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1. NASCAR: An American Sport and Pastime

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This article, written for students, is about NASCAR, a popular auto racing sport in the United States. It offers the history of the sport, interesting pictures, and a piece on the importance of a pit crew. There is also a profile of Jeff Gordon, a popular and winning driver. Also included are a list of NASCAR vocabulary and websites of interest, an overview of the sport and its rules, and information on three legendary drivers.

2. Try This: Current Events

   In: English Teaching Forum 2016, Volume 54, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   Using news in the classroom keeps students aware of events happening in local, national, and international communities, and it promotes critical thinking. This activity helps students become more aware of issues and events in the news to motivate them to have further discussions with classmates, family, or members of the community.

3. The Use of X and Other Creative Ways to Retell Events

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   In this article, author Aljohn Francis Ruiz Flores presents a clever and easy-to-apply technique that helps students engage with texts they are reading in an enjoyable way: they show their comprehension by generating tweets (or posts or texts), using their own words to retell events and characters’ thoughts. The versatile technique allows students at all levels to be creative but can also be used as a check on student comprehension and even for assessment.

4. Question Practice: The Personal-Assistant Mock Job Interview

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Would you like to give your students practice in generating and asking questions—and finding creative ways to answer them? Author Terence McLean describes a job-interview activity that is light-hearted and fun, yet gives students serious language practice, motivates them, and requires them to think creatively and critically. The activity also helps students prepare for the real-life job interviews they will have in the future.

5. The Vocabulary Wheel: A Low-Resource Activity for Enhancing Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article, by Anestin Lum Chi, offers detailed instructions for making vocabulary wheels and using them in various ways for extended practice with targeted vocabulary. Students can make and use the wheels, and the wheels can be customized and saved for future classes. The wheels are ideal for all language levels and for all contexts, including those with limited resources. No internet connectivity is required.

6. Let Them Play: Board Games for Language Practice

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Authors Kevin McCaughey and Rick Rosenberg demonstrate techniques for using board games to stimulate student-centered language practice that is flexible, productive, engaging, and fun. The article includes tips for efficient game play and for using games with a variety of levels and class sizes. The authors show that playing board games for language practice can be educational AND entertaining.

7. Listening Journals for Extensive and Intensive Listening Practice

   In: English Teaching Forum 2016, Volume 54, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Articles provide practical, innovative ideas for teaching English, based on current theory.

8. Building a Class Library Using Local Folktales

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   In areas of the world such as Nigeria where reading is not a central part of the culture, teachers may face a shortage of reading materials. One way to address this problem is by asking students to create their own reading materials. The activity described in this article focuses on a way students can engage in process learning by writing down oral folktales. Because students work in groups, they must communicate with each other in English to write and prepare their book. Students produce a tangible object from their learning that can be used to build a reading library.

9. Authentic Video in the Beginning ESOL Classroom: Using a Full-Length Feature Film for Listening and Speaking Strategy Practice

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

   Using film in the classroom can be effective with beginning English learners. A full-length film offers continuous context to discuss humor, culture, and language functions, real-life communication with images and non-verbal cues, increased retention due to activating the right hemisphere of the brain, and the lowering of students’ affective filters. The authors include a lesson based on their experience teaching listening and speaking skills using the movie “What about Bob.” Assessment techniques and potential problems are considered.

10. On Native Language Intrusions and Making Do with Words: Linguistically Homogeneous Classrooms and Native Language Use

    In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 4 Format(s): Text

    Should L1 use be avoided in an EFL context, where classrooms tend to be linguistically homogeneous and where students have little opportunity to use English outside the classroom? This article reviews research on native language use in the classroom, how it is used (or not used), and the effects. It addresses topics such as impact on learning, teacher guilt, “covert use,” affective and processing benefits, validating the students’ own language, and solidarity with the instructor. The author concludes that a trend toward what Atkinson calls “judicious use” is reasonable.

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