Advanced Search: Resources

1. Using Progressive I-Can Statements to Promote Learner Confidence in Writing

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

   Language learners may sometimes feel shy and unsure of their abilities and may not be able to see what they are able to do. The authors found that writing I-can statements (e.g., I can write the names of foods in English) can be a good way to build confidence. Students use their I-can records to assess their own progress. The authors offer a starting point for teachers by presenting ideas for tasks such as copying words, writing signs, and writing about the weekend.

2. Entrepreneurship and Student Motivation

   In: English Teaching Forum 2014, Volume 52, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article describes a three-week project-based unit on entrepreneurship conducted with students in communications classes in an Academic English context.

3. Rediscovering Curiosity, Imagination, and Humor in Learning

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

   This piece introduces three previously published articles that speak to the effectiveness of teaching the English language through curiosity, imagination, and humor. The articles introduced are “Curiosity and Comprehension,” “Using Story Jokes for Real Communication,” and “An Imaginative Approach to Teaching Writing.”

4. The Lighter Side: The Happiness Puzzle

   In: English Teaching Forum 2023, Volume 61, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   In this puzzle, your job is to unscramble groups of letters to spell things that happy people might do, then to fill in blanks to spell out things that make many people happy. After solving the puzzle, you are encouraged to think of your own puzzle items—or have your students create some and happily share with their classmates.

5. Noun Compounds and Compressed Definitions

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses the difficulty of understanding noun compounds in professional texts in science and technology, business, medicine, law, and other areas of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It provides techniques and activities to teach students how to decode noun compounds to see the link between definitions, which are usually familiar, and noun compounds, which are usually not familiar. These strategies can help students overcome this difficulty in reading advanced and specialized texts.

6. MA KINGS ENS EOF WORDS

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 1 Format(s): Text

   This article, "Making Sense of Words", stresses the importance of vocabulary because of its role in communicative competence. Corpus linguistics has changed the way we consider vocabulary teaching, from isolated words to language chunks and fixed expressions. It has shown us differences between spoken and written English. This article looks at what it means to know a word and the principles and techniques to develop vocabulary. The author recommends teaching vocabulary explicitly, including collocates and word parts. He encourages teachers to update their own knowledge of how to discuss and approach vocabulary.

7. My Classroom: Indonesia

   In: English Teaching Forum 2015, Volume 53, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Alief Noor Farida is a junior lecturer at Indonesia’s Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES). Now teaching her fourth semester and an alumna of the English Education program at UNNES, Ms. Farida is an especially motivated and dedicated educator. She teaches 18 hours per week, specializing in grammar and writing-skills courses. The Intensive Course she teaches, focusing on reading, writing, speaking, and grammar skills, serves as a foundation for incoming English Department students.

8. Earth Day Photo

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Image / Poster / Maps

   This is a photograph of people cleaning up trash alongside the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in observance of Earth Day.

9. The Lighter Side: Dare to Read

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

   This puzzle offers 20 scrambled words that all relate to “things people read.”

10. Motivating Learners at South Korean Universities

    In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 3 Format(s): Text

    Using a problem-solution format, this article (originally published in 1997) discusses cultural and educational factors that affect language learners’ motivation and offers strategies to raise motivation.

Pages