Writing assessment of Japanese as a Second Language: Pursuit of good writing

本研究的目的是回答这样一个问题：什么是好的日语写作作为第二语言？本研究的最终目的是从一个广泛的角度来探讨日语写作的要素，但本研究的目的是澄清日语教师如何看待日语作为第二语言的写作。在本研究中，我们首先从评分者差异的角度调查了写作评估分歧的来源（Tanaka and Nagasaka，2009）。接下来，我们对排名进行了研究。在本研究中，两种类型的文章（六个临时性和六个议论文）分别由10名经验丰富的日本教师使用整体方案排名。这些文章是由日本大学的亚洲学生以定时即兴写作测试的形式撰写的，研究人员事先对这些文章进行了评估，并将其列为前六名。结果表明：（1）日语作文不像英语作文那样具有明确的“作文风格”，因此，评分者缺乏强有力的评判标准。2)有些日本文章，即使他们没有完全完成任务，或缺乏一致性的主要思想或组织意识，排名很高，因为“学术气氛”（学术气氛）被认为是在支持思想或整个文章。在日语中，使用某些“汉字”（汉字）词有助于“记忆”。在英语作文中，任务完成、中心思想和良好的组织结构被认为是评价的前提，而不考虑“主观性”。“本研究证实了在日语教育工作者中建立共同理解的必要性，包括评分标准和评分程序。

The purpose of this particular study is to answer the question : What is good writing in Japanese as a second language? The ultimate purpose of this research is to explore the elements that make good writing in Japanese from a broad perspective, but the aim of this particular study is to clarify how good writing in Japanese as a second language is perceived by Japanese teachers. In this study, we first investigated the source of disagreements on writing assessment from the perspective of rater variation (Tanaka and Nagasaka, 2009). Next, we conducted research on ranking. For this research, two types of essays (six expository and six argumentative) were ranked separately by 10 experienced Japanese teachers using holistic schemes. Written as timed impromptu writing tests by mostly Asian students at Japanese universities, these essays had been assessed in advance by researchers and ranked as the top six. In order to clarify the decisive factors in ranking these essays, raters' think-aloud protocols were recorded and analyzed along with the questionnaire.The results indicated : 1) Japanese writing does not have a clear "Essay Style" as English essays do ; therefore, raters lack strong criteria for assessing essays. 2) Some Japanese essays, even though they did not fulfill the task completely, or lacked consistency of main idea or awareness of organization, were ranked high because "academism" (academic atmosphere) was perceived in the supporting ideas or throughout the essay. In Japanese, the use of certain "Kanji" (Chinese characters) words contributes to "academism."In English essays, task fulfillment, main idea, and good organization are considered as preconditions for assessment regardless of "academism." The present study confirmed the necessity for the establishment of common understanding, including scoring rubrics and scoring procedures, for writing assessment among Japanese language educators.