Janis HoldenToruo NC Assessment Trainer holdenjfaytechcc edu Varying

* Janis Holden-Toruño NC Assessment Trainer holdenj@faytechcc. edu

*Varying degrees of native language literacy *Many native languages: some with the Roman alphabet, others with another alphabet, and some with no written alphabet. *Varying rates of progress affected by: *Diverse learning styles *Learner expectations *Culture, religion, sex, and age of the learners. *

*Standardized Assessments (formal) include CASAS, BEST, and TABE Clas-E. TABE is norms-referenced while CASAS and BEST are criterion-referenced. *Alternative Assessments (informal) include one-onone interviews, group discussions, learner observations, teacher-made tests, quizzes, homework, projects, et al. These assessments help determine the instructional level, but do not give us the complete picture. *

*Why do your students want to learn English? *Intermediate and Advanced students can do a goal- setting exercise. This can be an individual assessment or it can be done as a group. Suggested questions: *1. What do I want to do? *2. What will help me reach my goal? *3. What will prevent me from reaching my goal? *4. What is my plan of action? *

*Why do your students want to learn English? *Beginning students can be given an activity sheet with pictures. This can be an individual assessment or it can be done as a group. The activity sheet can have simple English captions under pictures of things such as children’s school, work, driving, etc. Remember: It is important that adult learners are actively involved in choosing the direction and content of their learning (Auerbach, 1992). *

How do I pull that rabbit out of my hat? *

*Self-access centers enable learners to take responsibility for choosing appropriate work. *Tasks are set up so that learners need minimal assistance to accomplish the activity. *Directions are clear and need little explanation. *Answers are often provided to allow learners to evaluate their own work. *

*Factors to consider: *Differences in age *Social backgrounds *Country of origin *Educational background *English language ability Cultural and personal differences are important! *

*There are many text books that lend themselves to guided, self-access study. Look for books with an answer key. Some answer keys even explain why an answer is appropriate. *Books with correlated CDs or Tapes are very useful, especially if you have a CD/Tape Player with headphones for students to use. * Belkin sells a Multi Headphone Splitter that allows five headphones to be plugged in. Cost is under $20. Other splitters are available. *Legally reproducible activities cost more in the beginning, but are very economical and very useful. *

*Health Stories (and other books from New Readers Press) *English, Yes! Or Literature in English (Contemporary) *Six-Way Paragraphs (Contemporary) *Practical English (Cengage) *Side by Side (Pearson) *Vocabulary series from Townsend Press *

*10 Steps: Controlled Composition by Gay Brookes & Jean Withrow (oop-Check Amazon) *26 Steps: Controlled Composition by Linda Ann Kuntz (oop-Check Amazon) *Writing Practical English 1, 2, & 3 by Tim Harris and Allan Rowe (Cengage). The companion book is called Practical English Don’t forget Dialog Journals! They aren’t a text, but they are a good way to get students writing. *

10 Steps, by Gay Brookes and Jean Withrow

Writing Practical English 1, by Tim Harris

*Listening Dictation: Understanding English Sentence Structure by Joan Morley (University of Michigan Press) *Active Listening (Levels 1, 2, & 3) *Catherine Sadow books on dictation: * Great Dictations (High Beginning) * Interactive Dictations (Intermediate) * Dictations for Discussion (Advanced) by Sadow and De. Felippo (Pro Lingua Associates) *

*Jazz Chants *Grammar Chants *Other chants books by Martha Graham * *Pronunciation Pairs *Clear Speech from the Start

Grammar Chants By Carolyn Graham

* Back & Forth: Photocopiable Cooperative Pair Activities for Language Development by Palmer, Rodgers, & Olsen (Alta ESL) * Look Who’s Talking by Christison & Bassano (Alta ESL) * Writing Warm Ups: 70 Activities for Prewriting by Tom & Mc. Kay (Alta ESL) * Index Card Games for ESL by Clark (Alta ESL) * Ventures: Civics Worksheets by Bitterlin et al (Cambridge) *

* Software for Purchase (Internet based) * Burlington English—An exceptionally well- done, interactive software experience. Costs under $100 per seat per year. Go to www. Burlington. English. com * Rosetta Stone—Another great program. They have moved from CDs to online. It’s expensive, but you get good value. Email them for information at: education@rosettastone. com *

Great Websites *www. Free. Rice. com Help feed the hungry while learning. This is a free website and has more than just vocabulary. *www. ESLCafe. com Dave’s ESL Café has activities for students and lots of information for instructors. *www. ESL-Lab. com Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab *www. townsendpress. net Higher level reading *Create your own class website at www. weebly. com It’s free—create up to two sites. *

*Just-a-Minute by Elizabeth Claire (elizabethclaire. com) *Cathy’s Cards by Cathy Jo Seitchik Diaz (Alta ESL) *Runners & Scribes (make your own) *Basta! (make your own) *Hangman (make your own) *Information Gaps (make your own) *Dictacomp (make your own) *

*Consider making pre-recorded tapes for dictation. *Use writing frames to create sentences. *Develop longer writing exercises such as those found in 10 Steps or 26 Steps. Try News for You articles or other appropriate-level reading if you don’t have time to prepare your own. *Keep index cards of topics to be discussed. *Have role play scenarios for pairs or small groups. *

Hey students! Wanna see me pull a rabbit out of my hat? *