Vocabulary learning is an incremental process. Vocabulary knowledge, especially for second-language learners, may develop across a lifetime. Teachers with experience in providing feedback on their students' vocabulary use in writing or speech might have noticed that it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint one aspect of word knowledge. The reason is…

It is estimated that ten percent of learners have some sort of learning disability; on average, this is two or three students per classroom (Butterworth and Kovas 2013). This means that, inevitably, all English language instructors will encounter students with learning disabilities in their classrooms and could encounter students with learning…

Students need opportunities to be creative and express themselves while learning a new language, during both classroom activities and tests at the end of a term or unit. The focus of the author's practice when assessing students' knowledge is to use creative dialogue techniques as a way to prevent students from simply repeating a given dialogue…

With the increasing number of English language learners in global classrooms, it has become more and more difficult for teachers to maintain their role as the primary communicator with students via one-on-one interactions. As a result, teachers often assign duties to their students. This change of power may be difficult for teachers and students…

Language teachers are often faced with the responsibility of selecting or developing language tests for their classrooms and programs. However, deciding which testing alternatives are the most appropriate for a particular language education context can be daunting, especially given the increasing variety of instruments, procedures, and practices…

To some extent, good testing procedure, like good language use, can be achieved through avoidance of errors. Almost any language-instruction program requires the preparation and administration of tests, and it is only to the extent that certain common testing mistakes have been avoided that such tests can be said to be worthwhile selection,…

Test-preparation classes that focus on skills will benefit students beyond the test by developing skills they can use at university. This article discusses the purposes of various tests and outlines how to design effective test-prep classes. Several practical activities are included, and an appendix provides information on common standardized…

More than three decades ago, when the author was a student teacher in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program, her evaluations came from either a mentor or a university supervisor. Feedback about her teaching was filtered through the lens of their perceptions and experiences, leaving little space for her own reflection. While this type of…

Portfolios are popular in language teaching, both as a learning tool and a process-oriented assessment instrument. They require the compilation of student projects, performances, and other assignments over a semester or school year to record the growth of learning. When portfolios are used for evaluation, they are called an alternative assessment…

The author describes a Technologically Enhanced Language Learning program in Venezuela and how it helped improve high school EFL instruction. The author presents six challenges of teaching EFL and describes the context for the program. The author then provides a rationale for using multimedia in language teaching, based on theoretical frameworks.…