ERIC Number: EJ1258499
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jul
Pages: 28
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0265-5322
EISSN: N/A
Effect of Prompt Type on Test-Takers' Writing Performance and Writing Strategy Use in the Continuation Task
Language Testing, v37 n3 p361-388 Jul 2020
The continuation task, a new form of reading-writing integrated task in which test-takers read an incomplete story and then write the continuation and ending of the story, has been increasingly used in writing assessment, especially in China. However, language-test developers' understanding of the effects of important task-related factors on test-takers' performance with regard to this task is still in its infancy. In this study we investigate the effect of prompt type on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' writing performance and writing strategy use in a continuation task. Four groups of Chinese EFL learners performed a continuation task with four different prompts and filled out a writing strategy questionnaire. The participants' continuations were scored holistically and textually analyzed using a range of fluency, grammatical accuracy, lexical complexity, syntactic complexity, cohesion, and source-use features. Prompt type significantly affected the participants' overall continuation writing scores, syntactic complexity, cohesion, and source-use features. It also significantly affected the participants' monitoring strategy. We discuss how continuation-task conditions, such as providing opening sentences or key words (or both) for test-takers to use will affect how the test-takers orient themselves to the writing task and, concomitantly, may affect performance outcomes.
Descriptors: Cues, Writing Tests, Writing Evaluation, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Grammar, Language Fluency, Language Tests, Foreign Countries, Task Analysis, Connected Discourse, Writing Strategies, Syntax, Scores, High School Students, Second Language Instruction, Vocabulary Skills, Language Usage, Text Structure
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A