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1. Speaking and Listening Online

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

   This article gives an overview of online technology for developing students’ listening and speaking skills. The author explores websites for both receptive and interactive communication and discusses the benefits and limitations of the technology as well as possible classroom activities. The article argues that the quality of the programs supports their use in the second language classroom.

2. 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.

3. Classroom Techniques: - English for Fools

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

   This article describes a lesson that can be used on April Fool’s day to bring humor to the classroom. The writer explains how the translation of proverbs about fools can be used for a discussion and offers ideas about the teaching of these proverbs, such as exploring themes or looking at the definition of “fool” in each saying.

4. Maximizing the Benefits of Project Work in Foreign Language Classrooms

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   There are many benefits to using project work in the classroom, such as student autonomy, increased content knowledge, and motivation. This article gives ten steps for structuring project activities to maximize these benefits, using a case study on project-based learning in an English preparatory program in Turkey. Also included are recommendations for writers on how to include project-based learning in their materials.

5. Classroom Techniques: Some Communicative Activities Based on Overhead Projectors

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This article offers sample activities that use an overhead projector. These activities encourage students to use the target language while recalling information they have already learned. Activities include making shapes on the projector for discussion, manipulating objects to practice prepositions, and creating dialogues.

6. Discussion Questions for "Bessie Dreaming Bear" by Marnie Walsh

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

   This is a column containing discussion questions for a poem, and suggestions for pre-writing, writing, and post-writing activities.

7. Discussion Questions for "Moonflowers" by Karma Larsen

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

   This is a column containing discussion questions for a poem, including literal comprehension questions, inference and figurative language questions, evaluation, experience, and appreciation questions.

8. Trees

   In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This is a thematic lesson plan for young learners about palm trees and the importance of taking care of them. The two part lesson teaches listening, reading and speaking skills. The lesson includes parts of a tree; the modal auxiliary, can; dialogues and a role play activity.

9. A Judicious Lesson: A Whole-learning Reading Activity

   In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses the use of whole-reading activities in a university level reading and speaking course. The author used a magazine article about a murder and a trial to develop a four-week unit in which students investigated ideas about crime, punishment, rhetorical strategies, idiomatic language, and the United States' judicial system. Through the use of this unit, the author advocates for readings and activities that challenge students to move beyond comprehension of a text.

10. 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.

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