WordMAP-II – Linguistic Testing

WordMAP-II: Product Description

General Description

This software is an optional addendum to WordMAP-I. When installed, WordMAP-II modules take over after WordMAP-I’s spelling-grammar-style check is complete and carry out a set of specialized quality assessments. A report of these assessments is appended to the grammar check listing.

The Holistic Score

Professional testing agencies and many educational institutions have procedures for assigning holistic, or overall, scores to student essays. These scores are based on criteria established by English professionals for rating the quality of written products.

WordMAP-II generates a holistic score based on criteria used by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in its holistic scoring procedure.

Specific Skill Indicators

In addition to its holistic score, WordMAP-II generates a series of values which reflect competence in specific writing skills. These scores are for adequacy of punctuation, quality of grammar, command of syntax, and strength of vocabulary. Both holistic and specific skill results are reported in the form of numbers ranging from a low of (1) to a high of six (6).

How It Works

WordMAP-II uses leading linguistic indicators to predict the quality of written products. It can be shown, for example, that syntactic patterning is correlated with the rankings assigned by human evaluators.

WordMAP-II is sensitive not only to syntax, but also to other significant linguistic phenomena. Its statistical modules compare the overall linguistic profile of the text it is analyzing with profiles corresponding to representative texts for each holistic rank. The rank of the holistic profile which most nearly fits that of the file being processed is used as the score.

Extendibility

WordMAP-II is extensible. Other assessments can be added, depending upon the needs and desires of WordMAP-II clients. For example, an index which evaluates the patterning of constructions occurring at the beginning of sentences could be devised if such a measurement were desired.