ELPA21 - English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century Writing Domain Skills Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An English learner writes a short paragraph describing their favorite animal. The response is: 'My favorite animal is dog. Dog is fast. Dog is friend. I like dog.' According to the ELPA21 performance descriptors, this student's writing primarily demonstrates a need for development in which area?
- Developing a clear topic or claim.
- Using a wider range of sentence structures and vocabulary. (Correct answer)
- Organizing ideas into a logical sequence.
- Citing evidence from a source text.
Correct answer: Using a wider range of sentence structures and vocabulary.
The student successfully states a main idea ('dog is favorite animal') but uses a repetitive, simple sentence structure ('Dog is...') and limited vocabulary. To advance in proficiency, the student needs to expand their sentences (e.g., 'My favorite animal is the dog because it runs fast and is a good friend.') and use more varied language, which falls under developing a wider range of sentence structures and vocabulary.
Question 2: A teacher prepares a writing task for students aligned with the ELPA21 framework. The prompt asks students to read two short texts about recycling and then write an essay explaining which text is more persuasive, using evidence from both texts. This task is primarily designed to assess a student's ability to:
- Write a personal narrative with detailed descriptions.
- Compose a fictional story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
- Construct an argument with claims supported by textual evidence. (Correct answer)
- Summarize a single informational text using main ideas.
Correct answer: Construct an argument with claims supported by textual evidence.
The ELPA21 standards emphasize the ability to construct claims and support them with reasoning and evidence, which is a key academic language skill. This task requires students to go beyond summarization and analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information from multiple sources to build a coherent argument, a core component of the writing domain.
Question 3: Which of the following describes a key feature of the Writing domain within the ELPA21 assessment system?
- It exclusively measures a student's control of English grammar and spelling.
- It is considered a 'receptive' language modality.
- It assesses a student's ability to adapt language for different purposes and audiences. (Correct answer)
- It is always hand-scored by the student's own classroom teacher.
Correct answer: It assesses a student's ability to adapt language for different purposes and audiences.
The ELPA21 framework assesses how students use language to accomplish tasks. A key writing skill is adapting language choices to suit the specific purpose (e.g., to inform, to persuade), task, and audience. While grammar and spelling are components, the assessment focuses more broadly on effective communication for academic purposes. Writing is a 'productive' modality, and scoring is centralized, not done by the local teacher.
Question 4: A student is working on an ELPA21 writing task that requires them to edit a short paragraph containing several errors. The task provides dropdown menus for specific words or phrases, allowing the student to select the correct option. This type of task is specifically designed to assess:
- The ability to generate a creative narrative.
- The student's command of the conventions of standard English. (Correct answer)
- The skill of summarizing complex information.
- The ability to develop a persuasive argument.
Correct answer: The student's command of the conventions of standard English.
This task format, often called a 'discrete editing task,' directly targets a student's knowledge of grammar, usage, and mechanics. By asking students to identify and correct errors in nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc., it assesses their command of the conventions of standard English, which is one of the foundational ELP standards.
Question 5: According to the ELPA21 Achievement Level Descriptors, a student at an intermediate level of writing proficiency (e.g., Level 3) would typically be working on which of the following skills?
- Recognizing and writing a few frequently occurring nouns and verbs.
- Producing and expanding simple and compound sentences to compose brief texts. (Correct answer)
- Determining the meaning of figurative language and complex text structures.
- Analyzing and critiquing the arguments of others with detailed evidence.
Correct answer: Producing and expanding simple and compound sentences to compose brief texts.
The ELPA21 Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs) outline skills at each proficiency level. At Level 3 (Intermediate), students are moving beyond single words and phrases to connect ideas, which involves producing and expanding simple and compound sentences and composing short texts on familiar topics. Recognizing a few nouns (Level 1/2) is too basic, while analyzing arguments and figurative language (Level 4/5) is more advanced.
Question 6: A teacher wants to prepare students for an ELPA21 writing task where they must write an email to a friend to organize a group project. Which instructional activity would be MOST beneficial?
- Having students write a formal five-paragraph research paper.
- Asking students to diagram complex sentences from a novel.
- Providing a template and modeling how to write for a specific, informal audience and purpose. (Correct answer)
- Drilling students on spelling lists of academic vocabulary.
Correct answer: Providing a template and modeling how to write for a specific, informal audience and purpose.
ELPA21 writing tasks often assess the ability to use appropriate language for a given purpose and audience. Writing an email to a friend requires a different style and tone than a formal essay. Modeling and providing a template for this specific, informal context directly prepares students for the language demands of the task, such as using appropriate greetings, tone, and organizational structure for an email.
ELPA21 - English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century Writing Domain Skills Questions and Answers
An English learner writes a short paragraph describing their favorite animal.
The response is: 'My favorite animal is dog.
Dog is fast.
Dog is friend.
I like dog.' According to the ELPA21 performance descriptors, this student's writing primarily demonstrates a need for development in which area?