Advancing the Validity Argument for Standardized Writing Tests Using Quantitative Rhetorical Analysis

Autor/inn/en	Beigman Klebanov, Beata; Ramineni, Chaitanya; Kaufer, David; Yeoh, Paul; Ishizaki, Suguru
Titel	Advancing the Validity Argument for Standardized Writing Tests Using Quantitative Rhetorical Analysis
Quelle	In: Language Testing, 36 (2019) 1, S.125-144 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0265-5322
DOI	10.1177/0265532217740752
Schlagwörter	Test Validity; Writing Tests; Writing Skills; Persuasive Discourse; Standardized Tests; Correlation; Essay Tests; Criticism; Academic Discourse; Writing (Composition); College Entrance Examinations; Graduate Study; English (Second Language); Language Tests; Second Language Learning; Advanced Courses; Graduate Students; Literary Genres; Computational Linguistics; Interdisciplinary Approach; Civics; Rhetoric; Profiles; Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh); Graduate Record Examinations; Test of English as a Foreign Language + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Testvalidität; Writing test; Schreibtest; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Persuasion; Persuasive Kommunikation; Standadised tests; Standardisierter Test; Korrelation; Schriftlicher Sprachgebrauch; Kritik; Discourse; Diskurs; Schreibübung; Aufnahmeprüfung; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Language test; Sprachtest; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fortgeschrittenenunterricht; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Studentin; Literarische Form; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Staatsbürgerkunde; Rhetorik; Charakterisierung; Profilanalyse
Abstract	Essay writing is a common type of constructed-response task used frequently in standardized writing assessments. However, the impromptu timed nature of the essay writing tests has drawn increasing criticism for the lack of authenticity for real-world writing in classroom and workplace settings. The goal of this paper is to contribute evidence to a validity argument for standardized writing tests. Using measurements of distances between rhetorical profiles in the corpora of interest, we examined connections between argumentative writing on standardized assessments and in external writing situations; namely, opinionated writing in academic and real-life settings. The results show that test corpora, focusing on argumentation in two standardized tests, are rhetorically similar to academic argumentative writing in a graduate-school setting, and about as similar as a corpus of civic writing in the same genre. The proximity between the test corpora and corpora representing external criteria of interest support the assessment use argument. The argumentative writing skills employed on the test are similar to the skills employed in academic and civic settings, despite the differences in the nature of the settings under which the writing samples for these different corpora are produced. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01