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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. 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.

3. Rules and Laws

   In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article presents a lesson that gives students the opportunity to explore aspects of rules and laws. The goal of the lesson is to help students learn vocabulary and concepts associated with the topic, practice their English language skills, and develop an understanding of the role of rules and laws in civil societies. The article shares three activities for a fifty-minute lesson plan, but the authors state that teachers may modify the lesson for their own contexts and student needs.

4. Adapting Authentic Materials for Language Teaching

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

   This article looks at how to adapt original materials for language teaching, using an intermediate-level text for business as an example. The discussion is organized into four sections: semantic, lexical, syntactic, and discourse elements. The author argues that the process is the same for teaching each of these four elements. Teachers can adapt authentic materials for different classroom uses, depending on their students’ ages and proficiency levels.

5. Meeting Learners' Academic Needs

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

   This article suggests that language teachers can learn from the ideas of educators who work outside the field of language teaching. The author examines learner needs and discusses how the they can be met in his teaching context. The learner needs addressed in this article are the need to feel secure and important, the need to understand the learning goals, the need for time to integrate learning, the need to understand the learning process, and the need to receive feedback.

6. Deep Impact Storytelling

   In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   The authors discuss the importance of storytelling for giving a course depth. They outline ways to help teachers deepen the impact of storytelling through language and thinking activities that include shadowing, summarizing, student retelling, action logging, and creating newsletters. The authors include a story split into assigned readings and sequenced homework and classroom activities. They found that using these activities increases student comprehension, negotiation of meaning, and feelings of community.

7. Curiosity and Comprehension

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article, originally published in 1977, offers teachers techniques to pique students’ curiosity, making a case that curiosity spurs comprehension and initiative.

8. The Roles of Assessment in Language Teaching

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This piece makes a case for using assessment to understand and identify the needs of learners and introduces the three reprints that follow: “Twenty Common Testing Mistakes for EFL Teachers to Avoid,” Coming to Grips with Progress Testing: Some Guidelines for Its Design,” and “Purposeful Language Assessment: Selecting the Right Alternative Test.”

9. Your Most Essential Audiovisual Aid - Yourself!

   In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   Acknowledging that an interested and enthusiastic teacher can create excitement for students and promote learning, this article (reprinted from 1981) offers concrete suggestions for the teacher to be a “visual aid” and an “audio aid” in the classroom.

10. Workshops: An Alternative to Student Writing Conferences

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

    This Teaching Technique describes how teachers can use mini-workshops in place of student writing conferences and explains potential benefits of doing so.

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