Alternative Assessment Tools for the Writing Skill Development of EFL Learners

Abstract

This paper focuses on improving the writing skill through the application of strategies based on alternative assessment to EFL students in a private university of Ecuador. This inquiry analyses how the application of alternative assessment tools affect the development of the writing skill of EFL learners. The target population of this study was 23 students who take English lessons at the first level. This research used the quasi-experimental design with an experimental group only. The instruments used to collect data were a pretest and a posttest applied to the experimental group. The results obtained in both tests were compared and analyzed using the percentage system represented in charts. After the data analysis, it was concluded that alternative assessment positively affects the development of the writing skill of EFL learners. Thus, they have all enhanced their writing competence. Therefore, this study concludes that after the application of alternative assessment tools, students discovered that the writing process became more meaningful. Based on the findings, the researchers recommend the use of different alternative assessment tools in order to enrich the writing skill.

Effects of Alternative Assessment in EFL Classroom: A Systematic Review

“…Writing skill was one of the most focused skills in the reviewed studies. A total of 7 studies (Yurdabakan and Erdogan, 2009;Kalra, Sundrarajun and Komintaracat, 2017;Cuesta, Mayorga, Padilla and Mayorga, 2019;Iraji, Enayat and Momeni, 2016;Moradan and Hedayati, 2012;Javaherbakhsh, 2010) reported the positive influence of alternative assessment strategies on students' writing skills ranging from simple writing to argumentative writing skill. Based on the findings of the reviewed studies, portfolio and self-assessment were found the most used strategies to enhance writing skill among other strategies such as peer-assessment, conferencing, etc.…”

Effectiveness of the Zipgrade app in marking and data analysis in the Human Anatomy Department of the School of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Rwanda

“…ZipGrade is a mobile application that uses a device's camera to scan and grade multiple-choice answer sheets. For lecturers who give paper-based multiple-choice tests or researchers who want to collect multiple-choice responses on paper [1]. The time-saving benefits of marking and collecting data by simply using a smartphone camera to scan an answer sheet are enormous [2].…”