Developing a Learner Centered Writing Rubric for the 2012-13 English for Academic Purposes Course

Abstract

This project aims to develop a student centred writing rubric for the 2012-13 English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course based on student samples from the pilot group in 2010-11. Piloting of the rubric will be done and evaluation will be carried out by tracking its usefulness in enhancing the writing performance of students in 2011-12. The project will not only benefit students but also allow for greater ability to standardize marking within the department to ensure that students graduating from the EAP course have all reached the required writing standard. The focus of this project will be on the development of a grading rubric to help students become better writers of English through explicitly stated grading criteria and descriptors. This will ensure that guidelines for improvement are accessible to students and teachers and the standard reflected in the EAP writing assessments is transparent to all stakeholders. Source data include writing scripts from the 92 students in the 2010-11 pilot courses, evaluation findings on these courses from two OBTL projects and international benchmarks. In particular, writing scripts from students at key stages in the two pilot courses will be analyzed for discriminating features at different levels of performance. By using a rubric which is also a learning tool, teachers can help students in the new course understand their performance standard and enable them to explicitly state ways that their writing performance can be enhanced. Clarity of the marking rubric and precision in describing student performance at different levels provide a better warranty of uniformity in marking among teachers. There will be collaboration with the EAP course team to ensure constructive alignment between course materials and rubric descriptors. The course team, the English Language Centre Curriculum Support Unit and the external advisor will help monitor and evaluate the progress of the project."