Teachers’ assessment practices towards argumentative writing skill: a case study of secondary school teachers

The assessment of writing ability is the single most important to practical progress in composition teaching. Argumentative writing, in particular, demands audience awareness because the writer must consider the potential alternative perspectives of an audience to achieve the compositional goal of convincing an audience to adopt a certain position on an issue. To argue effectively, students must first be able to articulate their thinking, and then also be able to reflect on that thinking. Even though many writing scales have been developed, instructors, educational administrators or researchers may have to develop new scales to fit argumentative writing skill testing situation. This study was conducted to examine teachers’ assessment practices towards argumentative writing skill. Through a purposive sampling method, six teachers were chosen from three secondary schools in Penang state, which represent each of the following form: Form two, form three, and form six. Objectives of the study were, to understand how teachers carried out their assessment practices towards argumentative writing skill. A qualitative case study research design was employed in order to achieve the objectives. In regard, four types of data collection technique were carried out. The techniques were semi-structured interview, observation, video recording, and document analysis. Findings of this study suggested that four themes were dominant for teachers’ assessment practices towards argumentative writing skill. The themes were procedure, approach, communication between student and teacher, and finally problems faced within the process of assessment.