Examining the cycle of assessing writing in MENA contexts: Trends, challenges and best practice recommendations

Understanding the cyclical nature of the assessment process is key to teachers developing and maintaining a degree of assessment literacy. Over the last two decades, technology has emerged to contribute to various stages of the assessment process with teachers expected to incorporate this aspect into their literacy toolbox. This article examines how the process of assessing writing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has evolved to include technology as an aspect of assessment literacy across five areas of the assessment cycle: test design, test administration, methods of assessment, feedback to students and their inter-related effects on pedagogy. In doing so, the article contributes to assessment literature by outlining relevant issues that occur across these five areas and providing best practice recommendations for teachers involved in the assessment cycle.