Advanced Search: Resources

“How to assess assessments is often a dilemma for teachers and English language programs,” the author writes, and then goes on to offer a number of suggestions, charts, and guiding questions designed to help solve that dilemma.

This article reports on the inconsistency between the expected and actual grades of learners of English as foreign language in freshman English writing classes. It discusses the differences between students’ and instructors’ perceptions of acceptable essay writing. It suggests that teachers develop valid and reliable testing procedures and help students to increase their awareness and understanding of the proficiency levels required to write essays.

Language learners may sometimes feel shy and unsure of their abilities and may not be able to see what they are able to do. The authors found that writing I-can statements (e.g., I can write the names of foods in English) can be a good way to build confidence. Students use their I-can records to assess their own progress. The authors offer a starting point for teachers by presenting ideas for tasks such as copying words, writing signs, and writing about the weekend.

The author maintains that categorizing TOEFL iBT writing topics helps test takers because they will be more familiar with the topics and thus better able to write about them and because categorizing topics requires critical thinking about the topics. Using some of the 185 TOEFL prompt questions and 10 additional prompts, the article explores ways to code and analyze the prompts, illustrating the process with tables.

This webinar "Teaching Today's Learners: Oral Error Correction and Writing Effective Assessments" gives practical tips and strategies how and when to correct oral errors.