This paper explores how beginners in a second language (L2) perform on and perceive an online writing test that is designed based on the notion of translanguaging. The test was administered during emergency remote teaching when many L2 courses navigated creative solutions to online testing. Situated in an ab initio Mandarin Chinese course in New Zealand, 163 students’ first-time digital compositions in Chinese and responses to an immediate follow-up survey on their translanguaging practices were analysed as part of evaluating a new assessment design. Students’ digital compositions demonstrated purposeful translanguaging in assessment conditions, judiciously negotiating their existing linguistic knowledge when completing the task. The writing assessment showed augmented task completion when learners’ trans-semiotic repertoires were recognised as a legitimate resource for identity expression. The survey found that most students supported the creative design that integrated digital multimodal composition and translanguaging, replacing the monolingually-focused handwriting-based test tasks. Some students were sceptical of the translanguaging approach and found it unexpected, unnecessary, and inauthentic. The study suggests that L2 writing test design might incorporate translanguaging as a creative and transformative assessment facet to genuinely engage beginning learners in meaningful writing tasks when their proficiency level is limited.

中文翻译：

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将翻译整合到评估中：学生的反应和看法

本文探讨了第二语言 (L2) 初学者如何执行和感知基于跨语言概念设计的在线写作测试。该测试是在紧急远程教学期间进行的，当时许多 L2 课程将创造性的解决方案导航到在线测试。位于一个从头开始作为评估新评估设计的一部分，分析了新西兰的普通话中文课程、163 名学生第一次用中文数字作文以及对他们的翻译实践的即时后续调查的回应。学生的数字作文在评估条件下表现出有目的的语言转换，在完成任务时明智地协商他们现有的语言知识。写作评估表明，当学习者的跨符号库被认为是身份表达的合法资源时，任务完成度会提高。调查发现，大多数学生支持将数字多模态作文和跨语言相结合的创意设计，取代以单语为重点的手写测试任务。一些学生对跨语言方法持怀疑态度，认为它出乎意料、不必要且不真实。该研究表明，二语写作测试设计可能会将跨语言作为一种创造性和变革性的评估方面纳入其中，以便在他们的熟练程度有限时真正让初学者参与有意义的写作任务。