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1. Mind Mirror Projects: A Tool for Integrating Critical Thinking into the English Language Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Students often have difficulty 'reading between the lines.' This article suggests the use of mind mirror activities as a tool to improve students' critical thinking and learning skills (e.g., analysis, categorization, clarification, inferencing). The author describes a successful five-day group project from his own classroom that ended in students sharing their work through poster presentations.

2. From Passive Participant to Active Thinker

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

   This article discusses how, through materials development, teachers can help students think critically and feel comfortable enough to be active participants in class. The author suggests adapting materials to be more relevant to the interests and needs of students in a particular context. Another suggestion is to create materials that help students connect their thoughts and feelings to the language they are learning. The author includes techniques to promote critical thinking and learner autonomy.

3. Promoting Genre Awareness in the EFL Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2011, Volume 49, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   The author introduces genre awareness, a concept from ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and EAP (English for Academic Purposes), and relates it to its potential use in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom. She explains genre awareness as the ability to use the communication tool that is most appropriate for the purpose and audience. She recognizes several challenges to using genre awareness curriculum in the EFL classroom. Finally, she presents several useful genre awareness classroom exercises.

4. Establishing Textual Authority and Separating Voices: A New Approach to Teaching Referencing

   In: English Teaching Forum 2011, Volume 49, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article provides practical reasoning and tools for the ESOL teacher to better teach source referencing. The author argues that students from around the world are taught different concepts for using sources. Students often assume texts present truths that do not require analysis. Many cultures teach students to memorize texts and repeat them to show mastery and shared knowledge. The author addresses plagiarism and provides classroom exercises.

5. Building Fluency through the Repeated Reading Method

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

   This article discusses the success of Repeated Reading (RR) within EFL classrooms, illustrating three techniques of RR that can be used to develop students’ fluency, comprehension skills, and reading self-esteem. After providing a background on the RR method, the author explains the techniques step by step and suggests activities. The techniques include classic oral repeated reading (ORR), Paired repeated reading (PRR), and Reader’s Theater (RT).

6. The Trans-Cultural Comparative Literature Method: Using Grammar Translation Techniques Effectively

   In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article explains the trans-cultural comparative literature method, which uses elements of communicative language teaching (CLT) and grammar-translation (GT) while comparing two culturally different texts. This method focuses on grammar and vocabulary, but also gives students a chance to analyze different cultures. An overview of CLT and GT is followed by guidelines for the trans-cultural comparative literature method and sample lesson plans for its use.

7. Using Letters to Tell Stories in the EFL Classroom

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

   This article discusses how letter writing can be used as authentic language use. An activity for beginners involves an exchange of letters of introduction between the instructor and students. This serves a socially meaningful interactional purpose. The second activity is the construction of an story, one in which the plot is expressed in a series of letters. The writer suggests using letter exchanges for this creative writing project after using books such as The Color Purple. Letter writing is one way to enable and empower students to tell their own stories.

8. Unleashing Your True Teaching Power: Interaction in Online Learning Environments

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): E-book, MP3, Text, Video, Website

   This session, "Unleashing Your True Teaching Power: Interaction in Online Learning Environments," demonstrates how to engage learners in online environments by transforming traditional classroom tools.

9. One-Room Schools

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   history, one-room schoolhouse, inclusive, schoolhouse teacher, communities, interview, former students, websites, additional resources

10. Adapting Authentic Materials for Language Teaching

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

    This article looks at how to adapt original materials for language teaching, using an intermediate-level text for business as an example. The discussion is organized into four sections: semantic, lexical, syntactic, and discourse elements. The author argues that the process is the same for teaching each of these four elements. Teachers can adapt authentic materials for different classroom uses, depending on their students’ ages and proficiency levels.

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