Rethinking and reassessing the construct of authentic intellectual quality in the Singapore context

Abstract

This paper examines the lexicogrammatical realization of the construct of authentic intellectual quality (AIQ) proposed by Koh, Wong, Tan, Guo, Lee, & Lim (2004). Following Newmann and Associates (1996), and Luke et al., (2003), Koh, et al. have argued that student work be assessed on eight standards, including depth of knowledge and understanding, knowledge criticism, and knowledge manipulation. In December 2004, student work in a number of subjects collected from Singapore Primary and Secondary schools were scored by experienced school teachers. This paper draws upon systemic functional linguistics (Halliday and Matthiessen 2004) and explores how student work which has been assigned a particular set of scores on the AIQ scale is expressed through a particular cluster of lexicogrammatical features. Such analyses will identify the linguistic profiles of student work, provide a link between teacher judgement and its linguistic evidence, and hopefully enhance the capacity and accuracy of automated essay scoring.