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Nurturing Emotional Intelligence through Literature

In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This article discusses the use of literature in a language class as a way to develop emotional intelligence in children. The author suggests that literature can be motivating and can provide a low-anxiety context for children to learn English. Several response activities are suggested to develop language skills and nurture emotional intelligence. These activities include scripting, detecting feelings in text, a feeling hunt, creating a positive language dictionary, diary entries, and letters to characters.

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.

Columbus Day

In: Celebrate! Holidays in the U.S.A. Format(s): Text

Columbus Day is a legal federal holiday that commemorates the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, who sailed west from Spain in 1492 and reached the islands of present day Bahamas.

New York, New York

In: English Teaching Forum 2008, Volume 46, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This article describes New York City. It presents information about its history, immigration process, geography, architecture, rivers, bridges, famous buildings and parks, famous neighborhoods, arts and entertainment, and tourist attractions and activities. The article also provides useful websites about New York City. It ends with a text about the United Nations Headquarters in midtown Manhattan.

Using Comic Strips in Language Classes

In: English Teaching Forum 2006, Volume 44, Number 1 Format(s): Text

The author believes that using comic strips in language-learning classes has three main benefits. First, comic strips motivate younger learners. Second, they provide a context and logically connected sentences to help language learning. Third, their visual information is helpful for comprehension. The author argues that comic strips can be used in exercises of reading and other skills areas. The author provides four activities that use comic strips.

Applying Metacognitive Strategies to Skimming Research Articles in an ESP Context

In: English Teaching Forum 2006, Volume 44, Number 1 Format(s): Text

The article focuses on explaining to post-secondary teachers how to teach their students to use metacognitive strategies to skim research articles in specialized fields. The author briefly explains metacognitive strategies in reading tasks and discusses the importance of strategy training and having a purpose in reading. The author then describes a lesson plan that includes a presentation and a three-step guided practice. The author concludes by emphasizing reading strategy training in an ESP context.

Using Task Journals with Independent Readers

In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 3 Format(s): Text

This article discusses using journal tasks to help intermediate students with the challenges they face when they do independent reading in ESL/EFL reading classes. It describes the design, implementation, and integration of task journals designed to encourage students to think about content, reflection on the reading process, and vocabulary learning.

Women in Sports

In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This article outlines the history of women in sports. It includes a discussion of important female athletes, female participation in the modern Olympics, and Title IX in the United States. The piece concludes by giving sketches of the accomplishments of several important female athletes-- "Babe" Didrickson Zaharias, Wilma Rudolph, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Jackie Joyner-Kersey.

Adding Variety to Word Recognition Exercises

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

This author discusses an interactive model of reading in which there is a balance in activities between top-down processes and the less common bottom-up processes such as word recognition. The author suggests adding more word recognition activities in L2 reading pedagogy to improve reading efficiency. After identifying the challenges in using these types of activities, the author proposes guidelines for developing materials that incorporate word recognition in an engaging way.

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