Written Language Assessment

Writing is the expression of ideas and feelings through the use of written symbols. Over the years, the rapid integration of technology into home and school environments has challenged traditional definitions of writing. Voice-activated software blurs the boundaries between oral and written language. While the mediating tools for writing are changing, the process of coding experiences into symbols (words) to provide meaning continues to be central to written expression. The writer remains the essential catalyst. Critical to evaluating a student's writing abilities is an understanding of the writer's background experiences (school and home), as well as emotional, cognitive, and linguistic abilities.

A growing number of students in our school systems are experiencing difficulty with written expression. The etiology of these problems is certainly not singular and often is the result of a mixture of factors. The source of underachievement in written expression for some students rests with thinking or oral language abilities. Learning to organize experiences or transforming ideas to oral language is the key instructional goal for such individuals (e.g., language or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Other students are fluent in developing ideas and demonstrate adequate oral language abilities. However, the breakdown for these students might be in the coding of oral language into written symbols (e.g., dyslexia). Students demonstrating significant social cognition problems (e.g., autism, Asperger's disorder) encounter problems with a sense of audience. Motivational or anxiety problems surrounding the process of writing can interfere with fluency and quality of text for any student. In addition, students coming from different cultures, as well as those for whom English is their second language can struggle with aspects of writing. Writing is much more than just spelling and handwriting, yet it is often “… taught [and assessed] as a motor skill and not as a complex cultural activity” (Vygotksy, 1978, p. 34).