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Practical Activities for Balanced Listening Instruction

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

This webinar will introduce activities to develop students' listening skills in all of these areas; these activities can make your listening instruction both easier and more effective.

Classroom Techniques: - What a Feeling!

In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 3 Format(s): Text

This article argues for the use of collaborative writing through poems in the ESL classroom. This activity gives students the motivation to express their creativity while improving teamwork skills that are important outside of the classroom. The author describes how collaborative poetry is introduced and carried out, gives examples of student poems, and suggests how the activity can be used with other genres as well.

Classroom Activities

In: English Teaching Forum 2011, Volume 49, Number 2 Format(s): Text

These classrooms activities, which are designed for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students, focus on the issue’s fishing theme. Classroom activities include written and oral work, vocabulary, team work and individual work. Lessons include creating a vocabulary card game, oral story telling based on the “fish story” concept of telling exaggerated stories, and the creation of a persuasive piece. Variations are included to expand and vary the lessons.

Hunter

In: American Teens Talk! Format(s): MP3, Text

Hunter plays the drums and ukulele, and in this interview, he talks about music and going to Puerto Rico.

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.

Ten Characteristics of a Good Teacher

In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 1 Format(s): Text

The author, an experienced English teacher, combines her professional experience with her language learner experience to identify her ideal language teacher. Her top ten characteristics focus on four areas: affective characteristics including humor and enthusiasm; skills such as the use of creative tools; classroom management styles and academic knowledge. The author claims motivation thrives on success, and by adopting these characteristics, students will react positively.

English Magazines = Motivation + Improved ESL Writing Skills

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

Creating and editing a magazine in English is a challenging and motivating type of portfolio assessment. It encourages student fluency and freedom by allowing students to choose their own topics for writing. It is real communication for a real audience and requires students to take responsibility for their own writing. It can also make the teacher’s job more enjoyable. The article describes a magazine-editing project for an intermediate university writing class. The students performed well on the national writing examination.

Designing Lessons for EFL Listening Comprehension Classes

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

To keep students motivated, the author outlines several principles for developing listening comprehension lessons. When learners focus on a clear learning objective, retention improves. Other recommendations include keeping the same topic and objective for several activities and selecting relevant, authentic material with a clear layout and pictures to help with prediction. The author discusses appropriate teaching methods, such as variety and effective questioning.

A Classroom Response to HIV/AIDS - Project Proposal Writing

In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This article describes a task-based writing project. High-school students in Zambia wrote a proposal to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in their community. By writing on a topic related to their lives, students were motivated and empowered to use their English skills for positive change. The project was an interactive workshop that invited a community leader to help with brainstorming, the setting of ground rules, and understanding of the issue. Students worked together on their responses and drafted and revised a proposal that was based on a model from UNICEF.

Easy Reading Activities to Engage Students