In recent decades, large-scale English language proficiency testing and testing research have seen an increased interest in constructed-response essay-writing items (Aschbacher, 1991; Powers, Burstein, Chodorow, Fowles, & Kukich, 2001; Weigle, 2002). The TOEFL iBT, for example, includes two constructed-response writing tasks, one of which is an integrative task requiring the test-taker to write in response to information delivered both aurally and in written form (Educational Testing Service, n.d.). Similarly, the IELTS academic test requires test-takers to write in response to a question that relates to a chart or graph that the test-taker must read and interpret (International English Language Testing System, n.d.). Theoretical justification for the use of such integrative, constructed-response tasks (i.e., tasks which require the test-taker to draw upon information received through several modalities in support of a communicative function) date back to at least the early 1960’s.

Studies in Applied Linguistics and TESOL, Vol. 11 No. 2 (2011)