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Browsing Research and publications by Author "Barkaoui, Khaled"
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Item Open Access Participants, texts, and processes in second language writing assessment: A narrative review of the literature.(University of Toronto Press, 2007) Barkaoui, KhaledEssay tests are widely used to assess ESL/EFL learners' writing abilities for instructional, administrative, and research purposes. Relevant literature was searched to identify 70 empirical studies on ESL/EFL essay tests. The majority of these studies examined task, essay, and rater effects on essay rating and scores. Less attention has been given to the effects of of examinee factors, scoring methods, and assessment contexts. This absence seems mainly to be the result of a traditional concern with controlling for task and rater variability as 'sources of measurement error'. This article argues for viewing these factors as 'sources of variability' that contribute to the richness and uniqueness of the contexts within which writing performance and assessment occur and for taking them into account when interpreting and using essay test scores. The paper concludes with several implications for research and practice.Item Open Access Rating scale impact on EFL essay marking: A mixed-method study(Elsevier, 2007) Barkaoui, KhaledEducators often have to choose among different types of rating scales to assess second-language (L2) writing performance. There is little research, however, on how different rating scales affect rater performance. This study employed a mixed-method approach to investigate the effects of two different rating scales on EFL essay scores, rating processes, and raters’ perceptions. Four EFL teachers in Tunisia rated a set of 24 EFL essays silently and two subsets of four essays while thinking aloud using a holistic scale and then a multiple-trait rating scale. The essay scores were analyzed using G-theory while the think-aloud protocols were coded in terms of Cuming, Kantor, and Power's (Cumming, A., Kantor, R., & Powers, D. (2002). Decision making while rating ESL/EFL writing tasks: A descriptive framework. Modern Language Journal, 86 (1), 67–96.) rater decision-making scheme. The holistic scale resulted in higher inter-rater agreement. Raters employed similar processes with both rating scales. Raters were the main source of variability in terms of scores and decision-making behavior. These findings have implications for writing assessment practices and for further research.