The Effects of Modifying the Formality Level of ESL Composition Questions

Abstract

I We know of no investigations of the effect of topic on compositions written by ESL populations under closed-book, essay-examination conditions. In L1 contexts, several studies have been concerned with varying the amount and kind of information in the topic, or stimulus (e.g., Smith et al., 1985). In the most directly relevant of these studies, Brossell and Hoetker Ash (1984) investigated the effects of personal (you) as opposed to neutral phrasing and of a question versus an imperative format. They found no significant results and concluded that their study produced no evidence to support the contention that small changes in the wording of essay examinations of otherwise similar construction affect writers or the holistic ratings given their essays (p. 425). The study reported here examined the extent to which the short and general topics used in the Composition section of the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) (English Language Institute, 1984) generate rhetorically and linguistically unambitious answers that fail to indicate fully the communicative abilities of candidates. Since this investigation was part of a series of studies aimed at developing a new test specifically designed for the evaluation of nonnative-speaking (NNS) graduate and transfer students, it also examined the extent to which more ambitious and more academically appropriate writing could be elicited by simply increasing the level of formality of the topic. An example of simple and academic topic variants is given below.