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English Teaching Forum 2019, Volume 57, Number 3

Format(s): Text

Find activities to help learners explore and express culture —and much more.

Using “Place Mats” as a Prewriting Activity for Opinionated Essays

In: English Teaching Forum 2021, Volume 59, Number 2 Format(s): Text

Here’s a way to get students talking while at the same time preparing them to write opinionated essays: using “place mats” as a starting point for expressing, sharing, and supporting opinions.

Using Visible Thinking Routines in the Language Classroom

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

This session "Using Visible Thinking Routines in the Language Classroom," introduces visible thinking routines that can enrich communicative dynamics, stimulate productive engagement, and foster insightful expression–a valuable addition to any language teacher’s instructional toolbox!

The Lighter Side of TEFL: Idioms

In: The Lighter Side of TEFL, Volume 1 Format(s): Text

There are so many idioms in American English. The Lighter Side of TEFL has a section devoted to idioms, and you can download it for free.

ShareAmerica

Format(s): Website

Have you seen the new ShareAmerica website? This is a new U.S. website with short articles with news related not only to the U.S. but also to the whole world.

Teacher's Corner: Progressive Form

Format(s): Text

This month in the Teacher’s Corner, we will examine the progressive (continuous) verb form. In this week’s activity, students practice the present progressive while asking for directions.

Eyes On English

In: English Teaching Forum 2011, Volume 49, Number 3 Format(s): Text

The author discusses a school-wide campaign to promote the use of English. This six-week campaign, called Eyes on English, was created for Early Childhood and Elementary divisions, but is noted to be flexible for other grade levels. Throughout the article, the author expresses the importance of this program as well as provides a basic activity that can help teachers increase English usage.

Lesson Plan: Exploring Michigan

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

The lesson plan “Exploring Michigan” provides information on things to see and do in Michigan. It has three parts: a warm-up, the main activities that cover the four skills, and follow-up activities to further practice the content of main activities. The lesson aims to practice expressions of preference and persuasion. At the same time, the learners plan things to do on a trip to Michigan while creating and presenting an itinerary for a trip to Michigan, and then for a visit to their own country.

MA KINGS ENS EOF WORDS

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

This article, "Making Sense of Words", stresses the importance of vocabulary because of its role in communicative competence. Corpus linguistics has changed the way we consider vocabulary teaching, from isolated words to language chunks and fixed expressions. It has shown us differences between spoken and written English. This article looks at what it means to know a word and the principles and techniques to develop vocabulary. The author recommends teaching vocabulary explicitly, including collocates and word parts. He encourages teachers to update their own knowledge of how to discuss and approach vocabulary.

Developing Pragmatic Competence in the EFL Classroom

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

Pragmatic competence is an important part of communicative competence, yet it is often insufficiently addressed. This article outlines a program of four lessons on the speech acts of openings and closings. Lessons examine dialogues for cultural differences regarding forms of address, abruptness, expected responses, and so on. Students also consider pre-closing phrases, ways to express politeness, and formality. Finally, students expand an artificial dialogue to make it more realistic. Activities include translation, pair work, creative writing, class discussion, and role play.