The diagnosis of writing in a second or foreign language

"The Diagnosis of Writing in a Second or Foreign Language is a comprehensive survey of diagnostic assessment of second/foreign language (SFL) writing. In this innovative book, a compelling case is made for SFL writing as an individual, contextual, and multidimensional ability, combining several theoretically informed approaches upon which to base diagnosis. Using the diagnostic cycle as the overarching framework, the book starts with the planning phase, cover design, development, and delivery of diagnostic assessment, ending with feedback and feed-forward aspects to feed diagnostic information into the teaching and learning process. It covers means to diagnose both the writing processes and products, including the design and development of diagnostic tasks and rating scales, as well as automated approaches to assessment. Also included is a range of existing instruments and approaches to diagnosing SFL writing. Addressing large-scale as well as classroom contexts, this volume is useful for researchers, teachers, and educational policy-makers in language learning"--

Introduction to diagnosing SFL writing -- The development of writing ability -- The cognitive basis of writing ability with a special reference to SFL writing -- How writing ability can be diagnosed -- Characteristics of tasks designed to diagnose writing -- Diagnosing the writing process -- Analyzing writing products by rating them -- Automated analysis of writing -- The role of feedback in diagnosing SFL writing ability -- Conclusions and ways forward.