Integrated reading-into-writing: Developing a task blueprint

Integrated reading-into-writing assessment has become increasingly common in second language English for Academic Purposes assessment. It is viewed as a means of potentially increasing the authenticity and therefore validity of assessment that aims to measure a candidate’s readiness for the demands of academic writing. While there is a body of research seeking to identify the distinct sub-skills involved in an integrated reading to write task, there is much more limited work addressing the design of rubrics for integrated tasks for specific contexts. This paper describes the development of an integrated reading-into-writing task and rubric for students at B2+/C1 CEFR level in a PreMasters Direct Entry Program (DEP) at a university language centre in Australia. The project aimed to develop a blueprint for an integrated reading-into-writing task and rubric that captures the core constructs of synthesis writing and can be used as a basis for assessment writers to adapt to suit the parameters of other specific integrated reading into writing tasks in other programs or contexts.