Connecting writing and language in assessment: Examining style, tone, and argument in the U.S. Common Core standards and in exemplary student writing

• This article argues U.S. assessment criteria reflect a dichotomy between writing and language.
• Research in linguistics and discourse studies shows how to connect writing and language standards.
• Standards like style, tone, conventions, and argument can be connected to discourse patterns.
• Common Core writing standards and student examples can be further clarified via discourse patterns.
• These connections can help concretize writing expectations for writing teachers and students.

Writing assessment criteria often separate language and writing standards, reflecting an implicit dichotomy between “writing” and “language” in which conventions and style can appear tangential to writing categories like argument and development of ideas. This article examines U.S. Common Core standards and student writing selected as exemplifying those standards in light of discourse-level features noted in applied linguistic and composition research. In so doing, it aims to help expose connections between organization, argument/claim development, style, conventions, and tone via patterns in academic writing. In this way, the article considers assessment standards and their use as opportunities to examine and clarify connections between the arguments students are encouraged to construct and the discourse options students have.