Assessing the Writing Skill in EFL Classes

Abstract

The assessment of writing ability has recently received much attention from educators as well as writing specialists, especially because the writing skill at different educational levels seems less proficient than the one produced before. The development of writing skill involves more than the accurate use of grammar and syntax, it involves raising the awareness, support, practice, and continuous feedback. This study aimed mainly at raising teachers‟ awareness of the importance of assessing the writing skill. Furthermore, it aims at investigating the way teachers respond, measure, and score learners‟ writing competency and the role of feedback in the EFL teaching/learning process. A mixed methods approach design has been chosen to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from an exploratory case study of first year pupils of Ben Guella Touati high school in Mostaganem. Hence, to achieve the objectives above, the study relied on three research instruments: a questionnaire and interview which were addressed to EFL teachers and also a classroom observation in order to shed light on the importance of assessing the writing skill as well as determining both the scoring procedure and its impact on students‟ results. The study reveals the importance of the teacher‟s choices in both the assessment practices and the feedback in enhancing learners‟ writing performances.