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1. Resources

   American English Resources provide materials for teachers' professional development and for students in the classroom. Find classroom activities, audiobooks, MP3s, videos and pedagogical material to assist in learning English as a second language.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.”

5. 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.

6. Amplifying Voice and Choice in the EFL Classroom

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

   This session, “Amplifying Voice and Choice in the EFL Classroom,” explained several student voice strategies, and will prepare participants to select or adapt the strategies to suit their teaching contexts, students, and teaching styles!

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Dialogs for Everyday Use

   Format(s): Text

   Dialogs for Everyday Use is a collection of thirty situational dialogs that focus on a wide variety of communicative situations and natural encounters in English.

10. VOA Podcast: The State of Vermont - Fertile Farmland, Green Mountains and Revolutionary History

    In: VOA Podcasts: Shows in Special English Format(s): Website

    Listen online or download the podcast. Stories are written at the intermediate and upper-beginner level and are read one-third slower than regular VOA English.

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