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A Paragraph-First Approach to the Teaching of Academic Writing

In: English Teaching Forum 2014, Volume 52, Number 3 Format(s): Text

This article begins by evaluating how academic writing is taught in EFL/ESL contexts—historically, the sentence has been seen as the basic element of written communication.

From Idea to Essay: Effective Strategies for Teaching Academic Writing

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

This webinar, "From Idea to Essay: Effective Strategies for Teaching Academic Writing," argues that clear organization is the most important feature of effective academic writing.

Teacher's Corner: Conditionals

Format(s): Text

This month we’ll take a closer look at some of the ways conditionals function and how we can provide students meaningful (and fun!) ways to practice using these grammatical forms.

Using Teacher-Developed Corpora in the CBI classroom

In: English Teaching Forum 2008, Volume 46, Number 2 Format(s): Text

This article argues for the use of teacher-generated corpora in content-based courses. Using a content course for engineering and architecture students as an example, the article explains how a corpus consisting of texts from textbooks and journal articles helped students learn grammar, vocabulary, and writing. The article explains how the corpus was compiled and presents examples of how students learned to analyze language use using corpus tools and dictionaries. The article ends by emphasizing the advantages of corpus analysis for self-directed learning.

Developing Voice by Composing Haiku: A Social-Expressivist Approach for Teaching Haiku Writing in EFL Contexts

In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This article discusses Haiku as a simple way to use poetry to help students develop voice and audience in their writing. The author gives an explanation and example of Haiku and gives step-by-step instructions for how Haiku may be taught, from interpretation to composition to publication.

Teaching ESL Versus EFL

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

The author argues for different teaching approaches in EFL vs. ESL settings. He points out the differences in student motivation and suggests how to select different activities for the two contexts (with examples of relevant activities). He gives guidelines for the appropriate role of L1 in each classroom, and explains how the two classroom cultures differ (for example, in term of the learning styles of the students). He argues that keeping in mind these differences will help educators make more effective decisions for their students.

American English Live - How Routines Support Effective Classroom Management and Teacher Planning

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

This session, "Got Consistency? How Routines Support Effective Classroom Management and Teacher Planning," explores simple techniques to implement everyday routines that maximize student agency, learning, and participation while also increasing overall teaching efficacy.

An Imaginative Approach to Teaching Writing

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

This article, originally published in 1986, explores the key to tackling the challenging task: motivation. The article includes 11 activities that encourage students’ creativity.

Integrating Reading and Writing for Effective Language Teaching

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

This article discusses an integrated reading and writing course for first-year college EFL. The author of the article developed this course to address student difficulty in balancing multiple issues in writing. The course aimed to teach writing as a process. The author shares key components of the course such as reading and writing requirements and in-class activities.

Creative Classroom Activities