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1. Formative Assessment Strategies for the Student-centered Classroom

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Formative Assessment Strategies for the Student-centered Classroom," explores formative assessment as an essential element of student-centered classrooms.

2. From Passive Learners to Critical Thinkers: Preparing EFL Students for University Success

   In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article explains how the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC) revised their curriculum to best prepare EFL students for English-speaking universities. After completing a needs analysis on how to best serve their students, the committee decided to make a more interactive classroom environment in which teachers integrated the four skills, used critical thinking activities, taught grammar in context, and used various methods of assessment. Feedback showed that both the students and the teachers responded positively to the changes.

3. Motivating Students by Modifying Evaluation Methods

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This author identifies three key elements to student assessment—overly critical correcting, expectations, and competitive scoring—that prevent success in the ESL environment, based on the typical Chinese educational structure. The article discusses several techniques, mostly learner-centered, that a teacher can use to provide effective assessments while also creating an environment of trust, confidence, and fairness, where a student feels safe to take risks.

4. Teaching Students to Categorize TOEFL Essay Topics

   In: English Teaching Forum 2014, Volume 52, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   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.

5. Testing Writing in the EFL Classroom: Student Expectations

   In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   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.

6. Error Correction and Feedback in the EFL Writing Classroom: Comparing Instructor and Student Preferences

   In: English Teaching Forum 2006, Volume 44, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses what EFL instructors and their students like and dislike about error correction and paper marking and discusses what this means for classroom teaching. The article lists the benefits and drawbacks of error correction for students’ writing and argues for the need to look at preferred methods for both teachers and students. It reports on a study of university EFL instructors and discusses these teachers’ beliefs regarding important aspects of writing and their preference for paper-marking techniques.

7. Assess and Motivate: Student Portfolios and Self-Assessments in the EFL Classroom

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   "Assess and Motivate: Student Portfolios and Self-Assessments in the EFL Classroom" explores the use of portfolios and self-assessments that document the completion of performance-based tasks as a great way to motivate students and measure learning.

8. Scaffolding Project-Based Instruction: Supporting Student Success

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Scaffolding Project-Based Instruction: Supporting Student Success," identifies challenges faced during project-based learning (PBL) and shares scaffolding-based strategies to overcome them. Participants will deepen their understanding of both PBL and instructional scaffolding.

9. Workshops: An Alternative to Student Writing Conferences

   In: English Teaching Forum 2018, Volume 56, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This Teaching Technique describes how teachers can use mini-workshops in place of student writing conferences and explains potential benefits of doing so.

10. Learner Training - Developing Student Autonomy to Increase Engagement

    In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

    This webinar stresses the importance of incorporating learner training into the English language learning curriculum.

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