HOW 

Abstract: Students’ engagement and determination require the use of self-regulated learning strategies to facilitate adequate preparation. This article reports a research study that looks into how eight instructors, who were trained to promote self-regulation, interact with 18 students of a Bachelor of Arts program in English language teaching in Bogota. The problem was the prevalence of an instructional model of reproduction of knowledge in the English language classes taken by the 18 students. The pedagogical intervention introduces dialogic tutoring. The instructors’ voices, in the role of tutors, and the students’ voices, as tutees, were collected in 40 videos, a questionnaire, and a focus group. Grounded theory allowed transposing the identification of patterns, code tagging, and code grouping into concepts. This process generated four principles that worked positively in the promotion of self-regulation in this socially and culturally diverse sample of instructors and students, namely: (1) addressing needs, interests and beliefs; (2) setting goals; (3) scaffolding learning; (4) providing quality feedback.

Abstract: I would like to begin by telling you about the educational context that I work in because I think it tells you a lot about me and my thinking. I am a faculty member in the English Department at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in the USA. Purdue is a large full service state universtiy with more than 35,000 students, about 10 percent of whom are ESL students. At Purdue I direct the ESL writing program, teach writing courses for graduate and undergraduate international students, and teach graduate courses for MA and PhD students planning to become ESL teachers and scholars.

Abstract: This paper aims to evaluate the implications of using collaborative assessment in an English language course (LII) with a pronunciation component at an English/Spanish Translator Program, Universidad CAECE (the University), Argentina. The participants of this study were 17 students whose L1 was Spanish. In this research, the students recorded their speech, listened to it and then transcribed it. Later, they graded their own performance and compared their outcomes with those coming from their teacher’s assessment results. Data were gathered from the learners’ achievements and their self-assessment reports. The findings revealed that after completing this activity, the learners developed a major concern and motivation to improve their L2 oral communicative skills. Based on these findings, some recommendations for further research were given.

Abstract: In teaching a second or foreign language, a communicative approach is more effective that a grammar approach based on drills and practice. Many activities for developing oral and listening communication in English are available in books, journals, and other sources. When it comes to writing instructions, it is difficult to find activities based on meaningful exchanges of ideas and experiences. Too often writing activities in ESL/EFL texts are drills with only one correct answer or simple formulas. The lack of personal involvement in writing exercises does not promote real learning.