An integrative research review on Chinese integrated writing assessment over two decades

Abstract

Purpose: This integrative review mainly documents our team's two decades of research on Chinese integrated writing (IW) assessment based on funded projects. These projects related to IW, led by Xinhua Zhu as the principal investigator, were funded by the General Research Fund (GRF), the Quality Education Fund, the Education and Manpower Bureau/Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The findings in approximately 40 papers on IW have been published in SSCI-indexed journals. Design/Approach/Methods: We have employed various methods, including questionnaire surveys, interviews, and eye-tracking experiments, to investigate key issues concerning Chinese IW assessment: the measured construct, factors influencing Chinese IW performance, L1 and L2 IW associations, and related practices. Findings are thematically integrated to develop a systematic account of current perspectives in this field and suggest directions for various stakeholders to scaffold de facto IW learning, teaching, and assessment. Findings: As a multifaceted construct, Chinese IW involves a dynamic integration of independent language skills and source use. Chinese IW task performance is linguistically-based and influenced by psychological and behavioral factors. The cross-linguistic research also revealed L1-L2 IW associations in general performance, subsumed skills, and related psychological factors. Findings greatly informed and improved related teaching, learning, and assessment practices, while significant room for improvement remains to appropriately align these practices with students’ writing development. Originality/Value: Not only offering current perspectives, this review also suggests underexplored issues and methodological implications for researchers, guidance for educators and professionals to develop instructional activities and assessments, and insights for learners to find effective practices for honing their IW skills.