Introduction: This paper aims at investigating the connection between analytic and holistic approaches to scoring writing in the PROFEX English for Medical Purposes (EMP) exam. The sample for the research consisted of 60 test papers taken at the PROFEX EMP exam in April, 2010.
Material and method: First, the test papers were scored analytically by two raters independently of each other, then they were scored holistically by a third rater. After the scoring had been completed, correlations were calculated between the two methods of scoring and also between writing and other components of the language exam.
Results: The study has detected no significant differences in the correlations between the analytic and holistic scores.
Conclusion: The holistic method was found to be more reliable than the analytic method, but the deviation was not sufficient for discarding the analytic method in the assessment of writing in the PROFEX EMP exam.