This article draws on findings from cognitive psychology that emphasize learners and their learning needs. The author proposes a solution for dealing with language learning problems, called misconception analysis (MA). The article explains MA, its usefulness, and language classroom applications. The author classifies misconceptions about language learning into four groups: misconceptions about the goals of language learning, the nature of language, the processes and strategies of language learning, and language elements.

This article looks at how to adapt original materials for language teaching, using an intermediate-level text for business as an example. The discussion is organized into four sections: semantic, lexical, syntactic, and discourse elements. The author argues that the process is the same for teaching each of these four elements. Teachers can adapt authentic materials for different classroom uses, depending on their students’ ages and proficiency levels.

This article presents a lesson that gives students the opportunity to explore aspects of rules and laws. The goal of the lesson is to help students learn vocabulary and concepts associated with the topic, practice their English language skills, and develop an understanding of the role of rules and laws in civil societies. The article shares three activities for a fifty-minute lesson plan, but the authors state that teachers may modify the lesson for their own contexts and student needs.

Reading Activities for Effective Top-down Processing is an article in volume 39, issue 1 of English Teaching Forum, a quarterly journal published by the U.S. Department of State for teachers of English as a foreign or second language.