Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Rationale for the study 2
1.2 Objectives of the study 3
1.3 Organization of the thesis 5
1.4 Definition of terms 7
1.4.1 Online 7
1.4.2 Marking 8
1.4.3 Online marking 8
1.4.4 Online Marking System(OMS) 9
1.4.5 Local Area Network(LAN) 10
Chapter 2 Research Questions and Methodology of the Study 11
Chapter 3 Issues in the Direct Testing of EFL/ESL Writing Ability 14
3.1 Introduction 14
3.2 What is a direct writing test? 16
3.3 EFL/ESL writing ability:What shall we test? 16
3.4 Issues in validity 21
3.4.1 What is validity? 21
3.4.2 Types of validity 21
3.5 Issues in reliability 25
3.5.1 What is reliability? 25
3.5.2 Methods of judging reliability of writing assessments 25
3.6 The relationship between validity and reliability 28
3.7 Four components of a direct writing test 29
3.7.1 The task 29
3.7.2 The writer 32
3.7.3 The scoring procedure 34
3.7.4 The rater 37
3.8 Washback 39
3.8.1 Washback in general 39
3.8.2 Washback of direct tests of writing 42
3.9 Practicality 44
3.10 Summary 44
Chapter 4 The CET Writing Test 45
4.1 Introduction 45
4.2 The writing test required by the CET 47
4.2.1 A direct test 48
4.2.2 Positive washback 48
4.3 The scoring of CET compositions 50
4.3.1 The scoring approach currently adopted 51
4.3.2 Procedures involved in scoring CET essays 51
4.3.2.1 Scoring Principles and Marking Scheme 52
4.3.2.2 Range-finders and sample essays 53
4.3.2.3 Rater training 54
4.3.2.4 Rating process 55
4.3.2.5 Monitoring raters'scoring during the scoring sessions 55
4.3.2.6 Recording essay scores 56
4.4 Computer-aided adjustment of writing scores 56
4.5 Discussion 64
Chapter 5 The First Experimental Study 67
5.1 Introduction 67
5.2 Compositions 68
5.3 Participants 69
5.4 Data collection procedure 71
5.5 The introspection and retrospection studies 74
5.5.1 Introduction 74
5.5.2 Data elicitation 76
5.5.3 Tape transcription 77
5.5.4 Data analysis 77
5.6 The questionnaire studies 78
5.6.1 Design of the questionnaires 78
5.6.2 Analysis of questionnaire responses 79
5.7 Findings from the introspection,retrospection and questionnaire studies 86
5.7.1 Issues and problems in rating CET essays online 87
5.7.2 Decision-making behaviors while rating CET-4 essays 88
5.7.3 Summary of comments made by the raters on essays 91
5.7.3.1 Overall summary 91
5.7.3.2 Variations in raters'comments 93
5.7.4 Essay elements'influences on raters'decision-making 93
5.7.5 Elements of good CET essays in the raters'eyes 96
5.8 Analysis of writing scores 98
5.9 Summary and discussion 107
5.9.1 About the issues and problems involved 107
5.9.2 About the raters'scoring decisions 107
5.9.3 About the writing scores 108
Chapter 6 The Second Experimental Study 110
6.1 Introduction 110
6.2 Compositions 111
6.3 Participants 112
6.4 Data collection procedure 112
6.5 Problems encountered 113
6.6 Data analysis 114
6.7 Results 114
6.8 Summary 122
Chapter 7 Design of the OMS 123
7.1 Introduction 123
7.2 Literature review on online marking of compositions 124
7.2.1 Automated scoring of essays 124
7.2.1.1 Overview of four major automated scoring methods 125
7.2.1.2 Analysis of the four major automated scoring methods 132
7.2.1.3 Summary 138
7.2.2 Online scoring of essays by human raters 139
7.2.2.1 Overview of online scoring of essays by human raters 140
7.2.2.2 Empirical research on online scoring of essays by human raters 143
7.2.2.3 Summary 146
7.3 A preliminary model of marking essays online 147
7.4 Overview of the CET Online Marking System(OMS) 148
7.4.1 The data management module 149
7.4.1.1 Basic information management 150
7.4.1.2 Essay management 151
7.4.1.3 Search and report 151
7.4.2 The training module 152
7.4.3 The rating module 152
7.4.4 The monitoring module 153
7.5 Operation of the OMS and the rater interface 153
7.5.1 Overview of the operation of the OMS 153
7.5.2 The OMS rater interface 155
7.6 Main features of the CET OMS 161
7.6.1 Random distribution of scripts 161
7.6.2 Efficient score recording 162
7.6.3 Online real-time monitoring of scoring 162
7.6.4 Quality control of raters 163
7.6.4.1 Adherence to the CET Scoring Principles and Marking Scheme 164
7.6.4.2 Rater training 166
7.6.4.2.1 Compulsory training 167
7.6.4.2.2 Individual rater's self training 170
7.6.4.2.3 Forced training 171
7.6.4.3 Online discussion 172
7.6.4.4 Back-reading and score revising 173
7.6.4.5 Time control 173
7.7 Advantages of the CET OMS 175
7.7.1 Real and efficient random distribution of scripts at the national level 175
7.7.2 Real-time online monitoring of raters 175
7.7.3 Assured quality control of scoring 177
7.7.4 Overall efficiency 179
7.7.5 Efficient and economical storage of scripts 180
7.7.6 Express retrieval of scripts and scores 180
7.7.7 Efficient management and potential utilization of test data for research 180
7.8 Limitations of online scoring and solutions 182
7.9 Summary 184
Chapter 8 The Third Experimental Study 185
8.1 Context of the experiment 185
8.2 Participants 186
8.3 Compositions 188
8.4 Data collection 189
8.4.1 Step 1:Online marking 190
8.4.1.1 The first round online marking 190
8.4.1.2 The second round online marking 198
8.4.2 Step 2:Conference marking 198
8.5 Data analysis 199
8.6 Results 200
8.7 Summary and discussion 215
Chapter 9 Data Analysis Using FACETS 219
9.1 FACETS and method 219
9.2 The first approach:comparison of rater severity and consistency from the online setting and the conference setting 222
9.2.1 Rater severity and consistency:the online setting 222
9.2.1.1 Rater severity:the online setting 224
9.2.1.2 Rater consistency:the online setting 226
9.2.2 Rater severity and consistency:the conference setting 227
9.2.2.1 Rater severity:the conference setting 229
9.2.2.2 Rater consistency:the conference setting 231
9.2.3 Comparison of rater severity and consistency in two settings 231
9.2.4 Comparison of rater severity change between two settings 233
9.3 The second approach:bias analysis 234
9.3.1 Bias analysis:rater by essay interactions 235
9.3.2 Bias analysis:rater by setting interactions 237
9.4 Conclusion 240
9.5 Discussion 241
Chapter 10 Summaries,Discussions,Implications and Recommendations 243
10.1 A refined model of online scoring of CET essays and its main features 244
10.2 Benefits proceeding from online scoring 247
10.3 Practicality 249
10.4 Scoring quality 252
10.5 Raters'comments 254
10.6 Suggestions for the improvement of the Online Marking System 255
10.7 Implications for other writing tests 256
10.8 Suggestions and recommendations for future research 257
10.8.1 Suggestions for future research in online marking of compositions 257
10.8.2 Recommendations for future research in EFL writing assessment 261
10.9 Theoretical and practical significance of the study 265
References 267
Appendices 281
后记 358