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Using VOA Special English to Improve Advanced English Learners' Productive Use of High Frequency Words

In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 3 Format(s): Text

This article focuses on advanced ESL learners’ acquisition of the spelling, pronunciation, and comprehension of high-frequency words at the productive skill level rather than at the receptive skill level. It discusses the use of the Voice of America (VOA) Special English program to expose learners to different activities requiring productive skills. The article offers examples of how the VOA program exposes learners to comprehensible input through high-frequency words and helps them produce these words both in writing and speaking.

Building Vocabulary and Improving Writing while Developing a Tourist Brochure

In: English Teaching Forum 2008, Volume 46, Number 2 Format(s): Text

This article describes how creating a tourist brochure can help students improve their vocabulary and writing skills. The author describes how to plan writing lessons based on the creation of a brochure: viewing videos, planning the brochure, writing the brochure, getting feedback and rewriting, and displaying the brochure. In the conclusion, the author highlights the benefits of the activity as providing opportunities for contextualized writing and vocabulary learning.

Notes for Teachers

In: Why English? Comics for the Classroom Format(s): Text

This section includes a table of contents, information about the project, and how teachers can use these comics in their classrooms.

Classroom Techniques: - What a Feeling!

In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 3 Format(s): Text

This article argues for the use of collaborative writing through poems in the ESL classroom. This activity gives students the motivation to express their creativity while improving teamwork skills that are important outside of the classroom. The author describes how collaborative poetry is introduced and carried out, gives examples of student poems, and suggests how the activity can be used with other genres as well.

Lesson Plan: Athletes, Actions, and Adjectives

In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 4 Format(s): Text

People who are very familiar with American football and those completely unfamiliar with it can benefit from the interactive, communicative activities presented in this lesson plan. Students can analyze examples from the NFL and create their own team names, team logos, and player descriptions. Ideas for teaching adjectives and body parts are also provided. In the spirit of the game, the plan features quick, lively group activities, all under 50 minutes each.

First Road to Learning: Language through Stories

In: English Teaching Forum 2006, Volume 44, Number 2 Format(s): Text

This article discusses the benefits of using stories in language teaching and ideas of how to use stories in the classroom. The authors believe that stories can help solve the problems caused by limited resources and are good ways to teach culture. They describe types of stories and how they can be used in teaching speaking, listening, reading, writing, integrated skills, and critical thinking.

Lesson Plan: Going Green

In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 4 Format(s): Text

The lesson plan, “Going Green,” allows students to develop research and problem-solving skills on the theme of environmental conservation. The lesson includes a glossary of environmental terms. It uses a learner-centered approach as learners work in groups to determine their topic, the vocabulary they want to learn, how to collect information, how to report it (qualitatively or quantitatively), and what action to take based on the results. Students report their findings and action plan in a poster presentation. Creative writing, a debate, or a "green fair" are optional extensions.

Developing an International Multilingual Writing Center: Lessons Learned

In: English Teaching Forum 2023, Volume 61, Number 4 Format(s): Text

Authors Andrea Mason Garner and Courtney Scarborough recount their experiences developing academic writing centers at two locations in Indonesia, then show how the lessons they learned can help other teachers start and operate a writing center successfully. The authors present tips for writing centers in various contexts, including those with low resources and a limited budget.

An Imaginative Approach to Teaching Writing

In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

This article, originally published in 1986, explores the key to tackling the challenging task: motivation. The article includes 11 activities that encourage students’ creativity.

Story 6: Julia