Criteria for Assessing EFL Writing at Majma’ah University

Abstract

Recent applications of quality assurance (QA) standards have required academic programmes in Saudi universities to base teaching on a variety of learning outcomes along with relevant teaching and assessment methods that are subject to regular reviews both internally and externally. In line with these educational developments, the present study attempted to find out if the repeated check-ups of what to assess in the students’ writing have helped to standardize the assessment criteria for EFL writing courses at Majma’ah University (MU). A questionnaire and follow-up interviews were used to collect data to answer four research questions pertaining to the use of marking rubrics and whether or not their use is affected by three variables: Instructional experience of the faculty, academic levels at which writing courses are offered and the type of writing being assessed. The study findings indicated that participants used the ten marking rubrics included in the questionnaire. They also showed no statistically significant differences in the use of marking rubrics based on the study variables.

Appendices

Appendix 1

• Dear EFL/TESOL Faculty at Majma’ah University;

The following questionnaire is intended to collect data to answer a number of research questions regarding the use of marking criteria in assessing students’ writing at Majma’ah University. You are kindly requested to spare some of your valuable time to answer it.

• Regards;

• El-Sadig Yahya Ezza

• Associate Professor, Community College

  Criteria for Assessing EFL Writing at Majma’ah University

Questionnaire

• A. Demographic Information

  • 1. Academic Status:

    • i. Professor: [   ]

    • ii. Associate Professor: [   ]

    • iii. Assistant Professor: [   ]

    • iv. Lecturer: [   ]

    • v. Teaching Assistant: [   ]

  • 2. Type of Writing Assessed:

    • i. Essays and paragraphs in writing courses: [   ]

    • ii. Essays and paragraphs in linguistics and literature: [   ]

  • 3. Levels at which courses are offered:

    • i. Early levels (1–2): [   ]

    • ii. Intermediate levels (3–6): [   ]

    • iii. Advanced Levels (7–8): [   ]

• B. Tick the frequency of marking criteria you use in assessing students’ writing; where:

  5 = always, 4 = often, 3 = sometimes, 2 = rarely, 1 = never

  	Marking criteria	Description	Frequency of use
  1	Audience	The writer’s capacity to orient, engage and persuade the reader	5	4	3	2	1
  2	Text structure	The organization of the structural components of a persuasive text i.e., introduction, body and conclusion
  3	Ideas	The selection, relevance and elaboration of ideas for an argument
  4	Persuasive devices	The use of a range of persuasive devices to enhance the writer’s position and persuade the reader
  5	Vocabulary	The range and precision of contextually appropriate language choices
  6	Cohesion	The control of multiple threads and relationships across the text, achieved through the use of referring words, ellipsis, text connectives, substitutions and word associations
  7	Paragraphing	The segmenting of text into paragraphs that assists the reader to follow the line of argument
  8	Sentence structure	The production of grammatically correct, structurally sound and meaningful sentences
  9	Punctuation	The use of correct and appropriate punctuation to aid the reading of the text
  10	Spelling	The accuracy of spelling and the difficulty of the words used

Appendix 2

• Dear EFL/TESOL Faculty at Majma’ah University;

The following questionnaire is intended to collect data to answer a number of research questions regarding the use of marking criteria in assessing students’ writing at Majma’ah University. You are kindly requested to spare some of your valuable time to answer it.

• A. Demographic Information

  • 1. Academic Status:

    • i. Professor: [   ]

    • ii. Associate Professor: [   ]

    • iii. Assistant Professor: [   ]

    • iv. Lecturer: [   ]

    • v. Teaching Assistant: [   ]

  • 2. Type of Writing Assessed:

    • i. Essays and paragraphs in writing courses: [   ]

    • ii. Essays and paragraphs in linguistics and literature: [   ]

  • 3. Levels at which courses are offered:

    • i. Early levels (1–2): [   ]

    • ii. Intermediate levels (3–6): [   ]

    • iii. Advanced Levels (7–8): [   ]

• B. Tick the frequency of marking criteria you use in assessing students’ writing; where:

  5 = always, 4 = often, 3 = sometimes, 2 = rarely, 1 = never

  Criteria for Assessing EFL Writing at Majma’ah University

  	Marking criteria	Description	Frequency of use
  1	Audience	The writer’s capacity to orient, engage and persuade the reader	5	4	3	2	1
  2	Text structure	The organization of the structural components of a persuasive text i.e., introduction, body and conclusion
  3	Ideas	The selection, relevance and elaboration of ideas for an argument
  4	Persuasive devices	The use of a range of persuasive devices to enhance the writer’s position and persuade the reader
  5	Vocabulary	The range and precision of contextually appropriate language choices
  6	Cohesion	The control of multiple threads and relationships across the text, achieved through the use of referring words, ellipsis, text connectives, substitutions and word associations
  7	Paragraphing	The segmenting of text into paragraphs that assists the reader to follow the line of argument
  8	Sentence structure	The production of grammatically correct, structurally sound and meaningful sentences
  9	Punctuation	The use of correct and appropriate punctuation to aid the reading of the text
  10	Spelling	The accuracy of spelling and the difficulty of the words used