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1. Teacher Development: A Real Need for English Departments in Vietnam

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

   This article examines teacher training and teacher development in Vietnam. It suggests ways to promote professional development among EFL teachers. The author understands teacher development to be the process of lifelong learning in the teaching profession and argues that teacher development must be a component in teacher education. The article outlines the history of English language teaching in Vietnam in order to understand its current state. The author suggests that collaboration among teachers and action research are two important ways to promote teacher development.

2. Encouraging Student Voices in a Chinese Classroom

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

   The author shares two activities she developed to promote student participation and encourage candid feedback. The first strategy involved having a student "facilitator" play the role of the teacher in small group discussions, providing an alternative to teacher-centered classrooms. To receive candid feedback from students, the author developed a system called no-fuss feedback. Students drew a large circle on a piece of paper and, as they listened to a list of class activities, they wrote the name of the activity in the circle if it helped them, and outside the circle if it did not.

3. Film Circles: Scaffolding Speaking for EFL Students

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article describes action research that pre-service teachers conducted regarding successful communicative activities.

4. Rediscovering Curiosity, Imagination, and Humor in Learning

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This piece introduces three previously published articles that speak to the effectiveness of teaching the English language through curiosity, imagination, and humor. The articles introduced are “Curiosity and Comprehension,” “Using Story Jokes for Real Communication,” and “An Imaginative Approach to Teaching Writing.”

5. Using Story Jokes for Real Communication

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   English language teachers all face the obstacle of getting their students to speak in conversational English. This article, originally published in 1996, explores the use of jokes as a way to get natural conversation going in and out of the classroom and provides activities for teachers to use with their students.

6. Bowling: Entertainment for All Ages

   In: English Teaching Forum 2011, Volume 49, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This feature article on bowling is written for learners. Bowling has changed in recent years and is growing in popularity once again. The article includes the history of bowling and recent trends, such as cosmic bowling, virtual bowling, efforts to make bowling appeal to kids and more. At the end of the article, readers will find bowling vocabulary, a list of related websites, and a section on “Bowling Basics.”

7. Classroom Activities

   In: English Teaching Forum 2011, Volume 49, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This section presents three stand-alone learning activities related to the theme of bowling. A game for upper beginners is useful for sentence formation and vocabulary review on any topic. Intermediate learners can practice with imperatives by giving and following instructions on how to bowl. The final activity asks intermediate learners to engage in focused listening or reading. Extension possibilities are included for each of the three activities.

8. The TOEFL and Grammar

   In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article examines the implications of universities in non-English-speaking countries imposing TOEFL requirements on their students. The author points out the difference between grammar taught in classrooms and how structure is evaluated on the TOEFL. The author identifies and discusses three categories: syntax, combination, and vocabulary. The article discusses important features of the test in order to familiarize EFL teachers with the TOEFL in each of these categories.

9. From Unity to Diversity: Twenty-five Years of Language Teaching Methodology

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Reprinted from a 1987 issue of English Teaching Forum, this article by Diane Larson-Freeman describes methodological developments in the field of English language teaching over the previous 25 years. This overview of methodology includes discussion of such topics as syllabus design, English for Special Purposes (ESP), content-based approaches, culture, the Comprehension Approach, the Communicative Approach, assessment procedure, and subject matter.

10. Classroom Activities

    In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

    Three stand-alone language-learning activities related to the theme of spring.

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