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1. Spot the Problem! (reprinted from Teaching Pragmatics)

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

   This lesson plan considers pragmatic violations of openings, closings, and requests. These humorous role plays involve continuing a conversation when one person is trying to end it, being overly direct, and providing an overly informative answer to the greeting “How are you?” Textbooks may lack complete openings and closings, so it is worthwhile to spend time on post-openings and pre-closings. Politeness in English may be problematic for EFL learners because of the lack of grammatical forms that mark it.

2. Why and How to Teach Collocations

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 2 Format(s): Text

   One of the key developments in vocabulary teaching stems from Michael Lewis’s Lexical Approach, which considers language as chunks of words combined for meaning. These frequently occurring word combinations are called collocations. This article points out a number of problems that result from learning words in isolation. Work with meaningful phrases can help improve students’ comprehension and comprehensibility. The article includes reading and listening activities to raise awareness of collocations as well as writing and speaking activities.

3. Language Teaching through Critical Thinking and Self-Awareness

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 3 Format(s): Text

   This article contains a wealth of activities that will help students develop critical thinking skills. These fun and dynamic activities raise students’ self-awareness regarding their perceptions, assumptions, prejudices, and values. The author addresses the teacher's role in helping students think differently and consider ideas from multiple points of view. To encourage critical thinking, assessment should not rely on summary and definition questions, but those that require analysis, hypothesis, and evaluation. A rationale for the importance of critical thinking is provided from a cognitive perspective.

4. Teaching ESL Versus EFL

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   The author argues for different teaching approaches in EFL vs. ESL settings. He points out the differences in student motivation and suggests how to select different activities for the two contexts (with examples of relevant activities). He gives guidelines for the appropriate role of L1 in each classroom, and explains how the two classroom cultures differ (for example, in term of the learning styles of the students). He argues that keeping in mind these differences will help educators make more effective decisions for their students.

5. Connecting Reading and Writing in Grammar Teaching: A Functional Approach

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This webinar, "Connecting Reading and Writing in Grammar Teaching: A Functional Approach," explores teaching grammar from a meaning-based perspective.

6. Art and Music Teaching Resources

   Format(s): Website

   Art resources including music, theatre, visual arts, and artists, provided by Federal Resources for Educational Excellence.

7. The Pragmatics of Greetings: Teaching Speech Acts in the EFL Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2016, Volume 54, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article will provide background information on this important speech act and instructional strategies for use in the classroom to help teachers equip their students with a critical component to successful interactions.

8. Designing and Leading Professional Development for Teachers

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Designing and Leading Professional Development for Teachers," explores five core principles for planning teacher professional development based on transformative adult learning theory.

9. Building Global Citizenship through Intercultural Language Teaching

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This webinar, "Building Global Citizenship through Intercultural Language Teaching," shares research-based teaching strategies to help students develop intercultural communicative competence while sustaining their own cultural heritage.

10. Embracing Social Media to Engage Students and Teach Narrative Writing

    In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

    This session, "Embracing Social Media to Engage Students and Teach Narrative Writing," encourages insight into how incorporating social media platforms in the classroom makes narrative writing authentic, attainable, and enjoyable for students.

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