Expert and Novice Teachers Talking Technology: Precepts, Concepts, & Misconcepts: C. Meskill, J. Mossop, S. DiAngelo, & R. K. Pasquale

When new teachers, teacher trainers, and administrators consider the ways in which technologies can best serve practice, they are wise to turn to experienced teachers and veteran technology users. It is the voices and experiences of these professionals who have worked through the complex processes of adapting curricula, classroom design, dynamics, and teaching approaches that can best inform those new to teaching and learning in general, and teaching with technologies in particular. This study compares and contrasts the "technology talk" of novice and expert teachers of K-8 language and literacy (ESOL). Interview data with eight teachers - two expert (experienced teachers and technologies users), five novice (limited experience in teaching and teaching with computers) and one transitional expert (experienced teacher and non-technology user) serve to illustrate the conceptual and practical differences between those who have adapted technologies as powerful teaching and learning tools and teachers who, in spite of specific formal training in instructional technology, speak about it and its application in starkly contrasting ways. These contrasts are presented as a set of four conceptual continua that can help in explicating novice starting points, transitional issues, and the expertise of computer-using language professionals.

Blogging for ELT

This article takes a look at blogging, which is becoming increasingly popular as a language learning tool. It gives an overview of blogging websites, suggests why you might want to use them, and gives some practical advice on setting up blogs for use with your own classes.

Copyright Issues on the Web: Kristina Pfaff-Harris

The WorldWide Web is filled with resources for teaching and learning English, as well as for finding those resources. Much of this information is in the Public Domain, and may be copied freely. Unfortunately, the line between Copyright and Plagiarism issues is often loosely defined, and many teachers and students are unsure of the limits. This article discusses some of those issues so that teachers can keep themselves and their students from unethical use of web resources.

How to write a critical article review

The guideline that can be downloaded from HERE can help you summarize and review a paper critically. This can be of use to all researchers who might be involved with reviewing an acaedemic paper and may not know how to manage it in a comprehensive manner. The guideline begins with some advice on how to read the articles and what elements to focus on. Then, a tentative format is presented that can be used by reviewers. 

Book Review: Language Testing and Assessment: An Advanced Resource Book

Language Testing and Assessment: An Advanced Resource Book

(Routledge Applied Linguistics Series)
Glenn Fulcher & Fred Davidson. (2007)
Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK & New York, NY, USA:
Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), Pp. xx + 403

Click HERE to download the article. 

Password: tahriri

Web-based Language Testing

An article by Carsten Roever (University of Hawai'i at Manoa)

Language Learning & Technology 
Vol. 5, No. 2, May 2001, pp. 84-94

Click HERE to read the article.

Book Review: Washback in Language Testing: Research Contexts and Methods

Washback in Language Testing: Research Contexts and Methods Edited by Liying Cheng & Yoshinori Watanabe, with Andy Curtis (2004)
Mahwah, N.J.: Laurence Erlbaum & Associates (237 + xxi pages)

Shiken: JALT Testing & Evaluation SIG Newsletter
Vol. 9 No. 1. Spring. 2005. (p. 8 - 10) [ISSN 1881-5537]

Reviewed by Tim Newfields
Toyo University

Click HERE to read the review.

A Sample Review in Language Testing

Review of Splosky (2007) in Language Testing Reconsidered

October 8, 2008 by robbmccollum

I have begun reading Language Testing Reconsidered (2007) edited by Fox et al (including Carolyn Turner who I met in person at LRTC 2008 this summer). I’m enjoying this volume of testing issues written by many leading Language Testers whom I also met at LTRC this summer. Their articles take on more meaning now that I have a face and a personality to pair with the research. Rather than review the book as a whole, I decided to post about each chapter individually, starting with Bernard Spolsky’s “On Second Thoughts.”

Spolsky, B. (2007). On second thoughts. In J. Fox, M. Wesche, D. Bayliss, L. Cheng, and C. E. Turner (eds.), Language testing reconsidered (pp. 9-18). Ottawa, ON: University of Ottawa Press.

In this chapter, Spolsky summarizes what he feels are the most important language testing issues that emerged during his career. The overarching theme of this chapter (and the couple proceeding it) is “What does it mean to know a language?” Spolsky offers no simple definition for this term, but asserts that this is a question that language assessment researcher need to constantly be asking. As I consider my dissertation research, I now ask myself, “What does it mean to complete an integrated reading-writing task?” In other words, what skills, knowledge, or abilities are accessed by that task, and what inferences can we make about an examinees level of performance on that task. What do integrated tasks have to do with other tasks that students do, and what do these tasks reveal about language acquisition?

My tentative answer to those questions is that reading-writing tasks appear to be about more than simply reading and writing. They require students to use advanced literacy skills including synthesis and paraphrase. Through my research design, I hope to shed some light on what it means to do these tasks. And although my study will not directly assess this idea, it’s my hope that further research can show a relationship between ability on integrated tasks and ability to complete advanced literacy assignments in university such as writing a research paper or a case synthesis. I also hope that my research will help present a model of advanced literacy skill development, perhaps a hierarchy of reading and writing sub-skills.

One last note on Spolsky: he describes the challenge of revising an existing high-stakes exam as “steering a tanker” (p. 14). I have only even revised much smaller-tasks, local exams. Even my current plans to revise the university’s ESL placement exam is small peanuts to working with a government or commercially-distributed test. If I feel trepidation at the thought of improving our local exams, I would certainly want plenty of evidence (and a whole lot of help) if I were to take on a larger project.

Source: http://robblogva.wordpress.com

State-of-the-Art-Review: Language Testing and Assessment: J. Charles Alderson & Jayanti Banerjee

In Part 1 of this two-part review article, issues of washback, ethics, politics and standards were addresssed. After a discussion of trends in testing on a national level and in testing for specific purposes, developments in computer-based testing were surveyed and then finally self-assessment, alternative assessment and the assessment of young learners were examined.
In the second part, the authors began by discussing recent theories of construct validity and the theories of language use that help define the constructs that we wish to measure through language tests. The main sections of the second part concentrate on summarising recent research into the constructs themselves, in turn addressing reading, listening, grammatical and lexical abilities, speaking and writing. Finally, a number of outstanding issues in the field were discussed.


PART ONE

PART TWO

IJFLT:Vol.5 No.2, Winter 2009-2010 (Released February 10, 2010)

The International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (IJFLT) is a free, on-line quarterly journal dedicated to communicating research, articles and helpful information regarding language acquisition to support teachers as they endeavor to create fluent, multilingual students.


Click HERE to download the latest issue of the journal.  

Guidelines on Gender-Neutral Language: UNESCO

This guide will help you eliminate s.e.xist stereotypes and language in your writing. It also provides alternatives for the adoption of gender-neutral language.


Click HERE to download the book. 

A Pathway to Teacher and Learner Autonomy: A Study on Socioaffective Language Learning Strategies

An article by Yamith José Fandiño  (MA in teaching from La Salle University)

Click HERE to download the article. 

Creative writing for language learners (and teachers)

In this article, Alan maley talks about the benefits of creative writing for both learners and teachers.


Click HERE to read the article. 

Extensive reading: Why it is good for our students… and for us

In this article, Alan Maley considers the benefits extensive reading can bring to English language learners and teachers:


Click HERE to read the article. 

Using the WWW for EFL Research and Resources

An article by Bill Pellowe on ELT-related sites and resources

Click HERE to read the article. 

Sample Annotated Bibliographies

The following four articles are in PDF format uploaded in my 4shared virtual drive. Click on the title of each article to enter the download page. 


An Annotated Bibliography of Research on Reading and Adults Learning English as a Second Langauge by Miriam Burt et al


An Annoated Bibliography of Second Language Acqusition in Adult English Language Learners by Dora Johnson


Portfolio Assessment & English Language Learners:An Annoated Bibliography by Emily Lynch Gomez


Resources for Educators of English Language Learners: An Annotated Bibliography by Judy Rance-Roney & Lynn Jacobs

Sample Review Papers

Overlooked and Understudied? A survey of Current trends in Research on Adult English language Learners by Julie Mathews-Aydinli


Researching Language and Gender: A Critical Review by D. Vasanta


Reconceptualizing fossilization in second language acquisition: A review by Ashley Fidler 


Click HERE to download all three articles from my 4shared virtual drive.