Advanced Search: Resources

1. 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.

2. Snowboarding: Wild Rides

   In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article on snowboarding is written for learners. The author gives an overview of the history of snowboarding, along with basic facts about the popular winter sport, a glossary of helpful terms, and information about the controversy surrounding its inclusion in the winter Olympics. There are also links to helpful websites, and colorful photographs illustrate important moves, equipment, and competitors.

3. Learning to Hypothesize with Confidence through Sudoku Game Play

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   According to the author, the game Sudoku offers a useful way to teach students in an EFL environment. Students learn the important words and grammar connected to language functions of confident hypothesizing and making logical conclusions. When students solve the Sudoku puzzles, they are asked to use modal verbs of certainty (e.g., must, can) and colloquial phrases such as "I bet that..." to communicate. The author provides lesson templates.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Creating Cartoons: A Learner-Centered Approach to Comprehending Texts

   In: English Teaching Forum 2017, Volume 55, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article carefully describes the technique of having learners create cartoons based on a reading passage to explore their understanding of the passage and to help teachers reflect on what the learners comprehended.

7. Student Documentaries: A Language Learning Tool

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

   This article describes the reasons for project-based learning and how it better motivates students in an EFL classroom. It illustrates this topic by presenting a documentary film project that was carried out in a high-intermediate EFL class in Saudi Arabia. The article summarizes the theoretical support for communicative language learning and project-based approaches. The author then describes the documentary film project in detail and presents an evaluation of the project based on Simkins et al.’s (2002) framework of evaluation for multimedia projects.

8. Student Storytelling through Sequential Art

   In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   If you are interested in using sequential art forms such as comic books in your EFL classroom, this article is full of helpful advice. Reading sequential art is beneficial because students can work with authentic texts with real language and graphic support. Students can also apply research and cultural knowledge to the creation of their own sequential art projects. The author addresses managing project groups, researching the topic, developing the story, structuring the story, adding artwork, and sharing the story. The creations can be used as reading material for future classes.

9. From Passive Learners to Critical Thinkers: Preparing EFL Students for University Success

   In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article explains how the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC) revised their curriculum to best prepare EFL students for English-speaking universities. After completing a needs analysis on how to best serve their students, the committee decided to make a more interactive classroom environment in which teachers integrated the four skills, used critical thinking activities, taught grammar in context, and used various methods of assessment. Feedback showed that both the students and the teachers responded positively to the changes.

10. An Integrated Skills Lesson Plan for "A Postcard from America" by Robert Olen Butler

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

    This lesson plan is based on the feature article, “Postcards from America” by Robert Olen Butler. It is appropriate for high intermediate to advanced students. The lesson integrates the four skills and has five parts: Preparing to Read, Reading the Text, Understanding the Text, Making Connections Beyond the Text, and Integrating Language Skills. The lesson includes group discussion of comprehension questions, scanning for vocabulary, and using the dictionary.

Pages