Introduction

The Ukrainian Argumentative Writing Test Project (TP) is adapted from the English Placement Test (EPT) (1.2)2 and designed for Ukrainian students as an alternative of the current Ukrainian argumentative writing test (T1), which is a part of the Unified State Examination. Ukrainian test-takers need to pass this test in order to get a high school diploma and enter higher educational establishments in Ukraine. The goal of the TP is to assess Ukrainian argumentative writing ability of the high school graduates and their potential to succeed in the academic media of the Ukrainian universities. The TP is different from T1 in the following key aspects:

1. The TP is designed as a separate test from the multiple choice test items on the Ukrainian language and literature that is an integral part of T1 now. The TP is aimed solely at checking Ukrainian language writing abilities of the test-takers and has no literature component in it. The reason of this qualitative change can be explained by the analysis of the T1 materials and samples which showed that the literature component in them is minor, i.e. the test-takers are not allowed to use any literary sources for writing, but required to give a small example from the Ukrainian literature from their memory to prove their claim. This small example from the Ukrainian literature does not show either

2 _{(1.2) stands for versioning of a test spec. Versioning is a process of creation of several versions of a spec which} implies that every subsequent version is more elaborated and improved compared to the preceding one. Versions usually start with (0.25) and finish whenever the spec is presumably ready for use, though the process of versioning is eternal because there is always some space for perfection (Fulcher & Davidson, 2007).

deep literary analysis, or the ability of the students to work with sources. Therefore, the elimination of the literary component does not deprive the test-takers of demonstrating any substantial skills they need to be successful in their academic or professional life.

2. The format of the test in TP has been changed compared to T1. In T1, the test-takers had to write the philosophical essay on a moral-ethical topic. In TP, the test-takers are offered to write an argumentative essay on a practical disputable topic. First, by providing a more argumentative format of writing, I bring the system of Ukrainian education closer to international educational standards. Second, the skills of argumentative writing are more likely to find practical application in students’ future academic and professional careers. 3. The TP has two sources of input information given to the students – a

reading passage and a short lecture – which they are expected to process and base their argumentative essays on the information acquired from the reading, the lecture and their general knowledge and/or experience. The reason behind such a design of the TP is stipulated by the current trends in global education to put emphasis on the process of learning rather than on the product. Such a design of the test enables the students to undergo a natural process of writing – from the analysis of the sources to composing the first draft and polishing it into the final product. Therefore, TP presents a more natural writing task with integrated skills of reading and listening rather than writing with no use of any sources solely based on memory which students are less likely to face in the future.

4. The TP has different essay structures and, consequently, assessment procedure than T1. The new assessment is more detailed than the one currently used in T1. The qualitative changes of the structure and the content are borrowed from the conventions of argumentative writing used in the USA. I believe that with the offered structural changes, Ukrainian argumentative essays will acquire more coherence and persuasive tone. And with the offered assessment changes, the evaluation of Ukrainian essays will become more transparent, valid and objective.

5. The test activities in TP are different from those in T1. Apart from writing per se, I offer listening, reading, using guidelines for essay writing, self-check questions and taking part in group-discussions to the test-takers.

6. The pool of topics for the argumentative essays in TP has been changed compared to T1. The analysis of the topics currently offered for T1 showed that they are ambiguous and require additional analysis from the students. One of the primary requirements to a test task is its clarity. Therefore, I have restated some of the existing topics to achieve more clarity. I got rid of the moral-ethical focus in the currently used topics. Instead, I added the more social topics that are actual for Ukrainian society nowadays. As well as this, I offered some other topics to reflect the global trends in argumentative essay topicalization (the topics of common concern for people from all over the world).

The main audience of TP comprises high school graduates. As well as this, the test can be taken by the attendees of the college preparatory courses that prepare applicants to the Unified State Examination, and by the students of Ukrainian universities/colleges in the framework of writing courses which are not common in the curriculum of Ukrainian universities yet, but, hopefully, will start appearing in the near future due to the westernization of the higher education in Ukraine.

The TP lasts approximately two hours. (See Section 6.3.1 Test Procedure). The TP can be conducted either on the same day with the multiple choice test on the Ukrainian language and literature, separated from it by a 20-minute break, or on any other day assigned beforehand.