Advanced Search: Resources

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. A Judicious Lesson: A Whole-learning Reading Activity

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

   This article discusses the use of whole-reading activities in a university level reading and speaking course. The author used a magazine article about a murder and a trial to develop a four-week unit in which students investigated ideas about crime, punishment, rhetorical strategies, idiomatic language, and the United States' judicial system. Through the use of this unit, the author advocates for readings and activities that challenge students to move beyond comprehension of a text.

3. Classroom Activities

   In: English Teaching Forum 2013, Volume 51, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This section presents two stand-alone language-learning activities related to cars.

4. Picture This – Guess Which Challenge

   In: Activate Games for Learning American English: Picture This Format(s): Text

   In Guess Which Challenge, students create sentences that use one of the words on a Picture This card.

5. Try This: Current Events

   In: English Teaching Forum 2016, Volume 54, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   Using news in the classroom keeps students aware of events happening in local, national, and international communities, and it promotes critical thinking. This activity helps students become more aware of issues and events in the news to motivate them to have further discussions with classmates, family, or members of the community.

6. Radio Drama for Speaking Practice

   In: English Teaching Forum 2018, Volume 56, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   Find ideas for having students create and perform original radio dramas in the classroom; the article includes tips for helping students read with emotion, use sound effects, and work collaboratively.

7. Online Breakout Rooms: Jigsaw Discussions and Presentation Practice

   In: English Teaching Forum 2021, Volume 59, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This is a step-by-step guide to helping students use online breakout rooms to work in groups to become “experts” in a topic, then share their knowledge with other students in a jigsaw format, as a way to interact and prepare to give more formal presentations.

8. 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.

9. An Integrated Skills Lesson Plan for "Maps and Legends" by Michael Chabon

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

   This lesson plan is based on the article “Maps and Legends” by novelist Michael Chabon and is for high intermediate to advance students. The lesson includes group and pair work. Students discuss the neighborhood where they grew up. They read the text and identify unfamiliar words, then answer comprehension questions in writing or discussion groups. Post-reading activities include scanning, inferring meaning from context, dictionary practice, and discussion questions. The lesson ends with questions to make connections beyond the text and project ideas.

10. Classroom Techniques: Communicative Activities for Middle School Classrooms

    In: English Teaching Forum 2006, Volume 44, Number 2 Format(s): Text

    The author states that communicative activities, known to help language learning, can be difficult to use with middle school students. The author offers four suggestions for carrying out communicative activities and presents two activities that are designed to motivate students to use English to express their views.

Pages