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1. Instructional Enhancements to Improve Students' Reading Abilities

   In: English Teaching Forum 2013, Volume 51, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article offers five instructional enhancements that help students become better readers. These classroom practices coincide with five key elements of EFL reading instruction: “extensive practice and exposure to print,” “commitment to building student motivation,” “attention to reading fluency,” “vocabulary building,” and “comprehension skills practice and discussion.”

2. Activities to Support Students’ Out-of-Class Reading

   In: English Teaching Forum 2018, Volume 56, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Teaching Technique gives suggestions for supporting students’ reading outside the classroom.

3. Easy Reading Activities to Engage Students

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   How to engage students and help them develop the skills needed to make them better readers. Watch the webinar or download the presentation.

4. Teaching Students How to Write a Description with Photos

   In: English Teaching Forum 2017, Volume 55, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This Teaching Technique explains what the author describes as a pre-task for teaching students to write descriptively about a photo diary that students create themselves.

5. From Passive Learners to Critical Thinkers: Preparing EFL Students for University Success

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

   This article explains how the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC) revised their curriculum to best prepare EFL students for English-speaking universities. After completing a needs analysis on how to best serve their students, the committee decided to make a more interactive classroom environment in which teachers integrated the four skills, used critical thinking activities, taught grammar in context, and used various methods of assessment. Feedback showed that both the students and the teachers responded positively to the changes.

6. Students as Textbook Authors

   In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   The authors describe their experience using a learner-centered approach to turn learner writing into booklets. When students write about their own lives, they can focus on the language they need to express their ideas. Interaction increases because interest is high. Near beginners can create fact sheets about themselves, and more advanced students can write language-learning histories. The texts can become fill-in-the-blank activities or be read aloud. Student texts inform instructors of needs and interests; they give students ownership of their learning and provide models for future classes.

7. Article with Activity: International Students in America

   In: VOA Articles with Activities Format(s): Video, Website

   Test Your Academic Vocabulary! Listen to and read the article. Then, test your vocabulary with activities and exercises. Level: Beginner

8. Effective e-reading: Helping Students Stay on Task While Reading Online

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Effective e-reading: Helping Students Stay on Task While Reading Online," explores strategies for more accurate and efficient e-reading; these approaches address reading skills such as fluency, synthesis, source tracking, and more!

9. CAR: A Means for Motivating Students to Read

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article addresses the relationship between motivational approaches and second language reading development. It discusses competence, autonomy, and relatedness (CAR) as instructional strategies to teach reading. Competence is established when learners feel they can do the task, autonomy is established when they feel they have the control over it, and relatedness is established when tasks are related to each other. The article suggests ways to use these ideas in the classroom.

10. What Mary Shelley Never Wrote: Using Basic Computer Skills to Enhance Student Writing

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

    This article describes an inspired, well-managed process writing class project for intermediate language learners. The author used Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein as a creative writing tool in class to develop writing and computer skills. Students read and discussed the book. Working in a collaborative format, students wrote a short story sequel to the novel and offered revision advice in a workshop format. The sequels were then compiled and shared with beginner language learners. The author pointed out that the sense of audience was also established with this project.

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