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1. Helping Students Develop Coherence in Writing

   In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses the need to bring coherence in writing from an abstract level to a concrete concept that can be described and taught. Teachers need to teach coherence by sharing its metalanguage with students. This can be done for example by using more specific comments such as “unclear reference” or “inappropriate conjunction” instead of vague ones such as “the essay lacks unity.” The article offers a coherence checklist for students to self-edit and to review their peers’ writing.

2. Phonetic Symbols: A Necessary Stepping Stone for ESL Students

   In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses why English pronunciation and intonation have been ignored in Hong Kong ESL classes. It also discusses why it is essential to teach English phonetic symbols to attain better pronunciation skills. The article describes what actions should be taken to implement an English pronunciation component into teaching ESL.

3. Using L1 in the L2 Classroom

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

   There may be more to the use of L1 in the L2 classroom than previously thought. Recent findings show that L1 usage values the native culture and language of the students, allowing them to feel comfortable taking risks in English. The author distributed a questionnaire on Spanish usage to English language students and professors at a Puerto Rican university. Results showed that both students and teachers felt there were clear instances where Spanish would help understanding. The author also shares his own personal experiences as a Spanish-speaking English teacher.

4. Changing Homework Habits: Rethinking Attitudes

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

   There are a number of reasons why students forget, ignore, or reject homework, but what can a teacher do to encourage students to complete homework? The author argues that students' habits are a reflection of the teacher's attitudes about homework. The article introduces eight points that can help create a more homework-positive classroom. They include assigning the right amount of homework, always remembering to correct homework, accepting late submissions, and changing the time during the lesson you assign homework.

5. Abstracts from Other Journals

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

   “Abstracts from Other Journals” provides information on articles from CATESOL Journal, Language Testing, RELC Journal, and Prospect: An Australian Journal of TESOL. Topics include the professional development of non-native teachers of English (addressing cultural differences); the impact of the interviewer on the test results of oral interviews (like IELTS); a look at how the field of TEFL/TESL has changed over the past 30 years from the point of view of Jack C. Richards; and implementing standards (reforming curriculum and evaluating teachers).

6. Keeping Discipline in the Classroom

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

   This article discusses the challenges of keeping order in the classroom and provides suggestions for fostering an environment of mutual respect. The article looks at what students expect of teachers as well as temporary games and long-term strategies that students use to take control from the teacher. Some practical solutions to discipline problems include keeping students’ attention, establishing clear rules together, and addressing discipline problems by using nonverbal and verbal cues before reacting to the problem.

7. Assessment of Young Learners

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses how the trend towards low-anxiety, communicative-based language teaching and integrated language and content teaching has created a need to change assessment strategies for young learners. The author describes alternative assessment techniques such as nonverbal responses, oral interview, narratives, group assessment, and dialogue journals, and suggests how they can be carried out through regular classroom work.

8. Vocabulary Strategy Work for Advanced Learners of English

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article provides several activities designed to teach strategies for learning vocabulary. The author explains why it is important to teach strategies and offers ways for students to work on strategies, from preparation to experimenting with different methods, to evaluation of the instruction. Examples are given of cognitive, memory, and metacognitive strategies that encourage students to be responsible for their own learning of vocabulary.

9. Using Guided, Corpus-Aided Discovery to Generate Active Learning

   In: English Teaching Forum 2008, Volume 46, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   This article shows how English teachers can provide careful guidance for students to use a corpus to research, discover, and reflect on the grammatical and sociolinguistic aspects of English. The author introduces the idea of using a corpus in teaching English and offers several important online resources for English language corpora. The author provides a rationale for corpus-based teaching and gives two examples of how to guide students in exploring linguistic features of English.

10. Error Correction and Feedback in the EFL Writing Classroom: Comparing Instructor and Student Preferences

    In: English Teaching Forum 2006, Volume 44, Number 3 Format(s): Text

    This article discusses what EFL instructors and their students like and dislike about error correction and paper marking and discusses what this means for classroom teaching. The article lists the benefits and drawbacks of error correction for students’ writing and argues for the need to look at preferred methods for both teachers and students. It reports on a study of university EFL instructors and discusses these teachers’ beliefs regarding important aspects of writing and their preference for paper-marking techniques.

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