15.

TYPES OF WRITING TESTS

A. Controlled writing tasks:
1. Cloze/ modified tasks
2. Error correction/proof-reading/editing
Examples: “ The secretary who has written this has made several typing mistakes. Correct
them and the omissions indicated so that it can be typed up.”- the students have to rewrite
only the necessary corrections.

B. Guided writing tasks:

1. Form-filling;
2. Relaying a message ( e.g students are given a listening passage of a telephone
conversation or its transcript and are asked to write down a message in the note
form;)
3. Creating a text from given notes ( students are given a set of notes and are asked to
write a letter/ report/essay/article depending on the task);
4. Responding to a given context or situation ( this time the situation is explained in
detail; attention must be paid to the level of language used to describe the situation
in such a way that the instructions be clear and put no extra strain on the students);
5. Information transfer ( students are given a map/diagram/pictures and are asked to
write a description /report/article/instructions based on the given visual);

C. Free writing tasks:

1. Opinion/For-and- Against essays ( students are given a cotroversial topic and are
asked to take a position or to present a balanced one and bring arguments to
sustain their opinions);
2. Writing to given topic ( students are asked to write freely about a given topic such as
“ The holiday of my dreams”without any other guidance);
3. Free composition ( narrative, description).