The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

Submitted by : ( Group no 6 ) Muhammad

Rehman , Adeela Manzoor , Atif Mahmood
Shahzad , Rizwana Rasheed , Mishal Fatima ,
Azka Kaleem.

Submitted to : Sir Ali Irfan

Topic : Product measure and components of

language.

BS 6th Special Education

( Morning )
Components of language
Phonology is that part of language which comprises the systematic
and functional properties of sound in language. The term 'phonology' is
also used, with the ambiguity also found with other terms used for the
description of languages, for the study of those systematic features of
sound in language.

Morphology
is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to
other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words
and parts of words such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes.

Semantics
looks at meaning in language. Semantic skills refers to the ability to
understand meaning in different types of words, phrases, narratives,
signs and symbols and the meaning they give to the speaker and
listener.

Syntax
is the order or arrangement of words and phrases to form proper
sentences. The most basic syntax follows a subject + verb + direct
object formula.

Pragmatic
language is the use of appropriate communication in social situations
(knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it). Pragmatic
language involves three major skills: Using language for different
purposes such as: Greeting (Hello).

Morpheme
in linguistics, the smallest grammatical unit of speech; it may be a
word, like “place” or “an,” or an element of a word, like re- and -ed in
“reappeared.” So-called isolating languages, such as Vietnamese, have
a one-to-one correspondence of morphemes to words; i.e., no words
contain more than one morpheme.

Assessment of writing
Product measure
Simple ways to assess the product

An effective writing process should lead to a successful product. A

writing product fulfills its communicative intent if it is of appropriate
length, is logical and coherent, and has a readable format. It is a
pleasure to read if it is composed of well-constructed sentences and a
rich variety of words that clearly convey the author's meaning. When
various conceptual models of writing are compared side by side
(Isaacson, 1984) five product variables seem to emerge fluency,
content, conventions, syntax, and vocabulary. Too often teachers focus
their attention primarily on surface features of a student's composition
related to the mechanical aspects of writing, or conventions. A
balanced assessment should look at all five aspects of a student's
writing. The following are simple methods for assessing each product
variable. In some instances quantifiable measures are used; in others,
qualitative assessments seem more appropriate.

Fluency
The first writing skill a teacher might assess with a beginning writer is
fluency: being able to translate one's thoughts into written words. As
concepts of print and fine motor skills develop, the student should
become more proficient at writing down words and sentences into
compositions of gradually increasing length. The developmental route
of very young writers involves trying to understand what written
language is about as they look at books, become aware of
environmental print, and put pencil to paper (Clay, 1982). Then children
try to relate their experiences in writing using invented spelling. As they
begin to construct little stories they explore spelling patterns and
develop new language patterns. Clay (1979, 1993) recommends a
simple rating scale for emerging writing skills that focuses on language
level (from only letters to sentences and paragraphs), message quality,
and directional principles (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Rating a child's early attempts at writing (Clay, 1993)

Language Level
Record the highest level of linguistic organization used by the child:
1. Alphabetical

2. Word (any recognizable word)

3. Word group (any two-word phrase)

4. Sentence (any simple sentence)

5. Punctuated story (of two or more sentences)

6. Paragraphed story (two themes)

Message Quality
Record the number for the best description on the child's sample:

1. He has a concept of signs (uses letters, invents letters, used

punctuation

2. He has a concept that a message is conveyed

3. A message is copied

4. Repetitive use of sentence patterns such as "Here is a…"

5. Attempts to record own ideas

6. Successful composition

Directional Principles
Record the number of the highest rating for which there is no error in
the sample of the child's writing:

1. No evidence of directional knowledge

2. Part of the directional pattern is known: start top left, move left to
right, or return down left
3. Reversal of the directional pattern (right to left and return down
right)

4. Correct directional pattern

5. Correct directional pattern and spaces between words

6. Extensive text without any difficulties of arrangement and spacing of

text.

Content
Content is the second factor to consider in the writing product. Content
features include the composition's organization, cohesion, accuracy (in
expository writing), and originality (in creative writing). General
questions the classroom teacher can ask regarding a composition's
organization include:

Is there a good beginning sentence?

Is there a clear ending?

Is there a logical sequence of subtopics or events?

Cohesion questions includ

Does the writer stick to the topic?

Is it clear what words like it, that, and they refer to?

Does the writer use key words that cue the reader to the direction of
the discourse (First… , Then… , Therefore… , On the other hand… )?

Originality is assessed through questions like:

Did the writer attempt humor?

Did the writer present a unique point of view?

Analytical scales are the best way to lend some objectivity to evaluation
of content. One can choose from a general rating scale, appropriate to
almost any writing assignment, or one tailored to a specific genre or
text structure.

Spandel and Culham (1993) developed an analytical trait scoring guide

for six aspects of writing, three of which address content: Ideas and
content, organization, and voice. (Voice refers to the author's own
unique personality, style, and honesty reflected in the writing.) Each of
these traits is scored on a five-point scale. For example, organization is
scored using the following guidelines:

5 The organization enhances and showcases the central idea or

storyline. The order, structure or presentation of information is
compelling and moves the reader through the text.

3 The organizational structure is strong enough to move the reader

through the text without undue confusion

1 The writing lacks a clear sense of direction. Ideas, details or events

seem strung together in a loose or random fashion-or else there is no
identifiable internal structure. (Spandel & Culham, 1993)

To promote agreement between raters, each of the guidelines above is

further defined by specific criteria (or rubrics). A rating of 3, for
example, requires these attributes:
The paper has a recognizable introduction and conclusion. The
introduction may not create a strong sense of anticipation; the
conclusion may not tie up all loose ends. Sequencing is usually logical,
but may sometimes be so predictable that the structure takes attention
away from the content.

Pacing is fairly well controlled, though the writer sometimes spurts

ahead too quickly or spends too much time on details that do not
matter.

Transitions often work well; at other times, connections between ideas

are fuzzy.

The organization sometimes supports the main point or storyline; at

other times, the reader feels an urge to slip in a transition or move
things around. (Spandel & Culham, 1993).

Writing instruction for students with special needs also may focus on
specific text structures. An example of a structure-specific scale is one
that Isaacson (1995) devised for evaluating factual paragraphs written
by middle school students (Figure 4). Isaacson's scale reflects the
conceptual definition of fact paragraphs taught to the students: (a) A
fact paragraph has more than one sentence; (b) The first sentence tells
the topic; (c) All other sentences are about the topic; (d) Sentences tell
facts, not opinions; and (e) The most important information is given
first. Judgments of factual accuracy and fact vs. opinion make the scale
specific to factual paragraphs.

Harris and Graham (1992) provided another example of a structure-

explicit measure for assessing the inclusion and quality of eight story
elements in stories written by students with learning disabilities:
introduction of the main character, description of the locale, the time in
which the story takes place, a precipitating event (or starter event), the
goal formulated by the character in response to the starter event,
action(s) carried out in an attempt to achieve the goal, the ending
result, and the final reaction of the main character to the outcome.
Each story element receives a numerical score for its inclusion and
quality of development. The validity of the scale was demonstrated by
its correlation with Thematic Maturity scores on the Test of Written
Language and holistic ratings of story quality (Graham & Harris, 1986).

Conventions
In order to fulfill the communicative function of writing, the product
must be readable. Writers are expected to follow the standard
conventions of written English: correct spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, and grammar and legible handwriting. Consequently,
even if the message is communicated, readers tend to be negatively
predisposed to compositions that are not presentable in their form or
appearance. Teachers traditionally have been more strongly influenced
by length of paper, spelling, word usage, and appearance than by
appropriateness of content or organization (Charney, 1984; Moran,
1982).

Counting correct word sequences is one quantitative method of

measuring and monitoring students' use of conventions. Correct word
sequences (CWS) are two adjacent, correctly spelled words that are
grammatically acceptable within the context of the phrase (Videen,
Deno, & Marston, 1982). Capitalization and punctuation also can be
considered within the sequence. To calculate the proportion of CWS:
Place a caret (^) over every correct sequence between the two words
that form the sequence.

Place a large dot between every incorrect sequence. Place dots before
and after misspelled words.

Example: o my ^ dog o chasd o the ^ ball^.

The first sequence is not comprised of two words but marks how the
sentence was begun. (Sentence beginning to first word my is marked as
an incorrect sequence because the M is not capitalized.) The last
sequence is the last word to period, question mark, or other
appropriate ending punctuation.

To control for length of composition either (a) time the writing sample
for 3 minutes (the student may continue writing after a mark is made
indicating the last word written in the 3-minute period) and/or (b)
divide the number of CWS by the total number of sequences (correct
and incorrect), which gives the proportion of CWS.

Syntax
As discussed previously, a child's early attempts at writing move from
writing single words to writing word groups and sentences (Clay, 1993).
Beginning writers often produce sentences that follow a repeated
subject-verb (S-V) or subject-verb-object (S-V-O) pattern. The
composition in Figure 5 was written by a ten-year-old female deaf
student. The beginning of the composition reveals this typical
repetitious pattern to a certain degree in its first few sentences: "I go… I
Ride my Horse… [I] get my Cow… I Leave My cow…" A more mature
writer will vary the sentence pattern and combine short S-V and S-V-O
sentences into longer, more complex sentences.
Powers and Wilgus (1983) examined three parameters of syntactic
maturity: (a) variations in the use of sentence patterns, (b) first
expansions (six basic sentence patterns formed by the addition of
adverbial phrases, infinitives, and object complements, and the
formation of simple compound sentences), and (c) transformations that
result in relative and subordinate clauses. Adapting Power and Wilgus's
analysis of patterns suggests a simple schema for evaluating the
syntactic maturity of a student's writing:

Fragment : A group of words that does not make a complete sentence

Examples: His old shirt. Nina and Fred too.

Level 1 Repetitious use of a single pattern (simple sentences)

Example: I like my horse. I like my dog. I like my kitty. I like to feed my

kitty.

Level 2 Use of a variety of simple sentence patterns.

Examples: I have a new toy. (S-V-O) It is big. (S-Vbe -Adj) It came in the
mail. (S-V-PP)

Level 3 First expansions: (a) addition of an adverbial or gerund phrase,

or (b) the making of a compound sentence by combining two simple
sentences with the word and.
Examples: Our baby sitter sleeps all the time. To go faster, we push it. I
ate the cookie and my brother ate the candy bar.

Level 4 Complex sentences (transformations in which one sentence is

embedded within another as a subordinate clause)

Examples: The man wants to live where there is no pollution. Since John
was late, we had to start without him.

Seldom does a student write sentences at only one level of syntactic

maturity. One determines a syntactic level by analyzing all the
sentences in the sample and summarizing them according

to the type most often used. Occasionally one might characterize a

student's syntactic level as being a transitional Level 2/Level 3 or Level
3/Level 4.

A resulting IEP objective for syntax might read: Daniel will plan, write,
and revise a descriptive paragraph using mature sentences, at least half
containing embedded clauses or adverbial phrases.

Vocabulary
The words used in a student's composition can be evaluated according
to the uniqueness or maturity of the words used in the composition.
Both quantitative and qualitative methods can be used to evaluate
vocabulary. Quantitative methods include calculating the use of
unrepeated words in relation to the total number of words, such as
Morris and Crump's (1982) corrected type-token ratio. A simpler
classroom-based method of looking at vocabulary is to simply make
note of words used repetitiously (over-used words) as well as new and
mature words the student uses.

Example: Over-Used Words: New Mature Words

awesome

inspiring

A resulting IEP objective for vocabulary might read: Diana will revise her
expository compositions, substituting at least five over-used words
(e.g., is) for more interesting action words.

Reference :
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article/simple-ways-assess-writing-
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