Written Communication Jan 2013

Scaling Writing Ability

Dylan B. Dryer University of Maine

Abstract

This analysis of 83 scoring rubrics and grade definitions from writing programs at U.S. public research universities captures the current state of the struggle to define and measure specific writing traits, and it enables an induction of the underlying theoretical construct of “academic writing” present at these writing programs. Findings suggest that writing specialists have managed to permeate U.S. first-year writing assessment with certain progressive assumptions about writing and writing instruction, but they also indicate critical areas for revision, given such documents’ critical gatekeeping role at postsecondary institutions. The study also raises a broader question about the difficulties of rhetorically constructing “writing ability” in a way that is consistent with the contextualist paradigm dominant in contemporary writing studies.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2013-01-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088312466992
Open Access
Closed
Topics
first-year composition writing pedagogy writing program administration assessment revision

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Yu (2024)
    Genre as an Act of Positioning
    Written Communication

Cites in this index (17)

  1. Spinuzzi (2010)
    Secret Sauce and Snake Oil: Writing Monthly Reports in a Highly Contingent Envi…
    Written Communication
  2. Roozen (2010)
    Tracing Trajectories of Practice: Repurposing in One Student’s Developing Disci…
    Written Communication
  3. Hyland (2010)
    Community and Individuality: Performing Identity in Applied Linguistics
    Written Communication
  4. McNamara et al. (2010)
    Linguistic Features of Writing Quality
    Written Communication
  5. Roozen (2009)
    “Fan Fic-ing” English Studies: A Case Study Exploring the Interplay of Vernacul…
    Research in the Teaching of English
Show all 17 →
  1. Wardle (2009)
    “Mutt Genres” and the Goal of FYC: Can We Help Students Write the Genres of the…
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Lunsford et al. (2008)
    “Mistakes Are a Fact of Life”: A National Comparative Study
    College Composition and Communication
  3. Angouri et al. (2008)
    This Is Too Formal for Us...
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Scott (2005)
    Creating the Subject of Portfolios
    Written Communication
  5. Slevin (2001)
    Engaging Intellectual Work: The Faculty's Role in Assessment
    College English
  6. Winsor (2001)
    Learning to Do Knowledge Work in Systems of Distributed Cognition
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. SCHRYER (1993)
    Records as Genre
    Written Communication
  8. HASWELL (1988)
    Error and Change in College Student Writing
    Written Communication
  9. SPERLING et al. (1987)
    A Good Girl Writes Like a Good Girl
    Written Communication
  10. Freedman (1981)
    Influences on Evaluators of Expository Essays: Beyond the Text
    Research in the Teaching of English
  11. Braddock (1974)
    The Frequency and Placement of Topic Sentences in Expository Prose
    Research in the Teaching of English
  12. Follman et al. (1967)
    An Investigation of the Reliability of Five Procedures for Grading English Themes
    Research in the Teaching of English
Also cites 31 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.2307/j.ctt46nxp6
     ↗
  2. 10.1016/j.asw.2011.03.001
     ↗
  3. 10.1017/CBO9780511804489
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjn6c
     ↗
  5. 10.1016/j.asw.2012.05.002
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjt92
     ↗
  7. 10.2307/j.ctt5hjpc7
     ↗
  8. 10.1002/j.2333-8504.1961.tb00286.x
     ↗
  9. 10.1080/15348450802619979
     ↗
  10. 10.2307/356491
     ↗
  11. 10.1016/j.jeap.2010.02.004
     ↗
  12. 10.1016/j.asw.2010.12.001
     ↗
  13. 10.1016/S1075-2935(99)80014-2
     ↗
  14. 10.1177/016146811201300411
     ↗
  15. 10.1016/j.jeap.2009.10.001
     ↗
  16. 10.3102/00346543060002237
     ↗
  17. 10.1016/j.asw.2008.12.002
     ↗
  18. 10.1016/j.asw.2011.02.003
     ↗
  19. 10.1191/0265532202lt230oa
     ↗
  20. 10.1057/9780230511910
     ↗
  21. 10.1080/00335638409383686
     ↗
  22. 10.37514/PER-B.2009.2324.2.09
     ↗
  23. 10.2307/j.ctt4cgpx8
     ↗
  24. 10.2307/3588141
     ↗
  25. 10.37514/PER-B.2003.2317.2.06
     ↗
  26. 10.1016/j.asw.2010.01.003
     ↗
  27. 10.17239/jowr-2010.02.02.2
     ↗
  28. 10.2307/j.ctt4cgq0p.17
     ↗
  29. 10.37514/PER-B.2003.2317.2.10
     ↗
  30. 10.1037/h0071519
     ↗
  31. 10.1080/10245280108523562
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 8 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. College Composition and Communication Sep 2023
    Engaging Assessment Counterstories through a Cultural Rhetorics Framework ↗
    Stephanie West-Puckett; Nicole I. Caswell; William P. Banks
    writing pedagogy writing program administration assessment multimodality gender and writing multilingual writers affect and writing
  2. College Composition and Communication Jun 2020
    Monstrous Composition: Reanimating the Lecture in First-Year Writing Instruction ↗
    Marika Seigel; Josh Chase; William De Herder; Silke Feltz; Karla Saari Kitalong; Abraham Romney; Kimberly Tweedale
    first-year composition writing pedagogy writing centers writing program administration curriculum design
  3. College Composition and Communication Jun 2013
    Local Assessment: Using Genre Analysis to Validate Directed Self-Placement ↗
    Anne Ruggles Gere; Laura Aull; Moisés Damián Perales Escudero; Zak Lancaster; Elizabeth Vander Lei
    first-year composition writing program administration assessment quantitative research multilingual writers
  4. College Composition and Communication Jun 2011
    Enacting and Transforming Local Language Policies ↗
    Christine M. Tardy
    first-year composition writing pedagogy writing program administration multilingual writers
  5. College Composition and Communication Dec 2008
    An Inter-Institutional Model for College Writing Assessment ↗
    Neil Pagano; Stephen A. Bernhardt; Dudley Reynolds; Mark T. Williams; Kilian McCurrie
    first-year composition writing program administration assessment multimodality