An ESL teacher finds that many of her students, despite showing improvement in the classroom, don't do very well on formal assessments. She thinks it's because they get nervous when they know they are being tested. She wants to find another way to assess them. Her colleague should recommend .

Having the students keep journals or learning logs.

Explanation:

Formal Assessments

This is simply a post-instruction assessment of student. This is done simply to assess student knowledge, retention, and application. Most times, it uses standardized rubric or scoring guide based on several criteria.. they includes chapter tests, semester tests etc.

For the case of the students, The teacher should use a formative assessment, which is very flexible and intended to focus on feedback for the teacher and student.

Having the students keep journals or learning logs will help aid their learning process outside the classroom.