Language Testing Skill: writing

Arranged To Fulfill Course Assignments Foundation of Language Testing

Arranged by Group 9

Darul Ikhsan 1911040296

Dede Barokatul Qomariyah 1911040299

Class 5 A

Lecturer : Prof. Dr. Idham Kholid, M. Pd.

ENGLISH EDUCATION MAJOR

EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING FACULTY

RADEN INTAN ISLAMIC STATE UNIVERSITY, LAMPUNG

2021
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PREFACE

Praise to Allah SWT for providing us convenience so that we can finish

this paper on time. Without The help, of course we won’t finish this paper on
time. Shalawat and Salam we send to our Prophet Muhammad SAW who brought
us from the darkness in to the brightness.
The authors give thanks to Allah SWT ‘cause The blessings of healthy
favors, both in the form of physical health and mind, so the author is able to
complete the writing for Language Testing task entitled “Testing Languange
Skills : writing ”.
The authors certainly realizes that this paper is far from perfect and there
are still many mistakes and deficiencies. For this reason, the authors expect
criticism and suggestions from readers for this paper, so this paper later will
become a better paper later. Then if there are many mistakes in this paper the
author apologizes for that. Thus, the author hope this paper can be useful. Thanks.

Bandar Lampung, desember 7th 2021

Group 11

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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TITLE PAGE

PREFACE.......................................................................................................i

TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................ii

CHAPTER ONE: PREVIEW

A. Background...........................................................................................1
B. Formulation of the Problem..................................................................1
C. Writing Purpose....................................................................................2
CHAPTER TWO : DISCUSSION

A. Definition of Writing Testing...............................................................3

B. Grammar and Structure ........................................................................3
C. Using Picture for Writing ....................................................................5
D. Testing grammar and Vocabulary ........................................................5
E. Testing Overall Ability.........................................................................9
CHAPTER THREE : CONCLUSION

A. Conclusion............................................................................................12
REFERENCES
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CHAPTER 1
PREVIEW
A. Background
Writing skills include all the knowledge and abilities related to expressing
ideas through the written word. The ability to clearly communicate ideas
through writing. Common tasks for writing tests include: (1) gap filling; (2)
form completion; (3) making corrections; (4) letter writing; and (5) essay
writing. Any chosen task should be evaluated for its relevance to the
student's eventual use of the language.
On the other hand, writing is the representation of the language in
textual medium through the use of a set of sign or symbols. Some people
consider that writing is difficult. Elbow (1981: 9) states that writing calls
on the ability to create words and ideas out of yourself, but it also calls on
the ability to criticize them in order to describe which ones to use.
Writing is the nature of the composing process of writing. Written
products are often the result of thinking, drafting and revising procedures
that require specialized skills, skills that not every speaker develops
naturally (Brown, 2003: 335). Based on the explanation above, it can be
concluded that the definition of writing is process of inventing ideas,
thinking about how to express them, and organizing them into statements
and paragraphs which the purpose is used to communicate something with
the other people indirectly, student gets effort to express mind through
language in writing

B. Formulation of Problem
1. What is the definition of writing test?
2. What is the grammar and structure?
3. How to use picture for writing?
4. What is the grammar and vocabulary?
5. What is the testing overall ability?
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C. Writing Purposes
Based on the formulation of the problem, the purpose of the research in
this paper is ;
1. To know what is meant by the test of ability to write.
2. To know the grammar and structure.
3. To know use picture for writing.
4. To know the grammar and vocabulary.
5. To know testing overall ability.
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CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION
A. Definition of Writing Test
 . Writing skills are specifics abilities which help writers put their thoughts
into words in a meaningful form and to mentally interact with the
message. There are some different definitions of writing explained by
some different linguists. Writing is an integral part of a larger activity
where the focus is on something else such as language practice, acting out
or speaking ( Harmer, 2007:33 )
Writing has been widely regarded as a crucially essential skill in the
teaching and learning of English as a Second Language (ESL) as it is a
comprehensive skill that helps reinforce vocabulary, grammar, thinking,
planning, editing, revising, and other elements. Writing also helps to
improve all the other skills of listening, speaking and reading as they are
all interrelated (Saed and Al-Omari in Yunus, and Chien 2016: 1)

B. Grammar and Structure

A. Multiple-choice items
a) Multiple-choice items test an ability to recognize sentences which
are grammatically correct. This ability is not the same as the ability
to produce correct sentences.
b) They are especially useful for finding out more about the
difficulties which students have with certain areas of grammar.
c) A multiple-choice item must have only one correct answer and all
the options in a multiple-choice item should be at the same level of
difficulty.
Ex: The car was full of __.

A. Petrol       B. a petrol     C. the petrol  D. some petrol

d) If you want to concentrate on a certain area of grammar, put the

item into a short two-line dialogue.
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Ex: __ a pen and a piece of paper.

A.    I like        B. I’ll like       C. I’d like       D. I’m
liking
e) It is often necessary to write four options for your items in
multiple-choice testing.
f) Finally, remember that certain areas of grammar do not lend
themselves to a multiple-choice format. Thus, an ability to use
articles and concord is much better tested in the other ways.
B. Error-recognition items

1) Use the errors your students make in their compositions to write

these types of items.1.  It was a terrible accident at an
airshow held in West Germany yesterday
A              B                 C                 D
2) One of the aircraft was crashed into two
other aircraft during display.
A              B                 C                   D

Another way of presenting this type of item is to simply give students

incorrect sentences and ask them to write out the correct version. It is
helpful if you inform them that there is only one mistake in each
sentence.
C. Re-arrangement
This type of item is useful for testing an awareness of the order of
adjectives, the position of adverbs, inversion and several other
areas of grammar.

1.    She was wearing a

New/ jacket/ leather/ red/ lovely
2.    Susan...
The phone/ when/ already/ rang/ suddenly/ finished/ had

A.    However, we decided to set out and try to climb the mountain.

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B.    This time we had better climbing equipment and were determined to

succeed.
C.    Several people in the group had tried this before but no one had
managed to get to the top.
D.   There was a strong wind and it was raining very heavily

C. Using Picture for Writing

 The control which pictures exert over the content of the written work is
also useful in another way.We can easily tell what students want to write
and we can thus measure their success in achieving this goal. If students
fail to write about the contents of a picture, we have good reason for
suspecting that it is because they feel unable to use the language necessary
for this purpose.
You may want to use pictures to do any of the following tasks in your test:
1.    To describe a scene, object, or person
2.    To compare two scenes
3.    To tell a story
4.    To give instructions or directions
5.    To describe a process.

D. Testing Grammar and Vocabulary

1. Testing Grammar

Control of grammatical structures was seen as the very core of language

ability and it would be unthinkable not to test it. There has been a shift
towards the view that since it is language skills that are usually of interest,
and then it is these which should be tested directly, not the abilities that
seem to underlie it.

Whether or not grammar has an important place in an institution’s

teaching, it has to be accepted that grammatical ability, or rather the lack
of it, sets limits to what can be achieved in the way of skills performance.
It would be very useful to have diagnostic tests of grammar which could
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tell us – for individual learners and groups – what gaps exist in their
grammatical repertoire.

It would be important for the test to be linked in some way or other to

learning materials. There is a reason to believe that we may be on the point
of having computer based test of grammar that will be able to provide such
information.

a) Writing Specifications
For achievement tests where teaching objectives or the syllabus list
the grammatical structures to be taught, specification of content should be
quite straightforward. Specifications for a placement test will normally
include all of the structures identified in this way, as well as, perhaps,
those structures of command of which is taken for granted in even the
lowest classes.
For proficiency and diagnostic tests, the van Ek and Trim
publications referred to in the Further reading section, which are based on
a notional-functional approach, are especially useful, as are grammars like
the Cobuild English Usage.
b) Sampling
This will reflect an attempt to give the test content validity by
selecting widely from the structures specified. It should also take account
of what are regarded for one reason or another as the most important
structures. It should not deliberately concentrate on the structures that
happen to be easiest to test.
c) Writing Items
Whatever techniques are chosen for testing grammar, it is
important for the text item to be written in grammatically correct and
natural language.
Four techniques in testing grammar:
1) Gap filling
Gap filling items should have just one correct response. An
item with two possible correct responses may be acceptable if the
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meaning is the same, whichever is used. But an item is probably

rejected if the different possibilities give different meanings or involve
quite different structure, one of which is the one that is supposed to be
tested.
One correct response: Ex. He arrived late, _______ was a surprise.
(which)
Two correct response: Ex. He displayed the smile______ had charmed
so many people before. (which, that)
Rejected: Ex. _______ let her cry. She’ll stop in the end. (Just, I’d.
Well, Then, etc.) 
2) Paraphrase
Paraphrase items require the students to write a sentence
equivalent in meaning to one that is given. It is helpful to give part of
the paraphrase in order to restrict the students to grammatical structure
being tested.
Ex. Testing present perfect with for.
It is six years since I last saw him.________________________ six
years.

3) Completion
This technique can be used to test a variety of structures. Note
how the context in a passage like the following, from the Cambridge
First Certificate in English (FCE) Testpack 1, allows the tester to elicit
specific structures, in this case interrogative forms.
Ex. Cole wants to apply for a job in Gilbert’s company so Gilbert
interviews Cole.
Gilbert: Good morning, Cole. Please come inside and it down. Now
let me see. Which school _________________?
Cole: Whitestone College.
Gilbert: And when ___________________?
Cole: In 1972, at the end of the summer term.
4) Multiple Choice
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There are times, however, when filling gap will not test what
we want it to test. Here is an example where we want to test
epistemic could.
Ex. They left a seven. They _______ be home by home. (must,
should, may, could, might, will)
There are too many possibilities for the gap. We can add
context and have someone reply. This removes the possibility of must
and will but leaves other possibilities. At his point, I would think that I
could only test the epistemic use of could satisfactorily by resorting to
multiple choices.
Ex. A. They left at seven. They _______ be home by now.
B. Yes, but we can’t count on it, can we?
a. can           b. could        c. will            d. must
d) Scoring Production Grammar Test
The important thing when scoring other types of item is to be clear
about what each item is resting, and to award points for that only. There
may be just one element and all available points should be awarded for
that; nothing should be deducted for non-grammatical errors, or for errors
in elements of grammar which are not being tested by the item.
Ex. A candidate missed a third person –s when the item is testing relative
pronouns and he misspelled opened to “-opend” (the candidate should not
be penalized) If two elements are being tested in an item, then points may
be assigned to each of them.
2. Testing Vocabulary
If there is little teaching of vocabulary, it may be argued that there
is little call for achievement tests for vocabulary. At the same time, it is to
be hoped that vocabulary learning is taking place.
Achievement tests that measure the extent of this learning and encourage it
perhaps do have a part to play in institutional testing.
For those who believe that systematic teaching of vocabulary is desirable,
vocabulary achievement tests are appreciated for their backwash effect.
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The usefulness of a general diagnostic test of vocabulary is not readily

apparent. As far as placement tests are concerned, we would not normally
require or expect a particular set of lexical items to be a prerequisite for a
particular language class.
All we would be looking for is some general indication of adequacy of the
student’s vocabulary.
The learning of specific lexical items in class will rarely depend on
previous knowledge of other specified items. The other is to construct
one’s own vocabulary proficiency test.
A) Writing specifications
If vocabulary is consciously being taught, then presumably all the
items thereby presented to the students should be included in the
specifications.
Words should be grouped according to whether their recognition or
their production is required.
A subsequent step is to group the items in terms of their relative
importance.
A vocabulary placement test will be in essence a proficiency test. The
usual way to specify the lexical items that may be tested in a proficiency
test is to make reference to one of the published word lists that indicate the
frequency with which the words have been found to be used. 
A.  Sampling
Words can be grouped according to their frequency and usefulness. Form
each of these groups, items can be taken at random, with more being
selected from the groups containing the more frequent and useful words. 
B. Writing items
Testing recognition ability This is one testing problem for which multiple
choice can be recommended without too many reservations. For one thing,
distracters are usually readily available. For another, there seems unlikely
to be any serious harmful backwash effect, since guessing the meaning of
vocabulary items is something that we would probably wish to encourage.
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However, writing of successful writing items is not without its difficulties.

Items may involve a number of different operations on that part of the
candidates.

E. Testing Overall Ability

  While it is an assumption that we need to obtain separate
information on testing of different abilities, there are times when we do not
need such detailed information, when an estimate of students’ overall
ability is enough. 
          Before looking at techniques for doing this, it is worthwhile giving a
little thought to the concept itself. There are two factors that affect the
techniques used:
The notion of overall ability is directly related to the commonsense
idea that someone can be good (quite good, or poor) at a language and that
someone is good at a language because performance in one skill is usually
a reasonable predictor of performance in another
The reduction of redundancy, which estimates learners’ overall ability by
measuring how well they can restore a reduced text to its’ original form.

Varieties of cloze procedure

          The cloze procedure reduces redundancy by deleting a number of
words in a passage, leaving blanks and requiring the person taking the test
to attempt to replace the original words.
          Example:
 What is a college?
          Confusion exists concerning the real purposes, aims, and goals of a
college.   What are these? What should a college be?
Some believe that the chief function 1.______ even a liberal arts college is
2. _______Vocational one. I feel that the 3. _______ function of a college,
while important 4.________ nonetheless secondary.
The cloze procedure seemed very attractive as a measure of overall ability
because they were easy to construct, administer and score.
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Reports of early research seemed to suggest that it didn’t matter which

passage was chosen or which words were deleted because they would still
be a reliable and valid test of learners’ underlying language abilities. 
Unfortunately, it turned out that different passages gave different results,
as did the deletion of different sets of words in the same passage. 
The validity of the procedure was brought into question and is agreed that
the cloze procedure cannot be depended upon automatically to produce
reliable and useful tests.
There is a need for careful selection of texts, pre-testing and even careful
deletion of certain words in order to make the test valid.
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CHAPTER 3
CONCLUSION

1. Writing skills are specifics abilities which help writers put their thoughts
into words in a meaningful form and to mentally interact with the
message.
2. Grammar and structure in writing are the guidance of writing test that
divided into three methods ,Multiple-Choice items, Error-Recognition
items, and Re-arrangement
3. If students fail to write about the contents of a picture, we have good
reason for suspecting that it is because they feel unable to use the language
necessary for this purpose.
4. Control of grammatical structures was seen as the very core of language
ability and it would be unthinkable not to test it. There has been a shift
towards the view that since it is language skills that are usually of interest,
and then it is these which should be tested directly, not the abilities that
seem to underlie it.
5. The notion of overall ability is directly related to the commonsense idea
that someone can be good (quite good, or poor) at a language and that
someone is good at a language because performance in one skill is usually
a reasonable predictor of performance in another
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REFERENCES

https://sites.google.com/site/evaluationandlanguagetesting/testing-writing

http://eprints.umpo.ac.id/4675/1/chap%202.pdf
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