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

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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.