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This qualitative research investigates students’ resistance to autonomous learning activities in an English language course at a university in Lebanon. Data was gathered across four sections of English 101 based on observations of 68 students, focus group discussions and two teachers’ reflective diaries. Thematic analysis yielded that students showed signs of resistance during collaborative learning, metacognitive activities, and the evaluation process. The students were also unwilling to independently use available language learning resources. The data suggested that the possible causes of resistance lay in the mismatches between students’ expectations and the course design, the learning cultures that the students bring to the classroom, and students’ perceptions of the place English holds both at the university and in their lives. This study reveals that expressions of resistance during classroom interactions resonate with the complex and layered nature of English language learning.

This case study explored how the sudden switch from face-to-face to online teaching/learning has impacted the corrective feedback strategies of 7 middle and high school L2 English language writing teachers in a private school in Lebanon. The aim of the study was to investigate how these teachers adapted or altered their feedback processes in the assessment of writing. Teachers’ assessment identities are dynamic constructs composed of assessment knowledge and skills, which are impacted by social, personal, and contextual experiences. Through a feedback assessment survey, an online feedback assessment survey and an open-ended interview, the teachers critically reflected on their former corrective feedback practices as a way to unpack their current online approaches to writing assessment. This study explored the shift to online teaching, the impact on corrective feedback processes and assessment strategies, and professional development needs. Findings indicate that the teachers applied feedback formatively, used feedback to re-teach concepts, and encouraged self-assessment in their practices. However, in most instances, their varied feedback processes declined with the advent of online teaching, and they could not clearly articulate how their assessment practices altered with the adoption of online instruction.  Most stated that they would go back to their original practices as soon as they were back face-to-face in the classroom. Finally, some teachers agreed that professional development would have helped them with the switch to online learning, but they adapted to this environment on their own.

This classroom-based action research (CBAR) corroborated our belief in the valuable role rubrics play in a tertiary L2 writing context where English is the medium of instruction. The three-stage CBAR involved ongoing discussions between us, two writing teacher-researchers, as we adapted our teaching and assessment strategies to explore the potential of rubrics as formative tools. This study confirmed the proactive role rubrics could play in teaching writing and promoting successful partnerships between teachers and students during the assessment process. The multifaceted function of rubrics as driver of change in practitioners’ approaches to teaching and assessing writing as well as a tool that enables students to take ownership of the different stages of their writing was a major finding of our study.

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