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1. A Classroom Response to HIV/AIDS - Project Proposal Writing

   In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article describes a task-based writing project. High-school students in Zambia wrote a proposal to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in their community. By writing on a topic related to their lives, students were motivated and empowered to use their English skills for positive change. The project was an interactive workshop that invited a community leader to help with brainstorming, the setting of ground rules, and understanding of the issue. Students worked together on their responses and drafted and revised a proposal that was based on a model from UNICEF.

2. SWELL: A Writing Method to Help English Language Learners

   In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   Social-interactive Writing for English Language Learners (SWELL) is collaborative writing based on Topping’s Paired Writing Method. The method was changed to meet the needs of English language learners. In both methods, pairs are formed according to proficiency, pairing a more advanced student (a Helper) with a less advanced one (a Writer). The author describes the steps of generating ideas, drafting, reading, editing, best copy, and evaluating. Features of SWELL include using students’ linguistic knowledge (L1), balancing fluency with mechanics, and promoting explicit teacher instruction.

3. The E-pet: Enhancing Motivation in E-portfolios

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   The authors wanted to make EAP portfolios more engaging and personal for students, so they introduced an e-pet to accompany the online portfolio program. The e-pet (much like a tamagotchi) grows from an egg into adulthood when the students interact with it through portfolio submissions. Teachers reported that students were enthusiastic about the e-portfolio and the e-pet. Student questionnaires showed a similar trend, with several students saying that the e-pet made the portfolio project motivating. The article includes directions for e-portfolio design.

4. Building Vocabulary and Improving Writing while Developing a Tourist Brochure

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

   This article describes how creating a tourist brochure can help students improve their vocabulary and writing skills. The author describes how to plan writing lessons based on the creation of a brochure: viewing videos, planning the brochure, writing the brochure, getting feedback and rewriting, and displaying the brochure. In the conclusion, the author highlights the benefits of the activity as providing opportunities for contextualized writing and vocabulary learning.

5. VoIM-Mediated Cooperative Tasks for English Language Learners

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

   This article discusses how computer-mediated communication, negotiation of meaning, and cooperative task-based learning can be combined in a VoIM-mediated activity to benefit language learners. The author starts with a brief review of how the three aspects of learning can benefit language learners. The author then describes a VoIM-mediated cooperative task. The rest of the article explains how to set up the activity, including technical requirements, planning in eight stages, and materials selection.

6. 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.

7. Writing for the Reader: A Problem-Solution Approach

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

   A “how to” piece on using the problem-solution approach to writing academic articles, this article explores (originally published in 1997) defining the audience, defining the author, and evaluating the structure of an article, and it outlines helpful questions for writers and readers.

8. Maximizing the Benefits of Project Work in Foreign Language Classrooms

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   There are many benefits to using project work in the classroom, such as student autonomy, increased content knowledge, and motivation. This article gives ten steps for structuring project activities to maximize these benefits, using a case study on project-based learning in an English preparatory program in Turkey. Also included are recommendations for writers on how to include project-based learning in their materials.

9. Building Your Toolkit: Steps and Strategies for Teaching Academic Writing

   Format(s): Text, Video

   This webinar, Building Your Toolkit: Steps and Strategies for Teaching Academic Writing, provides participants with five specific steps and several strategies they can use in teaching academic writing in their own contexts.

10. English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 1

    Format(s): Text

    Hear and read about the blues! This issue's feature article on the history and culture of blues music has accompanying sound files. Other topics include teaching the present perfect progressive, ready-to-use methodology materials, tutorials, and reflective journals.

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