ENGLISH FOR

SPECIFIC
English for Specific Purposes 26 (2007) 250–260 PURPOSES
www.elsevier.com/locate/esp

Reviews

Sara Cushing Weigle, Assessing Writing, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2002,
ISBN 0-521-78027-6, Price €46.35, hardcover, pp. xiv + 268

In a major contribution to the field of second language writing assessment, Sara Cush-
ing Weigle delivers something long missing from the field: a comprehensive treatise incor-
porating research and practice – Assessing Writing. While many books in the language
assessment field devote only a chapter to writing assessment, Weigle concentrates her ef-
forts on this important topic. Further, the book merges information from diverse players
in the writing assessment community – from psychometricians concerned mainly with
measurement and statistical analysis to L1 and L2 composition specialists whose primary
interests range from the realities of in-class grading to portfolio assessment. Her fair and
impartial treatment of this diversity reminds readers that we have much to learn from the
many disciplines impacting writing assessment.
In Assessing Writing, Weigle draws upon theoretical and practical perspectives to paint
the field of writing assessment for researchers and teachers. Her primary purposes are to
answer key (and pragmatic) questions:

 What are we trying to test?

 Why do we want to test writing ability?
 Who are our test takers?
 Who will score the tests and by what criteria?
 Who will use the information tests provide?
 What are the constraints?
 What do we need to know to make tests reliable and valid? (Weigle, 2002, p. 2)

Weigle fleshes out the answers to these important questions within ten readable and
well-organized chapters and fulfills her purposes commendably.
The first chapter introduces the reader to writing assessment by examining writers and
their uses for writing, that is, the role of writing in second language learning. Weigle re-
minds readers to consider the differences in their students, particularly different groups
of second language writers, when designing writing tasks; additionally, she points out
the importance of knowing what we want to test before we can decide the means by which
we will test it. Weigle provides a useful table describing groups of second language writers
and types of writing, which she arranges from least to most cognitively challenging and
identifies as reproduction, organization, and invention.
One of the strongest contributions Assessing Writing makes to the writing assessment
community is its in-depth survey of the literature. The next two chapters bear this out,
clearly demonstrating the extensiveness of WeigleÕs research. In Chapter 2, ‘‘The nature
 Reviews / English for Specific Purposes 26 (2007) 250–260 251

of writing ability,’’ Weigle outlines research on the relationship between written and spo-
ken language (e.g., Brown, 1994; Grabe & Kaplan, 1996; Grabowski, 1996) and on the dif-
ferences between speaking and writing. She then reviews the social and cultural aspects of
writing, citing the work of both L1 and L2 composition specialists (e.g., Bereiter & Scar-
damalia, 1987; Hamp-Lyons & Kroll, 1997; Hayes, 1996; Leki, 1992). She also raises the
provocative question: Should writing teachers be well versed in the discourse conventions
of disciplines outside their own? She ends the chapter with a summary of the differences
between L1 and L2 writing. The entire chapter not only provides an overview of second
language learning and second language writing, but it also defines writing in the context
of assessing native speakers of English as well as second language writers, extending the
bookÕs usefulness to the L1 writing assessment community.
Chapter 3, ‘‘Basic considerations in assessing writing,’’ likewise makes the book usable
for a broad array of assessment specialists. Even though Weigle focuses primarily on the
second language community, her inclusion of L1 research allows a broader audience for
the book. In Chapter 3, Weigle stresses ethical assessment and the importance of keeping
assessment local. She again provides understandable definitions to often confusing terms,
using as a framework Bachman & PalmerÕs (1996) six qualities of test usefulness: reliabil-
ity, construct validity, authenticity, interactiveness, impact, and practicality. Further, her
explanation of washback includes a vivid example using the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) to aid understanding of the concept. At its end, the chapter reminds
us again that we must always question what we are testing and for what purposes.
Keeping with the tradition set in the first three chapters, Weigle reviews the literature in
the aptly named Chapter Four: ‘‘Research in large-scale writing assessment.’’ She tackles
the direct writing assessment/indirect writing assessment issue, reporting the key questions
raised regarding the validity of these types of assessment; however, she goes no further
than to report. Readers wishing for a glimpse into what Weigle thinks about these issues
will be disappointed with the disregard for political issues so entwined with writing assess-
ment, especially large-scale writing assessment. However, the author deals handily with the
many interrelated factors that teachers and test developers must consider when designing
tasks and scoring procedures and calls for more research for foreign language learners,
young language learners, and immigrant/refugee groups. Similarly, in Chapter 5 ‘‘Design-
ing writing assessment tasks,’’ Weigle deftly handles the process of test development from
the design stage to the administration stage and beyond. These two chapters (4 and 5) are
carefully researched and intricately written, and they provide well-documented and valu-
able information for test developers.
Chapter 6, ‘‘Scoring procedures for writing assessment,’’ delineates the processes in-
volved in designing scoring rubrics. Weigle describes the three main types of rating scales
(primary trait, holistic, and analytic) and provides examples of each type. A helpful chart
compares holistic and analytic scales in terms of the six qualities of test usefulness reviewed
in Chapter 3. Equally beneficial is the section discussing particular problems in scoring.
Weigle provides a comprehensive list of possible problems that can plague novice test
developers and offers practical suggestions for addressing them.
In Chapter 7, ‘‘Illustrative tests of writing,’’ the author presents a detailed explanation
of the five best-known and most widely used large-scale second language writing tests – the
TOEFL, the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE), the International English Lan-
guage Testing System (IELTS), the Basic English Skills Test (BEST), and the Contextuali-
zed Writing Assessment (CoWA). Weigle demonstrates ways in which test developers have
252 Reviews / English for Specific Purposes 26 (2007) 250–260

grappled with such important issues as defining the test construct, developing scoring cri-
teria that reflect what is important to test for a certain group of test takers, and ways that
test developers have balanced aspects of test usefulness against the needs of particular sit-
uations. In my opinion, this chapter offers second language writing teachers and program
administrators a valuable all-in-one-place resource, including in-depth explanations of
these tests, thus easing the burden of administrators attempting to sift through the com-
mercialism that large-scale assessment has become. However, Weigle stops short of giving
us her opinions as to which test(s) might be the most useful; in other words, she system-
atically describes but backs away from judging.
Chapters 8 and 9 focus on assessment in the classroom. In Chapter 8, ‘‘Beyond the
timed impromptu test: Classroom writing assessment,’’ Weigle suggests that teachers
‘‘go beyond the timed impromptu test. . . to create assessment tools that more accurately
reflect the writing process and allow for more feedback’’ (p. 196), arguing that the timed
essay is not always appropriate for the classroom. She further argues that teachers need to
understand the principles underlying assessment in order to deal responsibly with this
important part of their pedagogy. In Chapter 9, ‘‘Portfolio assessment,’’ she clearly out-
lines how teachers might go beyond the timed impromptu test by using portfolio assess-
ment. Weigle details the complexities of portfolio assessment and describes each piece
of the portfolio. Further, she provides several scoring rubrics along with a checklist for
portfolio contents and includes Hamp-Lyons and CondonÕs (2000) dimensions for assess-
ing portfolios.
In her final chapter, ‘‘The future of writing assessment,’’ Weigle discusses the issues and
challenges still facing the field of writing assessment. Once again, her descriptive powers
and research capabilities produce a wealth of information, particularly regarding technol-
ogy and its effects on writing assessment. However, nowhere is there evidence of WeigleÕs
opinions about the controversial topic of computerized assessment of writing. This seems
to be the major shortcoming of the chapter; anyone involved in writing assessment needs
to address the lack of concern for content that essay grading programs such as Project Es-
say Grader (PEG), Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), and Educational Testing ServiceÕs E-
rater demonstrate.
Assessing Writing proved a valuable text in a seminar course I developed for graduate
students – ‘‘L1 and L2 Writing Assessment.’’ The students in the class found WeigleÕs
book clear, easy to read, and comprehensible (high praise from overworked graduate stu-
dents). One of the course assignments required students to develop a writing assessment
and pilot it on populations they might teach in the future. Even those students who were
not in our TESOL program – those looking forward to teaching L1 composition only –
praised the book for its direction and instruction in test development and construction.
I appreciated the book for its insightful explanations and intend to continue using the
book in the future. The chapters on writing ability, assessment tools, portfolio assessment,
and in-class assessment hold universal appeal and work for the mixed audience the above-
mentioned class draws.
This valuable book offers something for nearly everyone concerned with the assessment
of writing from test developers to classroom teachers. However, if the book has any weak-
nesses, those weaknesses lie first in its possible exclusion of elementary English as a Second
Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to help them grapple
with the difficult task of assessing their studentsÕ in-class writing. Another weakness, which
I have iterated several times in this review, lies with the authorÕs exclusion of any criticism
 Reviews / English for Specific Purposes 26 (2007) 250–260 253

or judgment of the various tests she so comprehensively describes. That said, anyone con-
cerned with writing assessment, either L1 or L2, should consider WeigleÕs book a must-
read. It has much to offer. Clearly, Assessing Writing is an important addition to the field
of writing assessment.

Deborah Crusan
Department of English Language and Literatures
Wright State University, 479 Millett Hall, Dayton, OH 45505, USA
Tel.: +1 937 775 2846
E-main address: [email protected]
doi:10.1016/j.esp.2005.07.003

George Braine (Ed.), Teaching English to the World: History, Curriculum, and Practice,
Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 2005, pp. xx +191, price US $22.50 (paper). ISBN
0-8058-5401-0

This book is a sequel to George BraineÕs Non-Native Educators in English Language

Teaching (1999), which is an anthology of personal narratives by nonnative English-
speaking teachers who live mainly in the United States. Teaching English to the World:
History, Curriculum, and Practice, however, takes readers beyond the realm of the Cen-
ter Circle and introduces us to fascinating (auto)biographical accounts of ELT teachers
from 15 periphery countries: Brazil, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India,
Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and
Turkey.
The book begins with an introduction by Braine which provides readers with useful
background information about the 15 countries and their English education by loosely
organizing them into four groups in relation to the English language: (1) former colonies
of Britain (India, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sri Lanka), (2) European countries (Ger-
man, Hungary, and Poland), (3)former colonies of other nations (Brazil, Indonesia, Leb-
anon), and (4) countries from the expanding circle, as Kachru (1985) calls them (China,
Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey). In the remainder of the book, each chapter fo-
cuses on English education in one of the countries included in the volume. A benefit to
readers is that all of these chapters employ the same organizational scheme, thus lending
the book a helpful sense of consistency and continuity. The pattern consists of the author
beginning with a description of the history of English language teaching in that particular
country, followed by an examination of the countryÕs current ELT curriculum. Each chap-
ter then concludes with the inclusion of a biography or autobiography of a representative
English teacher of the country. To lend authenticity to the bookÕs contents, each contrib-
utor speaks the native language of the country s/he writes about and is either a resident or
a native-born citizen of the nation in question.
What especially fascinated me about this book is the range of information it provides
within the organizational pattern used in the chapters. In each chapterÕs ‘‘History of Eng-
lish Language Teaching’’ section, for example, there is a lot of valuable factual material,
including historical dates and useful statistics. This material is interesting in itself but also
helpful in terms of contextualizing the next section of the chapters, ‘‘Evolution of the Eng-