Analytical Scoring Method Or Holistic Scoring Method?

As one of the four skills in the English language, writing is of great importance in L2 teaching and testing. In English studies, the teaching of writing is of particular significance to both the teacher and the student. A big problem in the teaching of writing is how to properly evaluate the writing performance of the students. Most teachers adopt one of the two approaches (analytical scoring or holistic scoring method) in evaluating their students'writing performance. Which scoring method, analytical scoring or holistic scoring, is more appropriate for evaluating students'writing performance? About this question, scholars are divided in their opinions. To get a proper answer to this question is of great importance to teachers of English, particularly those involved in the teaching of writing. To find out an answer to this question, the present writer has made a research into the two methods of analytical scoring or holistic scoring both from the theoretic and experimental perspectives.The thesis first shows its research background. As one difficult point in English writing teaching, the choice of scoring method perplexed many teachers of English writing. There are many scholars studying the two mostly used scoring methods: the holistic scoring method and the analytical scoring method. However there is no agreement on which scoring method is better. Then the author makes a literature review from two aspects: testing methods and scoring methods. After introducing the research background, the author proposes the research question: Which scoring method, analytical scoring or holistic scoring, is more appropriate for evaluating students'writing performance? Thus the research hypothesis is also proposed: the holistic scoring method is more suitable to measure the writing ability of students at high proficiency level, and the analytical scoring method is more suitable for students at low proficiency level.As for the experiment, the author adopts many instruments. Firstly she got the general idea of current situation of the choice of scoring methods in English writing through the questionnaires from English writing teachers and students; then she organizes two raters to score the compositions written by 60 carefully chosen students, lastly she analyzes the data by the software of SPSS, and arrives at the following conclusion:Through her research, the author finds both the scoring methods will lead to different validity and reliability when they are used to assess students at different proficiency levels. After making a further comparative study, the author finds the advantages of the two scoring methods can be best reflected if they are used in the right situation and to the right subjects. The holistic scoring method has higher reliability when it is used to assess students at high proficiency level, and the analytical scoring method has higher reliability when used to students at low level. Thus the author's research hypothesis is verified: the holistic scoring method is more suitable to measure the writing ability of students at high proficiency level, and the analytical scoring method is more suitable for students at low proficiency level. Finally the thesis analyzes the major findings of the thesis, and lists the limitations of the thesis and gives some suggestions for further research.