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Lecturer:
Prof. Dr. Rusman Roni, M.Pd
By:
Dhia Fitriah (20186012002)
Graduate Program
PGRI University of Palembang
2019
THE USE OF AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT FOR STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL
1. Introduction
Assessment is one of the most important aspects of language teaching and learning. It
cannot be separated from the learning process since it is carried out during or after the
teaching and learning activities takes place. Teachers are one of the parties who act as
assessors of student performance. Assessment is a planned and sustained effort by the teacher
to obtain information how far the success of learners in understanding and applying learning
that learned both in terms of process and results.
In this regard, writing skills become an important skill in learning English. According
to Hamp-Lyons (1990) in O’Malley (1996: 136) “writing is a personal act in which writers
take ideas or prompts and transform them into selfinitiated topics”. Through writing
activities, students can deliver their imagination and ideas in writing. Teacher needs to
develop assessment tasks that allow learners to demonstrate real-world writing skills – skills
that will be useful in their interactions outside of the classroom. So, authentic assessment is
very suitable to be applied in learning English, especially to assess students’ writing skill.
2. Literature Review
Writing represents what we think. It is because the writing process reflects things,
which stay in the mind. It motivates thinking, that is, it can help learners to organise their
ideas, and develop their critical thinking skills to summarize, analyze, and criticize (Rao,
2007). Unlike other skills, writing cannot be assessed by using a conventional method like a
multiple choice or true-false item test. A teacher can only know the students’ writing
competence by checking their work in detail.
Accordingly, an authentic assessment is seen as the most appropriate method in
assessing students writing skill. The following are the steps in assessing students writing by
using authentic assessment proposed by O’Malley and Pierce (1996): 1) selecting topic that is
appropriate for the students, 2) selecting rubrics students can use, 3) sharing rubrics with the
students, 4) identifying bench-mark papers, 5) reviewing how students write not just what
they write, 6) having a conference with the students on their writing results.
After that, teachers can select rubrics that students can use and share it with the
students.
Furthermore, the teachers should review how students write because both teacher and
students will obtain a better understanding in the writing processes. Students should be
encouraged to look at the writing content, grammar, and structure.
Finally, the teacher should have a conference with the students to discuss their writing
because occasional writing conferences provide excellent opportunities to ask students key
questions about their writing processes and to provide students with personal feedback on
their writing.
4. Conclusion
In Conclusion, assessment interprets the success of learning from the score achieved.
Assessment as one of the most important aspects of language teaching and learning cannot be
separated from the learning process. Authentic assessment is multiple forms of assessment
that reflect student learning, achievement, motivation and attitudes on instructionally-relevant
classroom activities. Unlike other skills, writing cannot be assessed by using a conventional
method like a multiple choice or true-false item test. Accordingly, an authentic assessment is
seen as the most appropriate method in assessing students writing skill. Teachers, one of the
parties who act as assessors of student performance, need to implement authentic assessment
as a tool to monitor the students’ progress in mastering the writing skill in the classroom.
Through an authentic assessment, teachers can know about progress and achievement of
students’ learning that are able to express, prove and demonstrate precisely that the learning
objectives have been completely mastered and achieved with motivation and attitude toward
learning.
References
Bell, S. (2010). Project-based learning for the 21st century: Skills for the future. Clearing
House Journal, 83(2), 39-43.
Frey, B., & Schmitt, V. (2010). Teachers’ classroom assessment practices. Middle Grades
Research Journal, 5(3), 107-117.
Gottlieb, M. (1995). Nurturing student learning through portfolios. TESOL journal, 5(1), 12-
14.
O’Malley, J. M., & Pierce, L. V. (1996). Authentic assessment for English language learners:
practical approaches for teachers. Massachusetts: Addison Wesley Publishing
Company.
Rao, Z. (2007). Training in brainstorming and developing writing skills. ELT Journal, 61(2),
100-106.
Rukmini. D. & Saputri, L., A., D., E. (2017). The Authentic Assessment to Measure
Students’ English Productive Skills Based on 2013 Curriculum. Indonesian Journal of
Applied Linguistic. 7 (2), 263-273.