Microsoft Word language assessment theory with practice

language use: the capacity to write correct and appropriate 
sentences; 
(ii) mechanical skills: the ability to use those conventions peculiar 
to the written language (e.g., punctuation, spelling) correctly; 
(iii) treatment of content: the ability to think creatively and develop 
thoughts, excluding all irrelevant information; 
(iv) stylistic skills: the ability to manipulate sentences and 
paragraphs and use language effectively; 
(v) judgement skills: the ability to write in an appropriate manner 
for a particular purpose with a particular audience in mind, 
together with a capacity to select, organise and order relevant 
information. 
So, the teaching of writing is a difficult job; it follows then that the 
assessment of writing is also challenging and even more difficult than 

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Assessment of Language Skills: Productive Skills
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teaching it (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2019). The assessment of writing, 
according to experts, is made difficult mainly due to the following 
characteristics of the skill: 
(1) The Construct of Writing 
What does successful writing mean when the group assessed is young 
learners or middle school students, or adults (i.e., age of the test taker)? 
What should we expect from students with beginner (A1, A2) proficiency 
levels vs students with B2 level skills (i.e., language proficiency)? What are 
the ingredients that make the text a successful piece of academic writing vs 
job-related writing (e.g., official letters, emails, reposts, manuals) vs 
personal writing (e.g., text messages, notes, reminders, diaries, poetry) (i.e., 
genres of writing)? Who is the audience that will read the text (i.e., friends, 
grandparents, classmates, colleagues, government officials, our teachers)? 
All these variables should be defined, classified and exemplified so that a 
clearer picture of the construct of ‘successful writing’ emerges.