This document presents the ESL Composition Profile, which provides a scale for evaluating English composition skills in vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. For vocabulary, it rates skills from excellent to very poor. For language use and mechanics, it rates skills from excellent to very poor based on the types and frequency of errors. The profile provides guidelines to assess compositions across a range from sophisticated mastery to essentially translation with little English skills.
3. 20-18
EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD: sophisticated range effective word/idiom
choice and usage word for mastery appropriate register
17-14
GOOD TO AVERAGE: adequate range occasional errors
word/idiom form, choice, usage but meaning not obscured
13-10
FAIR TO POOR: limited range frequent errors of effective word/idiom form,
choice, usage meaning confused or obscured
9-7
VERY POOR: essentially translation little knowledge of English vocabulary,
idioms, word form OR not enough to evaluate
VOCABULARY
of effective
5. 25-22
LANGUAGE
USE
EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD: effective complex constructions few errors
of agreement, tense, number, word order/function, article, pronouns, prepositions
21-18
GOOD TO AVERAGE: effective but simple constructions minor problems in
complex constructions several errors of agreement, tense, number, word
order/function, article, pronouns, prepositions but meaning seldom obscured
17-11
FAIR TO POOR: major problems in simple/ complex constructions frequent
errors of negation, tense, number, word order/function, article, pronouns,
prepositions and/ or fragments, run-ons, deletions meaning confused or obscured
10-5
VERY POOR: virtually no mastery of sentence construction rules dominated by
errors does not communicate OR not enough to evaluate
8. 5
EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD: demonstrates mastery of conventions
few errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing
4
GOOD TO AVERAGE: occasional errors of spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, paragraphing but meaning not obscured
3
FAIR TO POOR: frequent errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization,
paragraphing poor handwriting meaning confused or obscured
2
VERY POOR: no mastery of conventions dominated by errors of spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing handwriting illegible OR not
enough to evaluate
MECHANICS