2024年5月7日下午，澳门大学英语系赵冠芳副教授应上海对外经贸大学语言教育与测评中心 (CLEAR)邀请，为我院师生带来了一场主题为“写作测评”的学术讲座,近30名师生在信息楼311参加,本次讲座由蔡雨阳教授主持。
On the afternoon of 7 May 2024, at the invitation of the Center for Language Education and Assessment Research (CLEAR) of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics (SUIBE), Associate Professor Cecilia Guanfang Zhao from the Department of English at the University of Macau, delivered an academic lecture on the theme of Assessing Writing to approximately 30 teachers and students in Room 311 of the Information Building. Professor Cai Yuyang hosted this seminar.
讲座伊始，蔡雨阳教授与在座的师生们共同向赵冠芳教授的莅临表示了热烈的欢迎。赵教授首先从当前写作测评领域存在的问题切入，带领大家回顾了过去一百年来关于写作能力和语言能力的核心概念和理论模型。在深入分析中，赵教授指出测评实践与写作理论之间存在的脱节现象，强调了学生写作能力与实际需求之间的不匹配问题。
At the outset of the lecture, Professor Cai Yuyang, in the company of the assembled teachers and students, extended a warm welcome to Professor Zhao. Professor Zhao commenced by outlining the current challenges in the field of writing assessment. She then introduced the major concepts of writing and models of language ability over the past century. In her comprehensive review, Professor Zhao identified a discrepancy between writing assessment practice and writing theory and between students' writing abilities and their actual needs.
赵教授在讲座中强调了寻求一种既符合教育目标又契合写作理论的评估方式的必要性。她提出了一个引人深思的问题：“如何定义写作？”赵教授认为，写作不仅仅是单纯的表现，更应基于过程，且写作也是一种社会建构，需要写作者充分考虑写作中的身份建构。为了更全面地评估学生的写作能力，赵教授介绍了新的写作测试概念框架，这一框架将学生的社会认知过程纳入评估范围，从而更真实地反映学生的写作水平和成长轨迹。她进一步建议，对写作评估应进行指导设计，评分任务不仅要关注学生的书面产出，还应考量其写作过程以及社会交互方面的能力。
Professor Zhao highlighted the necessity of developing an assessment method for writing that aligns with educational objectives and writing theories. She posed a thought-provoking question: How do you define writing? Professor Zhao posited that writingshould be process-based rather than performance-based. Furthermore, it is a social construction that requires writers to fully consider identity construction in writing. To comprehensively assess writing ability, Professor Zhao introduced a novel conceptual framework for writing tests. This framework incorporates students’ social cognitive processes into the assessment, thus providing a more realistic picture of students’ writing ability. Furthermore, she proposed that the writing assessment should be guided by a design in which rating tasks not only assess and evaluate students’ written products but also consider their composing process and social aspects.
随后，赵教授阐述了高等教育中写作过程与信息素养的紧密联系。她强调，在研究和写作过程中，学生需要展现出信息素养能力。赵教授深入探讨了信息素养的过程性特点，她指出，写作任务会激活学生的知识库储备，进而触发对信息的需求，激活他们的信息行为，包括信息的定位、评估、组织和应用，最终创造新的知识。同时赵教授也强调了教师在此过程中的关键作用。她认为，教师设计合理的任务和评估方式至关重要，这不仅可以促使学生进行自我反思和评估，还能有效指导他们的写作过程。最后，赵教授再次重申了基于过程的写作评估方法的重要性，并指出了实施过程中可能面临的挑战。
Professor Zhao then elucidated the information literacy in the writing process in higher education. She stressed students' need to master information literacy throughout the research and writing process. Professor Zhao further discussed the processual features of information literacy. She pointed out that writing tasks activate students’ knowledge base and trigger information needs, prompting their information behaviors, including locating, evaluating, organizing, and applying information, and ultimately creating new knowledge. At the same time, Professor Zhao emphasized the pivotal role of educators in this process. It was paramount for teachers to devise appropriate tasks and assessments as they effectively prompt students to engage in self-reflection and assessment and guide their writing process. Finally, Professor Zhao reiterated the importance of a process-based approach to writing assessments and highlighted the potential challenges encountered during implementation.
在讲座的互动环节，师生们就讲座内容展开了热烈讨论。其中，一个具有代表性的问题是：在人工智能时代，外语教师尤其是写作课老师，在学生的写作学习中应该扮演一个何种角色？赵教授认为教师不应排斥学生使用像ChatGPT等人工智能工具。相反，教师应该鼓励学生们学习如何有效利用这些工具。她强调，教师应根据学生的实际需求和水平来设计写作任务，明确写作要求，并引导学生合理使用人工智能来辅助写作过程。国际商务外语学院温建平院长对此深表赞同，并进一步强调，语言教师在教授写作时，不仅要传授写作的逻辑，还需在写作课堂上将内容与语言融为一体。无论是教师还是学生，都应保持终身学习的态度，紧跟时代的步伐，以免被时代所淘汰。
During the Q&A session, Professor Zhao had a spirited discussion with the audience. One of the thought-provoking questions is: In the era of the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI), what role should foreign language teachers, particularly those engaged in writing instruction, play in their students’ writing learning? The lecturer posits that teachers should not disenfranchise students from leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT. Instead, educators should facilitate students’ capacity to utilize these tools effectively. Teachers should design writing tasks according to students’ needs, clarify the writing requirements, and guide students appropriately to assist the writing process. Professor Wen Jianping, the dean of the School of Languages, stressed that language teachers should teach the logic of writing and integrate content and language into the writing class. She urged teachers and students to maintain an attitude of lifelong learning and keep pace with developments in the field to avoid becoming obsolete.
最后，蔡雨阳教授代表国际商务外语学院及语言教育与测评中心，向赵冠芳教授表达了感谢。赵教授的精彩讲解深入浅出，让在场的师生们对写作测评有了更加全面深入的了解。同时，此次讲座也为师生们提供了宝贵的写作教学和写作实践的新思路和方法。
In the end, Professor Cai Yuyang expressed his gratitude to Professor Zhao on behalf of the School of Languages and the CLEAR. Professor Zhao's lecture was in-depth and gave the audience a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of writing assessment. This lecture also provided insights into writing teaching and practice.
撰稿人：左巧玲，陈艳，省可可
Contributed by: ZUO Qiaoling, CHEN Yan, XING Keke