Assessment of student is one of the most important responsibilities of teachers, because the quality of teaching in classroom is closely associated with the quality of the applied assessment. Hence it is essential for teachers to possess assessment literacy. Assessment literacy is important because it helps teachers to perceive, analyze and use data on student performance to improve teaching. Stakeholders are influenced by language tests, therefore; being assessment literate is more vital for them, because assessment illiteracy results in inaccurate assessment and consequently the purposes of assessment could not be fulfilled. It is necessary for teachers to develop language assessment literacy to prevent serious consequences for teachers and students.

<p>Learner’s language proficiency and knowledge need to be evaluated based on different methods (Orsmond, Merry &amp; Reiling (2000); Pope 2005). Authentic assessment attained by using real evidence is also achievable (Barbera 2009 and Barrett 2007). This authentic assessment can be achieved through cooperation between teachers and learners. Peer- assessment as one of these alternative assessments seeks a new way for authentic assessment. Importance of peer-assessment is also reported in previous studies. Although there are some unrecognized aspects, peer-assessment is considered to be effective (Shepard 2000 and Topping 1998).</p>

The current study examined differential effects of two pre-modification types, syntactic elaboration and syntactic simplification (at the level of syntax and irrespective of problematic lexis), on EST students' reading comprehension. The purpose was to see whether a priori syntactic elaborative adjustment, given its advantages over simplification, can augment comprehensibility of scientific texts in order to replace simplification adjustment. To carry out the study, three versions of 5 passages including Baseline, syntactically simplified, and syntactically elaborated were provided. All the five passages were relevant to civil engineering and they were modified using two above-mentioned techniques. The subjects of the study were composed of 185 homogenous civil engineering students who participated in different phases. The results revealed that syntactic simplification and syntactic elaboration procedures operated nearly in the same way in orienting the EST texts toward comprehensibility. The results of the study even indicated that students benefited more from elaborated than simplified texts although it was not statistically significant. Therefore, the study supports the view that syntactic elaborative adjustment can be exercised in advance on EST materials for pedagogical purposes since it increases the reading comprehension at the same time keeps unfamiliar syntactic units intact to be learned by EST readers

It is common practice in the classes

This review explores the importance of teaching pragmatics in the classrooms. Developing pragmatic competence needs experience, knowledge and language awareness. According to Fasold (2006) pragmatics involves using language in particular situations. In this review the speech act of complimenting is selected as the focus of teaching. People compliment each other to maintain or create a special relationship to improve their actions. The early studies by Manes and Wolfson (1981) report the formulaicity of compliments in American English. Finally, this review shows that teachers should pay more attention to pragmatics and teaching it in the classroom. Lack of pragmatic knowledge may cause a failure in communication. Besides emphasizing on only grammar aspects teachers should teach the appropriate usage of language in different situations.