what they cover in the classroom. Still, it is necessary to measure the progress of the program
as a whole. Therefore, partly to compensate for the gap between test content and class content, and
partly to ensure that the researcher covered all four skills in his assessment, he allotted
students weekly writing and speaking assignments to be completed as homework. The writing assignments were sent to the teacher via email, and the teacher provided written feedback noting errors and points to be corrected. The speaking assignments were
done on YackPack, an internetbased social network in which students could send sound files
to other members in the pack, or class (Meyerhoff, 2006). In the case at hand, files were
submitted to the instructor only. Although feedback was not provided to students, the instructor monitored students’
speaking over the course of the semester and used this as an assessment tool to ascertain whether progress was made. Yet, the question remains: how does one measure progress?
Should it be measured through more accurate language use? Should it be measured through more fluentlike speaking? Should it be measured through more complex word usage or
sentence structure? Or, should it be measuring how well students can express themselves and
negotiate meaning in unplanned spontaneous situations? Perhaps the answer lies in some
combination of all of the above.