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1. Using Visual Literacy Skills to Encourage Communicative Language Practice

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

   This webinar, "Using Visual Literacy Skills to Encourage Communicative Language Practice," demonstrates how to increase learner engagement in the English language classroom by incorporating visual literacy skills.

2. What Mary Shelley Never Wrote: Using Basic Computer Skills to Enhance Student Writing

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article describes an inspired, well-managed process writing class project for intermediate language learners. The author used Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein as a creative writing tool in class to develop writing and computer skills. Students read and discussed the book. Working in a collaborative format, students wrote a short story sequel to the novel and offered revision advice in a workshop format. The sequels were then compiled and shared with beginner language learners. The author pointed out that the sense of audience was also established with this project.

3. Mind Mirror Projects: A Tool for Integrating Critical Thinking into the English Language Classroom

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

   Students often have difficulty 'reading between the lines.' This article suggests the use of mind mirror activities as a tool to improve students' critical thinking and learning skills (e.g., analysis, categorization, clarification, inferencing). The author describes a successful five-day group project from his own classroom that ended in students sharing their work through poster presentations.

4. Fun with Grammar: Bringing Language Learning to Life through Games

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

   This Webinar, "Fun with Grammar - Bringing Language Learning to Life through Games," examines games that motivate students to learn from and engage in grammar activities.

5. Establishing Textual Authority and Separating Voices: A New Approach to Teaching Referencing

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

   This article provides practical reasoning and tools for the ESOL teacher to better teach source referencing. The author argues that students from around the world are taught different concepts for using sources. Students often assume texts present truths that do not require analysis. Many cultures teach students to memorize texts and repeat them to show mastery and shared knowledge. The author addresses plagiarism and provides classroom exercises.

6. Towards Better Group Work: Seeing the Difference between Cooperation and Collaboration

   In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   The author explains the difference between cooperation and collaboration in the classroom. Cooperation is students working together (each with individual tasks) for an end product, while collaboration is students interacting to create knowledge. The author discusses the strengths of collaboration and the teacher’s role. Also provided are guidelines for successful collaboration, sample activities, and frequently asked questions, such as what to do when students have emotional reactions to the group work.

7. 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.

8. Tools for Activating Materials and Tasks in the English Language Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This article presents techniques to make classroom materials and tasks more interactive and student-centered and thus motivate learners to take more control over their own learning. It demonstrates these techniques through elicitation, gapping, and adaptation/extension strategies. The article offers examples of classroom activities with detailed instructions to show how teachers can use materials and tasks in the English language classroom to address students’ interests, needs, and goals.

9. Using Cooperative Learning to Facilitate Alternative Assessment

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

   This article discusses the use of cooperative learning, an instructional strategy that utilizes group work to structure classroom interaction, to facilitate alternative assessment in the second or foreign language classroom. It highlights the importance of cooperative learning in assessment because assessment includes both linguistic and non-linguistic objectives, and meeting these objectives requires continuous and performance-based assessment. The article offers seven examples of cooperative assessments and shows how they can be used.

10. Create to Communicate: Collage

    In: Create to Communicate: Art Activities for the EFL Classroom Format(s): Text

    This section contains five lesson plans focusing on imperatives, present continuous, wh-questions, contrastive nouns, and future aspect using will focusing on high beginner to advanced proficiency levels.

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