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Information Gap in Communicative Classrooms

In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 4 Format(s): Text

The author argues that exchanges in the classroom must go beyond display questions and should be based on the information gap that occurs when one speaker does not know in advance what the other is going to say. The author provides examples of information gap activities to promote a communicative classroom. Activity types include practical situations, guessing games, role plays, opinion gap activities, and reasoning gap activities. The author argues that these activities have real communicative value.

Listening Cloze Meets Info-Gap: A Hybrid Activity to Exploit Listening Materials

In: English Teaching Forum 2015, Volume 53, Number 4 Format(s): Text

In twenty-first-century language teaching, the class should be student-centered and provide learners with skills that empower them in real-life situations.

A View of the Past: The First Decade (1963 - 1972)

In: English Teaching Forum 2002 (Volume 40, Number 1) Format(s): Text

“A View of the Past” is a special edition article that reflects major trends in English Language Teaching over the past 40 years. Included are four excerpts from the first decade of Forum. The excerpts include games for various classroom levels, intended for motivating language practice. There are guidelines for a conversation class, including emphasis on the atmosphere and enthusiasm, as well as understanding language change and the idea of a humanistic approach.

English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 2

Format(s): Text

Brain-based research and language teaching, language and literature, conversation using trivia, language anxiety, and vocabulary practice games are among the articles in this issue of ET Forum.

Keeping Discipline in the Classroom

In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 3 Format(s): Text

This article discusses the challenges of keeping order in the classroom and provides suggestions for fostering an environment of mutual respect. The article looks at what students expect of teachers as well as temporary games and long-term strategies that students use to take control from the teacher. Some practical solutions to discipline problems include keeping students’ attention, establishing clear rules together, and addressing discipline problems by using nonverbal and verbal cues before reacting to the problem.

A Ten-Step Process for Developing Teaching Units

In: English Teaching Forum 2015, Volume 53, Number 3 Format(s): Text

Curriculum design and implementation can be a daunting process. Questions quickly arise, such as who is qualified to design the curriculum and how do these people begin the design process.

The Mystery Bag: Listening and Speaking Skills for Young Learners

In: English Teaching Forum 2019, Volume 57, Number 3 Format(s): Text

This article describes a fun guessing game that involves objects in a “mystery bag” and gives learners practice with vocabulary and with asking and answering questions.

Teaching Techniques: Speed Drawing for Vocabulary Retention

In: English Teaching Forum 2015, Volume 53, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This exciting drawing activity helps students remember vocabulary. The students were 12 to 14 years old and had a limited vocabulary. Speed drawing is a fun and successful way to help them practice asking questions and using targeted vocabulary.

The Lighter Side: "Vanilla Rice Stream"

In: English Teaching Forum 2022, Volume 60, Number 3 Format(s): E-book

In this puzzle, two words in each sentence don’t make sense. Your job is to replace them with words that rhyme with the original words and make the sentence make sense.

English Teaching Forum 2023, Volume 61, Number 3