Abstract The primary goal behind conducting this research was to collect the criteria for evaluating and comparing EFL or ESL writing tasks. A perusal of the related literature revealed that writing tasks could be evaluated from two broad aspects: a) the basic general features of appropriateness and b) the quality of writing process and participants’ roles in writing task performance. In preexisting checklists such as the one designed by ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) merely the basic general features of appropriateness were accounted for and not the stages of the writing process. The criteria gathered and validated in this research, however, are not restricted to the general factors of writing tasks. They also address the specific features of writing procedures. This checklist was then applied to the EFL writing tasks presented in FCE (First Certificate of English) and CAE (Certificate of Advanced English) exam preparation courses in Iran. 64 learner participants were asked to rate the writing tasks in 6 representative sample classes of the two courses, based on the checklist. Independent-sample t-test was then utilized to compare the mean scores of ratings for each and every item of the checklist. Significant differences were obtained especially concerning the quality of writing procedures which are presented and discussed accordingly in the Results and Discussion. Above all, development of this evaluative checklist acts to the benefit of EFL/ESL writing teachers, task designers, material developers and consequently English language learners.

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