How to Teach Writing for Exams: Tasks, Skills and Assessment

HOW TO TEACH WRITING FOR EXAMS

BASIC FEATURES THAT WRITING TESTS SHARE

+NUMBER OF WORDS

+CHOICE OF WRITING TASK

+CANDIDATES USUALLY WRITE THEIR ANSWERS IN A BOOKLET.

+SCRIPTS ARE NOT MARKED ELECTRONICALLY BY MANUALLY BY EXAMINERS

WRITING TASKS

CONTENT AND PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE- BASED TASKS

SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERIENCE OF SOME KIND

OPEN-ENDED TASKS

ALL CONTENT IS GENERATED BY THE STUDENT.

COMMON KNOWLEDGE

INPUT-BASED TASKS

TO INTEGRATE THE TASK INPÚT INTO THE ANSWER

TYPES OF WRITING

+ARTICLES(MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS

+REPORTS

+REVIWES

+STORIES

+LETTERS

+ESSAYS

+COMPOSITIONS

WHAT IS MEASURED

KEY SKILLS

+TASK ACHIEVEMENT

+COVERAGE OF REQUIRED POINTS

+EVIDENCE OF ORIGINAL INPUT

+RANGE OF CONTROL OF STRUCTURES AND VOCABULARY

+ORGANIZATION AND COHESION

HOW TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR WRITING EXAM ANSWWERS

HOW TO HELP STUDENTS TO DEAL WITH TASK INPUT

ASSESSING WRITTEN WORK AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOPIC

ACHIEVMENT OF DESIRED EFFECT ON TARGET READER

COMBINING AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE RELATIONSHIP AND THE COMMUNICATIVE PURPOSES.

IN ADVANCED WRITING EXAMS, CANDIDATES ARE EXPECTED TO DO MORE THAN SIMPLY PROVIDE AN ANSWER TO A QUESTION

CANDIDATES NEED TO KNOW HOW THE VARIOUS GENRES ARE TIPICALLY PRESENTED

APPROPIATE PRESENTATION AND REGISTER

WHAT CRITERIA SHOULD BE USED TO ASSESS WRITTEN WORK?

+ THE CRITERIA USED TO ASSESS WRITTEN WORK SHOULD BE AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THOSE USED IN THE EXAM ITSELF.

+ÁSSESSING WRITTEN WORK IS A RESPONSABILITY THAT CAN BE SHARED WITH STUDENTS

PROVIDING FEEDBACK

+NUMERICAL OR LETTER GRADE.

+STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESESS.

+POSITIVE COMMENTS.

DEALING WITH ERRORS OF FORM

+ERRORS THAT IMPEDE COMMUNICATION.

+USE OFCORRECTION CODES

READING AND ANALYZING TASK RUBRICS

DEALING WITH THE ELEMENTS OF TASK INPUT

+PLENTY OF PRACTICE IS NECESSARY.

+DEMANDS FROM THE RUBRIC.

+STUDENTS NEED TO BE TRAINED TO PARAPHRASE.

+TO INTEGRATE THEIR OWN IDEAS.

BRAINSTORMING AND PLANNING

TRAINING STUDENTS TO REVISE THEIR OWN WORK

GIVING STUDENTS TIMED WRITING PRACTICE

+PREWRITING

+WRITING

+RESPONDING +REVISING

+EDITING

+PUBLISHING

+OPPORTUNITY TO REVISE.

+PAIR-WORK ACTIVITY

+EXCHANGE AND COMMENT

+MAKE THEM COMFORTABLE ABOUT COMMENTING OTHERS´WORK.

+MEMORIZING ANSWERS

+ANSWER A FEW WARDS OVER OR UNDER THE LIMIT FAIL

+SPENDING TIME ON A REALLY GOOD ANSWER

DEBUNKING MISCONCEPTIONS

+READING THE RUBRIC

+BRAINSTORMING

+PLANNING

+WRITING

+REVISING