So what happens when a student chooses the incorrect form of the Simple Present on a quiz, not because she doesn't know the "rule," but because she doesn't know that Marcos is a name and not the plural of some unknown-to-her object called Marco?

What is Marcos or Marco anyway? Maybe it's a type of bird, maybe it's a fruit--who knows? Obviously not someone just climbing the ladder of proficiency in regards to the English language--someone who has absolutely no experience with Latin-derived names of Spanish origin. Marcos is. Marcos are. Unless this Marcos is engaging in an undeniably human act in the sentence, has this student really gotten the answer wrong? Does she deserve not to receive a point for applying grammar correctly when, in fact, she quite honestly, absolutely has?

In the wake--and yes, I do not use the term "wake" lightly here--I've been mulling over the finer points of bias in assessment. In fact, just today, one of the other teachers approached me with possible items for her next quiz, and we both identified a number of "biased" questions.
My experience with standardized testing in general (both as a parent and educator) tells me that bias is unavoidable to some extent. However, speaking specifically for the context we're now operating in, what steps can we take to minimize the above?

Learning Difficulties

My students are facing the problem of differentiating between sentences with verb form 'be' and those of simple present tense. They, after repeated drilling of two weeks, still mingle both structures and come up with sentences like 'He's come home', and 'Is he come home?'. Additionally, they have problems with recognizing and using parts of speech.
Another problem is that of retention. They learn and produce sentences in a class or on a day but next day they come to class with a clean slate. Probably the reason is that prep year being too intensive. All subjects hours added together come to about more than 30 a week. Their daily schedule is packed. They are stuffed with more than what they can digest daily. After 6-7 hours of lessons daily, they are saturated in the evening and probably never touch their books outside the classroom. I tried to motivate my class to study and revise their English Lessons for at least 45 minutes daily, hoping that it may lead to the habit of independent and autonomous home study. Hope they may start doing it.
Then I'm trying to give more attention to the students who are, let me call it '-1' level of the prep year. Meaning that they are not at the level of language proficiency where we expect them at the beginning of the university prep year. Among these students, we have three types. Type 1 are those who, though at a lower level of the language proficiency, are trying hard to catch up and learn English. They, at the begging of the semester, can hardly speak a word or understand the instruction of the teacher. But through persistent motivation and encouragement by the teacher, they achieve a metamorphosis at the end of the semester and start communicating in broken and basic English with the teacher, and also pass all components of the assessment. Type 2 of the level are those who have the capacity to be at par with type 1, but they have least interest in college studies, and one wonders why are they here as students. Such students need a consistent push by the teacher, towards the end of the semester some of them become type 1 and pass. Type 3 are those who genuinely want to improve and continue with their study. However, previous education has done little good to them, and they are even below level '-1'. They make a great effort and one can see them bewildered but struggling. Sometimes, in their moments of hopefulness and hopelessness, they will bring a translator to the teacher, requesting and invoking his kindness, and requesting to pass them. They hope that whatever marks they may get; the teacher will add something from his own 'kitty' to their marks and make them progress to the next level of the prep year. For such students the time of 16 weeks is not enough to improve. They never reach the finishing line of the learning, though they keep on running. They fail and ultimately leave the institution. I think for them the semester should be of 8 months rather than of 4 months, and they should take a start from the very very basic level (even below intro level).
Finally, language learning is not learning a maths sum or formula. Language learning is acquisition and the process is not abrupt and quick fix kind. Sometimes, teacher feels exasperated with students that they are not learning which in my opinion is not the right approach. A student may not display any visible or palpable signs of learning but still he/she has learned something at the end of the class. In language learning, it takes time to put all pieces together and come out with production. We should keep on working with the students encouraging them; motivating them; and lauding them -even for their mistakes as at least the student has made an effort, and effort ultimately leads to yielding some fruit.
(Ignore mistakes in the post as is not revised after typing)

Games in Language Teaching

One of the effective ways to make a second language comprehensible and appealing to the learners is the use of GAMES. Games have the effect of amusing the students and giving them a break, especially in cases when they have to go through four classes a day. Secondly, and most importantly, games give the students the opportunity to practise the language skills they have learnt.
During the last two weeks we dealt with, among other grammatical topics, forming yes/no questions using verbs to be and verbs to do. So I used a game in which the students practised these questions while enjoying a game that they've always enjoyed at home or in school - but in Arabic. They did their best to win the competition. And here is how it went.
1. I divided the class into two groups: A and B.
2. A student from Group A came to the front of the class, thinking about an object.
3. The members of Group B had to identify that object by asking only 15 yes/no questions.
4. The roles were shifted: A student from Group B received questions from Group A.
5. The group that succeeded in identifying more objects won.
6. We played the same game a second time altering the target into famous persons.

Rules of the game:
1. Only yes/no questions can be used. The use of "or" is not allowed.
2. Only short answers can be given; no additional information or hints can be provided.
3. Only well-formed questions will be answered.

The students, and myself, enjoyed the game. They struggled to form correct questions in order to win. They also did their best to think about things or persons that were difficult for the other group to guess. At the beginning, the answers were very easy to figure out: necklace, iPhone, Mickael Jackson, Tamir Husni (an Arab singer and actor), etc. In a later stage, they became more difficult: a flat screen (not a computer), Usama Al-Sayyed (an Arab chef), Al-Hudhaifi (a Saudi Da'iya), etc.

Moodle

I had no idea that YUC had an e-learning platform--although I probably should have known since Hamid did mention it in his email. I'm eager to learn more about it/utilize it/possibly work on it. Although it's true that not all students will immediately adopt it wholeheartedly, I think there is a segment of the student population (the ones who show consistent interest and participate rigorously) that would significantly benefit from the additional resource. Anyone who's worked on it, I'd really appreciate an intro/details.

On a side note: I have to say, I appreciate and admire the willingness of the students here to read out loud despite (sometimes marked) difficulties in pronunciation, comprehension, etc. Students rarely seem to feel threatened or embarrassed in the presence of peers--and besides being immensely grateful for the above, I'm wondering why/how? Is the school-culture here really that different from the US where in a similar context, the ones with lower proficiency basically keep their ears tucked into their shoes the entire class session? (At any rate, they certainly don't wave their hands and compete to participate.) Or maybe...the difference is in the stakes between the two contexts. In any case, how can I further harness this advantage, as I see it? I'm still assimilating (to YUC, to the student population, to EFL), and I've noticed that certain strategies that were effective back home are not so here and vice versa....

Arabic-speaking learners of English and verbs to be

It might be useful to compare language 1 (L1) and language 2 (L2) in order to understand some of the difficulties learners of L2 face. Arabic-speaking students may have difficulty in using verbs to be because there are no such verbs in Arabic. Thus, in Arabic, a nominal sentence starts with a noun followed immediately by a predicate which could be a noun, a verb (not a verb to be of course), a prepositional phrase, etc. That is why it is very common to hear sentences like "She clever" from your students.
When those students become aware of the importance of the use of verbs to be in English, there appears another problem which is overusing those verbs. As a result, many students - I insist on 'many' - would say, "He is work in a school," wrongly inserting a verb to be before a present simple verb.

Coursebook Issues

"Developing an English language course book requires a massive investment these days, which is often only justified by selling the book throughout the world. Such global course books aim to cater to the needs and wants of all learners at a specified level, but frequently they end up catering to the needs and wants of nobody." (Brian Tomlinson)

To read more about the issue click on the link below
Connecting the Course Book

Textbook: Supplementation

Course books , usually, are not written for a particular context. The authors of the book used by us, ironically, have no experience of teaching English in Saudi context. The book may be useful for an ESL environment, where classroom teaching and learning is supported by ample opportunities of the use and practice of target language outside the classroom. Here in our situation, the language experience of the students is limited to the classroom only. They do not find opportunities to practice and consolidate the language learnt in the classroom. The exercises in the book are not sufficient to give them enough practice. For example in Unit 1, the students learn the language function of introduction using the structure "verb forms of 'be':is,am, are''. My experience is that students produce the language structure for the time being to perform the function of introducing themselves and others but next day when they come to class, everything is washed from their brain. We need to consolidate this learning by giving them more practice through exercises and worksheets. Unit 1 can be supplemented by exercises about 'is, am, are' and Unit 2 yields itself for supplementation with exercise and use of Present Simple Tense.

What to Share/Post about

1. We may post our views and comments about the textbook that we are using, and how we would like it to be different from what it is now. 
2. We may discuss the problems which our students face with learning particular language structures or functions.
3. We may post about the developments in the field of English language teaching.  
4. We may share links and resources.
5. We may like to share new ideas and suggestions.
6. We may like to share the motivation issues of the students.   

Teaching can't be limited to a few things or areas, so anything which you may feel like posting about; you're welcome. Lets be vibrant, sharing and improving. Feel free to post without any inhibitions. This is our blog, for us, with the aim to help each other improve and learn; nothing official.