Systematic Training on Self-assessment to Improve Writing Performance

Abstract

This action research intends to evidence how systematic training on self-assessment can improve the written performance of a group of students in a public institution in Ecuador. On one hand, experience shows that students normally find writing one of the most difficult skills and they struggle mostly with organizing their ideas and being coherent. On the other hand, as stated by Brown and Lee (2015), every “successful learner has developed the ability to monitor his or her own learning” (p.415). This process of monitoring their own work can be a great support on developing writing skills, and thus, forming successful writers. Self-assessment is seen as one possible solution to the problem of poor written products and low grades in writing. Moreover, in their study, Fahimi and Rahimi (2015) concluded that including self-assessment methods in writing can foster the progress in students writing ability., These authors emphasized that it can also facilitate the transfer of these abilities in future tasks (p.735). All teachers envision their students becoming independent learners through a process of planning, drafting, revising, and editing (Seow,2002, p.315) their written products and self-assessment may support this endeavor. In addition, self-assessing could improve critical thinking, creativity, and personal accountability. It could allow students to reflect upon the multiple manners they learn, promoting their metacognitive skills and thus, better language acquisition. It is expected that systematic training on self-assessment will improve the student’s written performance, while meeting an international standard.