Writing skill controlThe testing of writing is often mistakenly understood as testing grammar. It is very easy to test grammar, as there are definite answers and marking is easy. But if writing tests focus only on writing, they will not show us how well students can write in English to express meaning. If we want to encourage students to develop writing skills, then it is important to give tests in which students have to express meaning in written sentences, not merely write correct grammatical forms. However, the degree of students’ creativity while performing a writing test, depends on the stage of learning. Thus, an elementary test in sentence writing is the arrangement of grammatical structures into a correct sequence. Coloured cards can be used to represent the four basic structures and can be manipulated to build up sentences. This is the kind of test that inevitably comes out right in the end. Errors are made but never recorded. Learners write the constructed sentence in their books only when correctly assembled. E.g.: Look at the drawing and put the cards into their right order:
At a later stage clauses have to be joined together to form longer sentences and those sentences have to relate to others within the paragraph. Again, cards could be used initially, and there is a great deal to be said for allowing learners to play with language patterns, make mistakes and correct them. In this case, the cards are clauses or sentences, but the joining words are separate, e.g.:
Note that there is no single correct answer to this test and note also that there is a problem with capitals and punctuation. You may well think that this is much more a grammar activity than a test of writing. Nevertheless, the appropriate use of cohesion is very definitely an important writing skill. Here is another cohesion test, but without the use of cards as an intermediate stage: Put these sentences into their right order: Gradually many of these creatures became extinct. Millions of years ago huge monsters roamed the earth. There it was easier for them to move their huge bodies. Some learned, however, to live in the sea. Completion exercises can also be used as writing tests, especially if they are of the open-ended type. All the different guided composition exercises used as tests can provide the teacher with a great deal of information on students’ progress. The framework essay is a good example of guided composition. E.g.: Here is the outline of a story. Use the outline in order to write the story for yourself. The outline contains about 60 words. Your story should contain about 200 words. Going home from school – friend suggests take an unusual route – see smoke coming from upstairs windows of house – hear children scream – run off to phone Fire Brigade – difficult to find house again – no smoke now and Fire Brigade house empty – mystery of fire and missing children – Fire Brigade chief cross – but dog barking leads to kidnapper and child – mystery solved. The framework essay type of test makes use of a kind of ‘grammatical shorthand’. The subject is often omitted and verbs are left in their non-finite forms or dispensed with. Anyhow, such tests do not only check students’ acquisition of grammar but involve some creative activity as well. Another very useful test of writing ability is the dialogue, and this too can be attempted at different stages of guided composition. Students usually enjoy dialogue writing because they end up with something that is usable, something that can be appreciated by the whole class. We shall draw attention to just two types of dialogue writing. The first example illustrates the use of cohesive devices and context clues; it is just one half of a telephone conversation: 1. Jane is talking to Peter. Write down what you think he is saying to her. P:................. J: Yes, it’s me. Thanks for ringing. How are you? P:................. J: Oh, that’s bad luck. How did it happen? P:................. J: Well, I hope you’ll be on your feet again soon. Is it still very painful? P:................. J: She’s fine. I’ve got a message for you from her, but of course she didn’t know about your accident when she gave it to me. She wants you to meet her at Sally’s party on Sunday. Will you be able to? P:................ J: Well, do be careful, and don’t move about too much. By the way, what are your holiday plans? P:................. J: How marvellous! I’ve always wanted to go there. Do you speak the language at all? P:................. J: I don’t think it will matter very much because so many people there speak English. I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself. (doorbell rings) That’s the door. I must go. Get better soon and don’t forget Helen’s message. P:................. J: Bye, Peter. 2. Rewrite this passage as a dialogue: One day I had to see my boss about getting some time off. I walked into the office and asked his secretary if I could have a word with Mr Smith. She invited me to sit down for a moment, telephoned the boss and asked if he could see me. She was told to let me go in right away, so in I went and wished Mr Smith a good morning. He replied me politely enough and asked what he could do for me. I told him that... This type of writing test is very useful for making explicit some of the language just hinted at in indirect speech. Students have to supply the actual words used by the boss when he replied ‘politely enough’. We have examined a fairly wide range of language tests, emphasising the informal teacher-produced variety. For this reason most of them are also language activities which place students in those situations where deliberate linguistic choices have to be made – lexical, grammatical and communicative. We believe that the provision of meaningful contexts for this choice-making progress, and subsequent discussion, is one of the chief justifications for informal tests. Language is acquired and developed by thinking, being unsure, making mistakes and discussing the options.
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