ABSTRACT
Training in language assessment literacy (LAL) has been reported to have considerable impact on the quality of assessment in academic contexts. Summative assessment of academic writing, which is the most common assessment tool in academia to gauge the writing proficiency of students, has been challenged for consistency in terms of compliance with the assessment criteria and test scores. Premised on this notion, this study analyzed writing samples of undergraduate students that had been assessed summatively to ascertain the relevance of assessment rubrics as well as the extent to which they reflected teachers’ performance as assessors. The results revealed significant issues not only with the assessment standards as had been outlined in the rubrics, but also with the assessment performance of the teachers. This study proposes training the writing teachers using LAL frameworks before they conduct assessment of academic writing. This training is expected to contribute to more effective test design, assessment criteria, and assessment performance.
