This book explores how high-stakes tests mandated by No Child Left Behind have become de facto language policy in U.S. schools, detailing how testing has shaped curriculum and instruction, and the myriad ways that tests are now a defining force in the daily lives of English Language Learners and the educators who serve them.
This book will help you develop the vocabulary component of your language teaching program with more than 100 activities organized to reflect the major elements of a second language course. Activities help you decide which vocabulary to present when, how to create effective lexical sets, how to present old material in new ways, how to exntend knowledge of the meaning of words, how to help learners become independnt of the classroom and specially prepared tests, and how to ensure that learners can access and use the vocabulary they know.
This volume considers fundamental issues in advanced language learning, from the definition of "advancedness," through descriptive and instructional considerations in advanced learning, to the role of assessment. It presents both general insights and also language-specific considerations in classrooms at the college level, spanning a range of languages, from the commonly taught languages of English, French, and German to the less commonly taught Farsi, Korean, Norwegian, and Russian.
Two recent movements in applied linguistics/learner-centered language teaching and a renewed interest in the authenticity, interactiveness, and impact of language assessments have come together to bring about a greater concern for and interest in expanding the role of the learner or test-taker in the assessment process. Learner-centered teaching has focused not only on the types of learning activities or tasks with which learners interact in language classes, but also on greater involvement of learners in directing their own learning. Interest in facilitating self-directed learning has led to the development of self-access or independent learning centers, where learners work by themselves, in pairs, and in small groups, interacting in a wide variety of activities involving a vast array of technologies, from tape and video players to live satellite transmissions to the most sophisticated computer-based multimedia learning programs, as well as human tutors and group facilitators. What has often been slighted in both learner-centered classroom activities and self-access centers is the development of appropriate assessment procedures in which learners are not only test-takers but also active participants in the assessment process. The chapters in this volume provide some useful insights into this issue and suggest a number of approaches for greater involvement of learners in the assessment process. Interest among language testers in making language assessments more authentic and interactive, and for facilitating positive impact on test-takers, has led to renewed interest in assessment procedures such as self-assessment and portfolios, and research into the application of research
The main aim of this book is to discuss the relevance of corpus work for learners of English as a foreign language and this volume is directed to all those who believe that taking the point of view of the learners into consideration may be important for their job: materials’ designers, teachers and applied linguists in general. I argue that analysing corpora, restricted in the range of the texttypes and topics collected, can be a useful learning activity, particularly for learners of ESP.
