

Background/purpose. Writing is an essential skill for EFL learners, and the development of flawless writing proficiency in English is the intended learner outcome of every writing course in an EFL program. Development of flawless writing skills involves perfection in orthography (spelling, punctuation, capitalization), grammaticality and syntax, organization, coherence and unity, relevance and clarity of ideas and presentation, etc. A writing assessment method must be geared to monitor and enhance all these micro-skills. However, the question arises: Is there a potential correlation between writing assessment technique and learner outcomes?

Materials/methods. Qualitative research was conducted at the English Language Institute (ELI) in Saudi Arabia to study the perceptions of writing instructors on the writing assessment techniques used for the health track courses (ELIH 110 and ELIH 120), i.e., quizzes and academic essay writing, to review the assessment technique and its perceived impact on learner outcomes, if any, and to determine whether formative assessment should be given more weightage. The research data were collected from the writing instructors at the university using survey questionnaires and interviews.

Results. The findings show that ELI instructors perceive a correlation between the robustness of writing assessment techniques and learner achievement. However, the participants did not favour giving more weightage to formative assessment in the final grading.

Conclusion. Most of the teachers approved the validity and reliability of the assessment tools.

Keywords: Writing assessment, learner outcomes, learner performance, writing proficiency, formative assessment

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