This study aimed to compare the impact of e-portfolios on the motivation and autonomy of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Ninety intermediate learners were selected from 120 volunteers at a Tehran Language Institute. They were divided into three groups: two experimental groups using eportfolios and the other using paper-based…

The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate a measure of motivation for use with basic college writers that would measure self-efficacy, achievement goals, beliefs, and affect. As part of a design research project on curriculum for community college developmental writing classes, 133 students in 11 classes completed the motivation…

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of the use of paper-based and weblog-based electronic portfolios on the writing achievement of limited English proficiency students, to survey the students' attitudes towards the use of the portfolio assessment, and to compare the viewpoints of the students in the control and experimental…

A scoring rubric acts as a useful guide for evaluating the quality of students' written responses. In second language writing, scoring rubrics can be used to measure a variety of discourse and linguistic features. However, certain advantages and disadvantages are associated with particular rubrics (see Hamp-Lyons, 2003; Weigle, 2002). Therefore,…

This paper aims to investigate the efficacy of two commonly used techniques of feedback in teaching writing: teachers' feedback and peers' feedback in the Saudi educational context. The study was comprised of 132 Saudi EFL students enrolled at the Department of English in the University of Hai'l. The data collection was carried out through a…

This article argues for and models an approach to writing program assessment that relies on study of the writing practices of program graduates as a way to inform revisions in curriculum and teaching practices. The article also examines how conducting such assessments can help nondisciplinary publics understand the nature of composition …

In second-language writing, assessment has traditionally focused on the written products and how well (or badly) students perform in writing. Teachers dominate the assessment process as testers, while students remain passive testees. Assessment is something teachers "do to" rather than '"with" students, mainly for…

While research on portfolio assessment (PA) has focused largely on the summative aspects of writing assessment, not much has been done to find out its formative potential. Drawing upon student questionnaires and student and teacher interview data, this paper aims to explore the formative functions of PA and, specifically, how the formative…

To assess the effectiveness of various composition evaluation methods, a study asked two freshman English classes to respond to three questionnaires on the writing of personal essays and methods of evaluation they had experienced. Responses indicated that all students had a fear of having their essays evaluated. Evaluation methods considered a…

This study investigated student preferences for either teacher-written or computer-generated marking of written compositions. Ninety-seven high school students typed assigned compositions on a word processor. Three skills pre-selected by the teacher were checked on each composition. Students were randomly assigned to treatments so that, on the…

As part of a three-year project that approached writing program evaluation through writing itself, the teaching of writing, and the goals of the writing programs, this report describes the development of an instrument for reporting course and teacher effectiveness in college writing classes. The report describes the instrument, which was developed…

Describes a study of journalism students at Pennsylvania State University that investigated how they reacted to the use of computers in their classes, especially the electronic evaluation of written work. Topics addressed include newswriting instruction, including the use of computer labs; handwritten comments versus electronic comments; and…

The Fairfax County, Virginia, Schools' Elementary Writing Program (EWP) was evaluated over a two-year period. The first year focused on describing and analyzing program development and implementation. The second year of the evaluation addressed program effectiveness. Three questions comprised the development and implementation phase of the…