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1. The Use of Ethics in the EFL Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 4 Format(s): Text

   If students are not meeting their goals, it may be that the reason is non-linguistic. Motivation is an important factor that teachers need to consider. The writer argues that carefully chosen ethics cases can motivate timid students to speak out by removing their fear of making mistakes and by encouraging them to talk about heart-felt beliefs. Since ethics cases may not have clear right and wrong answers, this sets them apart from other discussion topics. Debate will foster critical thinking skills.

2. Tips for Reading Extensively

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 4 Format(s): Text

   This article describes how instructors can help their students benefit from extensive reading. Ten tips cover the basic guidelines of extensive reading. Extensive reading can improve learners’ fluency, confidence, and motivation in addition to expanding vocabulary and increasing reading speed. Students should read for overall comprehension and avoid turning to dictionaries with each new word. Modeling extensive reading and reading aloud with enthusiasm may also encourage student interest.

3. Extra Work or Work Extra: Five Steps for Studying Vocabulary

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 4 Format(s): Text

   An instructor shares a plan for extra study that helped struggling students learn vocabulary. Students selected five words from each unit of their class text. A sample of words from the text “Raise the Issues” and reasons for choosing them are included. The five steps used to learn the words were learning pronunciation, recognizing other word forms, using the dictionary, reading the word in context, and using the word in context. Scaffolding for writing with the word is provided. This method was more successful and more popular than extra quizzes for low-achieving students.

4. The Children's Response: TPR and Beyond

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article describes a technique called The Children’s Response, which can be used to teach young EFL learners. The technique is based on Total Physical Response (TPR), which actively involves children from kindergarten to beyond third grade. The article offers three lessons that provide practice with the form and function of the present and past tense as well as prepositions and imperative commands.

5. Teaching Young Learners

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This author shares her unique approach to teaching young learners. She emphasizes that her approach involves features of communicative styles, the audio lingual approach (AL), and Total Physical Response (TPR), as she believes it is necessary to bring together all three styles of teaching to develop language proficiency. She includes a lesson plan for beginner level students to improve grammar competency.

6. Assessment of Young Learners

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses how the trend towards low-anxiety, communicative-based language teaching and integrated language and content teaching has created a need to change assessment strategies for young learners. The author describes alternative assessment techniques such as nonverbal responses, oral interview, narratives, group assessment, and dialogue journals, and suggests how they can be carried out through regular classroom work.

7. Raising Students' Awareness of the Varieties of English

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 2 Format(s): Image / Poster / Maps

   This article argues that EFL students need to be familiar with different varieties of English. If EFL students hope to enter a global job market, knowledge of English around the world is essential. The author, an English teacher in Japan, proposes doing classroom workshops on language variation and English as a world language to broaden students’ views of language.

8. Pronunciation Textbook Discrepancies

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

   This article identifies the most common differences among popular English pronunciation textbooks. Vowel symbols, number of diphthongs, and the different ways of marking primary and secondary stress are a few of the pronunciation features addressed. These differences can make it confusing and frustrating for teachers and students. Instructors should be aware of these differences and address them with their students while encouraging students to use the instructor’s preferred transcription system.

9. Vocabulary Strategy Work for Advanced Learners of English

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

   This article provides several activities designed to teach strategies for learning vocabulary. The author explains why it is important to teach strategies and offers ways for students to work on strategies, from preparation to experimenting with different methods, to evaluation of the instruction. Examples are given of cognitive, memory, and metacognitive strategies that encourage students to be responsible for their own learning of vocabulary.

10. Adding Variety to Word Recognition Exercises

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

    This author discusses an interactive model of reading in which there is a balance in activities between top-down processes and the less common bottom-up processes such as word recognition. The author suggests adding more word recognition activities in L2 reading pedagogy to improve reading efficiency. After identifying the challenges in using these types of activities, the author proposes guidelines for developing materials that incorporate word recognition in an engaging way.

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