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1. Consciousness-Raising and Prepositions

   In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses consciousness-raising as a way to help students learn English prepositions. This technique, in which grammatical forms are highlighted in some way, can be helpful to teachers, especially when instructors have difficulty finding materials. The author shares her experience using consciousness-raising in a course in South Africa for ESL teachers.

2. Ten Great Low-Cost Teaching Tools

   In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   Teachers are asked to do a lot with few resources. Some teachers must move quickly from school to school throughout the day. This article describes the teaching bag, which is made to help teachers be effective and save money. The author's teaching tools are lightweight, affordable, and multi-purposed. They include the expected (e.g., scissors and scratch paper, colored markers) as well as the more unique (e.g., sticky putty, pizza box lids).

3. Using Games in the Classroom to Build Vocabulary and Grammar Skills

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

   This session, "Using Games in the Classroom to Build Vocabulary and Grammar Skills," focuses on movement in the classroom.

4. Superpowering Your Lecture: Activities to Engage Learners and Gather Feedback

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

   This session, “Superpowering Your Lecture: Activities to Engage Learners and Gather Feedback,” explores several interactive, ready-to-use activities designed to motivate learners enrolled in lecture-style classes; these approaches also enable the instructor to gather crucial information about their students’ progress and understanding of the material.

5. Abstracts from Other Journals

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   In “EAP Issues and Directions,” Ken Hyland and Liz Hamp-Lyons consider elements EAP researchers and teachers face. The challenges and academic needs of EAP, for both students and teachers, are addressed, along with solutions to those challenges. Teaching writing within the legal profession when the student is also an ESL/EFL student is the main topic of “Developing Legal Writing Materials for English Second Language Learners: Problems and Perspectives” by C. N. Candlin, V. K. Bhatia, and C. H. Jensen. The article includes an analysis of textbooks and suggested customized resources.

6. Creating a Positive Classroom Community

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

   This session, "Creating a Positive Classroom Community," explains how to successfully foster relationships among learners to create a sense of purpose and belonging in the classroom, resulting in greater student participation and rapport.

7. Adapting Textbook Activities for Communicative Teaching and Cooperative Learning

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses how textbooks can be adapted to include more communicative and cooperative activities in language classes, especially for teachers who are cautious about using Communicative Language Teaching and cooperative learning. It describes how small modifications can be made with minimal extra preparation, with results that help change textbook exercises into more communicative, authentic activities.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

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