The affectability of writing assessment scores: a G-theory analysis of rater, task, and scoring method contribution

Abstract The present study attempted to to investigate  factors  which affect EFL writing scores through using generalizability theory (G-theory). To this purpose, one hundred and twenty students participated in one independent and one integrated writing tasks. Proceeding, their performances were sc...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Ali Khodi
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:
P
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/d3a9b55a30d24b82bd4f354aaa36c4c2
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Abstract The present study attempted to to investigate  factors  which affect EFL writing scores through using generalizability theory (G-theory). To this purpose, one hundred and twenty students participated in one independent and one integrated writing tasks. Proceeding, their performances were scored by six raters: one self-rating,  three peers,-rating and two instructors-rating. The main purpose of the sudy was to determine the relative and absolute contributions of different facets such as student, rater, task, method of scoring, and background of education  to the validity of writing assessment scores. The results indicated three major sources of variance: (a) the student by task by method of scoring (nested in background of education) interaction (STM:B) with 31.8% contribution to the total variance, (b) the student by rater by task by method of scoring (nested in background of education) interaction (SRTM:B) with 26.5% of contribution to the total variance, and (c) the student by rater by method of scoring (nested in background of education) interaction (SRM:B) with 17.6% of the contribution. With regard to the G-coefficients in G-study (relative G-coefficient ≥ 0.86), it was also found that the result of the assessment was highly valid and reliable. The sources of error variance were detected as the student by rater (nested in background of education) (SR:B) and rater by background of education with 99.2% and 0.8% contribution to the error variance, respectively. Additionally, ten separate G-studies were conducted to investigate the contribution of different facets across rater, task, and methods of scoring as differentiation facet. These studies suggested that peer rating, analytical scoring method, and integrated writing tasks were the most reliable and generalizable designs of the writing assessments. Finally, five decision-making studies (D-studies) in optimization level were conducted and it was indicated that at least four raters (with G-coefficient = 0.80) are necessary for a valid and reliable assessment. Based on these results, to achieve the greatest gain in generalizability, teachers should have their students take two writing assessments and their performance should be rated on at least two scoring methods by at least four raters.