Table 5 Teachers’ beliefs about writing assessment
From: Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions of writing assessment literacy: a countrywide study
Items | SA | A | NS | D | SD | M | SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Writing can be assessed indirectly through multiple-choice questions (Q17) | 7.6 | 20.3 | 16.1 | 33.1 | 22.9 | 2.6 | 1.3 |
Scoring of writing is always inaccurate (Q18) | 4.2 | 17.8 | 16.9 | 40.7 | 20.3 | 2.4 | 1.3 |
Scoring of writing is subjective (Q19) | 1.7 | 41.5 | 9.3 | 37.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 1.1 |
It is difficult to achieve high inter-rater agreement in writing assessment (Q20) | 8.5 | 28.8 | 12.7 | 50.0 | 5.1 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
Essay exams are best when it comes to assessing writing skills (Q21) | 18.6 | 47.5 | 8.5 | 23.7 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 1.2 |
Writing is best assessed when integrated with other skills like reading and listening (Q22) | 16.1 | 33.1 | 16.9 | 31.4 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 1.2 |
Self-assessment can be a good technique for assessing writing (Q23) | 17.8 | 58.5 | 14.4 | 9.3 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 1.2 |
In general, writing exams provide a good estimate of writing ability (Q24) | 11.9 | 49.2 | 22.0 | 15.3 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 1.1 |
Writing assessment provides good feedback for writing instruction (Q25) | 22.9 | 53.4 | 16.1 | 6.8 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 1.2 |
Rater training is not helpful for writing teachers (Q26) | 0.0 | 4.2 | 8.5 | 61.0 | 26.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 |
A portfolio is a good tool for assessing writing (Q27) | 24.6 | 54.2 | 12.7 | 8.5 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 1.3 |
When scoring writing, I believe content should receive more weight than grammar accuracy (Q28) | 9.3 | 34.7 | 20.3 | 31.4 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 1.1 |
Self-assessment provides an accurate picture of student writing ability (Q29) | 6.8 | 20.3 | 39.8 | 29.7 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
Assessment plays an important role in writing classes (Q30) | 30.5 | 67.3 | 6.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.2 | 1.4 |
Assessment is an important capability that writing teachers should master (Q31) | 55.1 | 39.0 | 5.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 1.6 |
Writing assessment is time-consuming (Q32) | 11.9 | 56.8 | 5.1 | 22.9 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 1.2 |
It is difficult to work with other colleagues during scoring of writing exams (Q33) | 6.8 | 40.7 | 21.2 | 28.8 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.0 |
Teacher-made writing tests are better than large-scale writing exams (Q34) | 0.0 | 28.8 | 50.0 | 21.2 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 0.7 |
I consider myself to be a good writing instructor (Q35) | 19.5 | 48.3 | 19.3 | 12.7 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 1.1 |
My students usually do poorly on writing exam (Q36) | 0.0 | 29.2 | 21.2 | 53.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 0.9 |