Abstract

Due to their authenticity as an academic writing task, integrated writing tests are widely used for evaluating English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students’ writing ability. However, apart from validation studies focusing on a common set of standardized test rubrics, little research has explored the construct of integration or how to assess it effectively in second language (L2) writing classrooms. Thus, this dissertation designed and validated an analytic rubric for assessing the construct of integration in L2 writing while also examining students’ conceptualizations of integrated writing assessment in an EAP writing course.
Study 1 investigated which sub-constructs EAP instructors orient to when assessing L2 writers' integrated essays. Triangulation of data sources from instructor ratings, stimulated recall interviews, and textual analysis of the integrated essays informed the development of an analytic rubric with four categories (i.e., content, organization, source use and language use) for assessing classroom-based integrated writing tasks.
Study 2 focused on the validation of the rubric by employing a mixed-methods design, which involved a many-facet Rasch measurement analysis, semi-structured interviews with EAP instructors, and linguistic analysis of student essays for fluency, syntactic and lexical complexity, cohesion, and lexical diversity measures. Results from the Rasch model and textual analysis suggest the rubric is of good quality in terms of assessing one single construct and differentiating the students’ task performance across four levels. The instructor comments during the follow-up interviews contributed to the reformulation of descriptors.
Study 3 adopted a case study methodology and investigated L2 learners’ conceptualizations of integrated writing assessment and their use of the analytic rubric for self-assessment in an EAP writing course. Data sources included integrated writing samples that were evaluated by the students and their instructor, a writing self-efficacy questionnaire, individual retrospective interviews, and course materials. Qualitative analysis revealed themes related to three aspects of classroom-based integrated writing assessment: task requirements, task conditions, and instructor feedback. There was an overlap between students’ self-assessment and instructor evaluation of their integrated essays, suggesting that students could use the rubric effectively.