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1. Using Pop Songs to Teach English to Young Adults: Principles Derived from an Outreach Project

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Authors Enrique Alejandro Basabe and Mary Beringause present clear, practical suggestions for using pop songs—which most young adults listen to regularly—to teach English and to do much more. The authors argue that “using pop songs in the EFL classroom should follow the principles of meaningfulness, focus on language, criticality, active consumption, and personal growth, and it should encourage the creation of communities of knowledge.” Numerous examples of current and recent pop songs illustrate how teachers can achieve these goals.

2. The Use of X and Other Creative Ways to Retell Events

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   In this article, author Aljohn Francis Ruiz Flores presents a clever and easy-to-apply technique that helps students engage with texts they are reading in an enjoyable way: they show their comprehension by generating tweets (or posts or texts), using their own words to retell events and characters’ thoughts. The versatile technique allows students at all levels to be creative but can also be used as a check on student comprehension and even for assessment.

3. Seven Wonders: Bringing Student-Centered Learning into a Teacher-Centers Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Authors Adrienne Lee Seo and Tozagul Nasrullaeva brought student-centered learning into their classes in Uzbekistan by introducing project-based learning (PBL) projects; in this article, they present a detailed example of how to use the Seven Wonders (Ancient, Natural, and Modern) of the World in a student-driven project that integrates a variety of skills. The authors offer suggestions for other topics that can be used in similarly productive ways.

4. Make a Vertical, Whole-Class Board Game

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Author Kevin McCaughey takes game-boarding to another dimension by showing how teachers and students can turn part of a classroom into a board game that the entire class can play. Step-by-step instructions ensure that teachers will know exactly how to apply the idea of vertical games in their own classrooms—and will be able to let students not only play the games, but help create them, too.

5. Question Practice: The Personal-Assistant Mock Job Interview

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Would you like to give your students practice in generating and asking questions—and finding creative ways to answer them? Author Terence McLean describes a job-interview activity that is light-hearted and fun, yet gives students serious language practice, motivates them, and requires them to think creatively and critically. The activity also helps students prepare for the real-life job interviews they will have in the future.

6. The Vocabulary Wheel: A Low-Resource Activity for Enhancing Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article, by Anestin Lum Chi, offers detailed instructions for making vocabulary wheels and using them in various ways for extended practice with targeted vocabulary. Students can make and use the wheels, and the wheels can be customized and saved for future classes. The wheels are ideal for all language levels and for all contexts, including those with limited resources. No internet connectivity is required.

7. Going Beyond “The Lighter Side” Puzzles for English Language Practice

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Author Tom Glass describes multiple ways that teachers can use and adapt “The Lighter Side” puzzles, found in all issues of English Teaching Forum, to give students extended language practice by solving puzzles and creating new puzzles of their own. The article includes examples from puzzles that teachers can find and download (for free) on the American English website.

8. The Line Between Questions, Responses, and Readers

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article uses the Stephen Crane story “The Open Boat” (freely available on the American English website) as an anchor text to demonstrate how teachers can apply Raphael’s Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) technique to a text that students might be assigned to read. The article includes numerous examples and tips that teachers can use to adapt the technique to other texts as a way to enhance student engagement and interest in reading.

9. Let Them Play: Board Games for Language Practice

   In: English Teaching Forum 2024, Volume 62, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Authors Kevin McCaughey and Rick Rosenberg demonstrate techniques for using board games to stimulate student-centered language practice that is flexible, productive, engaging, and fun. The article includes tips for efficient game play and for using games with a variety of levels and class sizes. The authors show that playing board games for language practice can be educational AND entertaining.

10. 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.

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