Second language writing and reading-to-write assessment tasks: A process study.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

University placement tests usually assess writing through a timed impromptu essay task. However in recent years, a number of criticisms have been launched against this form of test, and, thus, schools are beginning to seek alternatives such as tasks that include background reading for writing. Reading-to-write tasks are considered more authentic than writing-only tasks thus allow more accurate inferences on academic writing ability, but new dilemmas have risen with the use of these tasks. Because of both the interest and concern in these tasks, several studies have looked at the difference between the writing-only tasks and reading-to-write tasks; however, none of the studies thus far have explored what test takers do during these tasks. To answer questions about test-takers' process in writing these two tasks, this study analyzed the writing process of ten non-native English-speaking students at a university, five undergraduate and five graduate students. The students participated in two interviews, pre and post task, and two talk-aloud verbal protocol sessions. In one session, they wrote a writing-only task and in the other a reading-to-write task. The data were analyzed qualitatively using a grounded theory approach. The results of this study reveal that writers' interest and experience may affect their process on these tasks, and the effect is stronger with the reading-to-write tasks. Having source texts to read makes the writing process more constructive for interested writers. For other writers, these two tasks did not differ much in terms of process. These results have implications for second language writing assessment and instruction as well as theory in second language academic writing.