The teaching of writing skill in Junior High School in Indonesia
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Assessment can be conducted through several sources. Test, questionnaires, interview, observation, are the common sources for the
assessment. Through those things, information can be gained as to control and to evaluate the learning process.
Brown 2004:4, furthermore, defines assessment by revealing the difference between the test and the assessment. Although to test and to assess
are usually misunderstood as the same term, they are technically different. Test is used to measure a person’s knowledge, ability, or performance in a
given domain. Meanwhile, assessment is an ongoing process which encompasses a wider domain. Hence, test is subset of assessment.
Assessment allows the teachers or the learners to evaluate the learning process. This evaluation requires the information as the data and assessment
provides the information. Hence, assessment helps the teachers and the learners to improve their learning process so that the learners can develop
their language ability. Meanwhile, in assessing writing, Jacob et al. in Weigle 2002:116
suggested that the writing can be assessed through several aspects of writing. They are: content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanic.
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The more detailed writing assessment rubric can be seen in the table below.
Table1: Writing assessment rubric Aspects
Score Criteria
Content 27 - 30
very good to excellent 22 - 26
average to good 17 - 21
poor to fair 13 - 16
very poor
Organization 18
– 20 Very good to excellent
14 – 17
Average to good 10
– 13 Poor to fair
7 – 9
Very poor
Vocabulary 18
– 20 Very good to excellent
14 – 17
Average to good 10
– 13 Poor to Fair
7 – 9
Very poor
Language use 22
– 25 Very good to excellent
18 – 21
Average to good 11
– 17 Poor to Fair
5 – 10
Very poor
mechanic 5
Very good to excellent 4
Average to good 3
Poor to Fair 2
Very poor Adapted from Sara Weigle 2002:116