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1. An Approach to Teaching Organizational Skills to Adults

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Much of L2 teaching is based on organizational skills that the students may not already have. A lack of organization causes frustration and lost time for both the teacher and the student. The author argues that teaching organizational skills and teaching language skills is not an either-or choice. She offers guidelines for skill development along with practical suggestions for materials, verbalization, and clarification.

2. What is English for Specific Purposes?

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article gives examples of the lessons the author learned from years of teaching ESP. She learned to investigate authentic material thoroughly before making assumptions about learner needs. She tells of occasions on which she relied on the input from textbook writers and job supervisors who made errors in analyzing what students most needed in their language classes. She discussed a learner-focused style, which follows the theory that career development and language development follow the same path, from specific and technical to context- and experience-based.

3. Lesson Observation: The Key to Teacher Development

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   The author describes teacher training and teacher development as separate concepts through descriptions of how observation occurs in Cameroon. While training is a planned event that gives novices ready-made answers, development is an ongoing, organic process that values teacher innovation and reflection. Observers interested in development may use of a lesson observation cycle that includes pre-observation and post-observation meetings. The role of inspectors and peers in observation is also discussed.

4. English Magazines = Motivation + Improved ESL Writing Skills

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 1 Format(s): Text

   Creating and editing a magazine in English is a challenging and motivating type of portfolio assessment. It encourages student fluency and freedom by allowing students to choose their own topics for writing. It is real communication for a real audience and requires students to take responsibility for their own writing. It can also make the teacher’s job more enjoyable. The article describes a magazine-editing project for an intermediate university writing class. The students performed well on the national writing examination.

5. Near-Peer Tutoring in an ESOL Music Project

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 2 Format(s): Text

   This article describes how near-peer tutoring was used to foster a supportive, learner-centered environment in an adult ESOL setting. Students from beginning and advanced classes worked together to learn a song to perform at a year-end ceremony. The task involved vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, and comprehension. Benefits of the music project included building relationships, breaking the routine, and lowering students’ affective filters. The project allowed the adults to be self-directed, empowered them to critique themselves, and gave them a sense of accomplishment.

6. The Making of a City

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 2 Format(s): Text

   This article about urban planning is appropriate for advanced learners. The content discusses city planners, planned cities (e.g. Chicago), zoning laws, and high-rise residential districts. There are many images, a glossary, and a list of related websites. There are two short sections. One is about Columbia, Maryland, the subject of another article in this issue (“Maps and Legends”). Columbia was a completely planned, experimental community. The second section is about rebuilding Cabrini Green, a Chicago neighborhood well known for its poverty and crime.

7. Building Consensus on Teacher Assessment

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 3 Format(s): Text

   This article proposes a collaborative workshop for teachers and teacher trainees to identify their preferred methods of Teacher Assessment (TA).TA refers to the evaluation of teachers. Some examples are observation by colleagues or supervisors, videotaping class, and feedback from students. The pros and cons of various TA instruments and formats are discussed, including how threatening they are perceived to be. Participants also consider what should be included in their professional portfolio. It can be rewarding to involve stakeholders in the process.

8. Morning Discussion as a Communicative Activity

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

   This article describes freshman university students in China. They started their day with Morning Discussion, a student-hosted discussion of relevant topics. BBC and VOA reports were useful sources. The discussions offered opportunities for negotiation, clarification, and building communicative competence. As students took responsibility for the topics, classroom set up, and participation, their confidence grew. This was very successful, as shown by comments in students’ weekly diaries. Instructors stayed out of debates and did not interrupt to offer corrections.

9. Abstracts from Other Journals

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

   “Challenges for ELT from the expansion in teaching children” addresses a growing international trend of teaching English to younger learners (TEYL). Some issues raised are teacher education, student motivation, assessment, and the diversity of levels that exist in secondary school. The second article explores the topic of “Ownership” of English and the NS-NNS distinction. The study asked speakers from India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States to rate the acceptability of sentences. Their answers reflected their degree of ownership and perceptions of the target language.

10. Teacher Resources

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

    “Teacher Resources” includes summaries of two publications. In “Beyond Methods: Macrostrategies for Language Teaching,” B. Kumaravadivelu suggests ten keys to successful practice, called macrostrategies, and describes how to implement them. This is a teacher-training tool and promotes reflective teaching. “Teaching Online” by Susan Ko and Steve Rossen is useful for instructors who have not had training in teaching online classes. It covers developing the course, adapting an existing course to an online course, methods for this new educational environment, and more.

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