This discussion of strategies for improving writing evaluation in a course in English as a Second Language begins with a brief review of relevant research and then offers concrete suggestions for improvement in testing. The suggestions are in the form of five general considerations rather than specific test-writing techniques. They include the…

An instructional module designed to help prepare college-level teaching assistants (TAs) for their duties in second language instruction is presented. The module's focus is on second language writing instruction. It first considers the role that writing plays in the teacher's life and the lives of the students, the teacher's attitudes toward…

A study at Purdue University (Indiana) investigated three English-as-a-Second-Language students' understanding of and attitudes toward teachers' written feedback on compositions. All were enrolled in an expository prose class for non-native speakers of English, and all were freshmen of varied ages and backgrounds. Data were gathered in videotaped…

An experimental study compared the effects of controlled and free writing exercises and of evaluative vs. communicative feedback on the writing quality and apprehension of Korean college students of English as a foreign language (EFL). Students in two sections of a freshman reading course wrote dialogue journals as practice in free writing, and…