Advanced Search: Resources

1. The Color Vowel Chart

   Format(s): Text, Video, Website

   This is a powerful tool for teaching spoken English. It helps teachers incorporate pronunciation into lessons. Check out the chart, the teacher’s guide, and the webinar on how to teach with The Color Vowel Chart.

2. Teacher's Corner: Listening

   Format(s): Text

   These “Teacher’s Corner” activities are inspired by a framework for thinking about listening instruction presented in Beth Sheppard’s 2014 “Practical Activities for Balanced Listening Instruction” webinar, part of the Shaping the Way We Teach English webinar series.

3. Teacher's Corner: Teaching Grammar for Communicative Competence

   Format(s): Text

   This month in Teacher’s Corner, we look at how to teach grammar in ways that help students to build their communicative competence. A communicative grammar lesson gives students the opportunity to practice the target grammar item through specific communicative tasks and activities.This month’s article is filled with ideas and resources to help students use the language they are learning.

4. The Conversation Class

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses conversation classes, drawing from the author’s experience teaching Persian ESL. The author offers eight guidelines for effective teaching: cultivate a relaxed atmosphere (with six suggestions for doing this), be alert and foster alertness, be enthusiastic and engender enthusiasm, be patient, be sensitive, think, listen, and make corrections. The article finishes with a number of suggested topics and activities for promoting conversation.

5. Ten Characteristics of a Good Teacher

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   The author, an experienced English teacher, combines her professional experience with her language learner experience to identify her ideal language teacher. Her top ten characteristics focus on four areas: affective characteristics including humor and enthusiasm; skills such as the use of creative tools; classroom management styles and academic knowledge. The author claims motivation thrives on success, and by adopting these characteristics, students will react positively.

6. English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 2

   Format(s): Text

   Continuing this year’s focus on American sports, the feature article in this issue is about lacrosse. A lesson plan called “Be a Good Sport” provides activities centering on lacrosse and on sportsmanship. Other articles in this issue discuss using films for intercultural training, differentiating between cooperation and collaboration in group work, and consciousness-raising and prepositions.

7. English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 3

   Format(s): Text

   Baseball is the focus of this issue. "Baseball: A National Tradition" offers an in-depth look at this popular American sport, while the Lesson Plan provides activities to interest students in baseball. Other articles in this issue discuss teaching critical thinking to prepare EFL students for university success, setting up oral homework, using mobile phones in the language classroom, and an innovative way to use literature to teach advanced EFL students.

8. English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 4

   Format(s): Text

   This issue features American football. The Athletes, Actions, and Adjectives lesson plan introduces basic ideas about U.S. football team names. Following up, The Lighter Side provides puzzles related to football. Other articles discuss using 'I-can' statements to promote confidence in writing, writing professional articles, macrostrategies for L2 teacher observation and feedback, and low-cost teaching tools.

9. English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 2

   Format(s): Text

   The spotlight is on New Mexico. Accompanying the feature article is a lesson plan designed to teach students about the state’s climate and energy issues. Other articles focus on World Englishes, organizational skills that aid language learning, public speaking tasks in English language learning, ways to make university English classes more interactive, and video recording in teacher training.

10. Real-Life Problem Solving: A Collaborative Learning Activity

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

    This article emphasizes the importance of classroom activities that promote interaction and real-life problem-solving skills. The author describes a real-life problem-solving activity that she implements within her own classroom, consisting of multiple groups of students following a seven-step process. The steps she emphasizes include: state the problem, analyze, brainstorm, decide, think though, identify, and follow up. The author suggests how the activity can be used in a variety of classrooms and age levels.

Pages