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Teaching Story without Struggle: Using Graded Readers and Their Audio Packs in the EFL Classroom

In: English Teaching Forum 2013, Volume 51, Number 3 Format(s): Text

The authors developed the Bimodal Narrative Approach (BNA), which expands the extensive reading approach by adding listening activities. The authors, who used this approach with teacher trainees, outline the use of a graded reader novel and audio pack in BNA reading and listening classes. Video-based activities and evaluation are also discussed.

Fish All Around Us

In: English Teaching Forum 2014, Volume 52, Number 4 Format(s): Text

This article takes a look at fish from various angles—from individuals keeping fish as a hobby, to medical offices providing aquariums to calm patients, to large public aquariums that thrill their visitors with hundreds of species of fish. A sidebar highlights U.S. locales that are popular for scuba diving and snorkeling.

The Trans-Cultural Comparative Literature Method: Using Grammar Translation Techniques Effectively

In: English Teaching Forum 2010, Volume 48, Number 3 Format(s): Text

This article explains the trans-cultural comparative literature method, which uses elements of communicative language teaching (CLT) and grammar-translation (GT) while comparing two culturally different texts. This method focuses on grammar and vocabulary, but also gives students a chance to analyze different cultures. An overview of CLT and GT is followed by guidelines for the trans-cultural comparative literature method and sample lesson plans for its use.

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.

Using Mobile Phone Technology in EFL Classes

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

This article explains how students can use their mobile phones to produce video projects and use English for meaningful communication. The author first explains what communicative competence is and why it is important. The author then discusses difficulties of putting principles of communicative language teaching into practice, which is the main rationale behind the author’s idea. Finally, the author describes four video projects and several activities based on mobile phone features.

Laughing All the Way: Teaching English Using Puns

In: English Teaching Forum 2013, Volume 51, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This article describes four categories of English puns—soundalike puns, lookalike puns, close-sounding puns, and texting puns—and suggests how they can be incorporated into English language classrooms.

Trains across the USA

In: English Teaching Forum 2013, Volume 51, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This feature article explores the topic of trains from their early history to recent trends in railroading.

Board Game: Use a Word

In: Activate Games for Learning American English: Board Games Format(s): Text

This board game provides students with a specific word they should try to use in a sentence. Download the game, instructions, and game variations.

Using Raphael's QARs as Differentiated Instruction with Picture Books

In: English Teaching Forum 2013, Volume 51, Number 3 Format(s): Text

A differentiated instruction technique this author uses is Question Answer Relationships (QARs), a strategy to aid reading comprehension. The article describes four QAR types and demonstrates them in differentiated reading and writing lessons, with accompanying worksheets, based on a children’s book, The Carrot Seed.

Using Original Video and Sound Effects to Teach English

In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 1 Format(s): Text

This article outlines a lesson plan for teaching modals of speculation that express degrees of certainty, using audio-visual techniques. It identifies the teacher's lesson preparation, required materials, and specific ways to engage students in the special interactive environment. It highlights the effectiveness of audio-visual resources to represent and illustrate abstract concepts. The article also provides ideas for variations of the lesson plan, employing video and sound effects to teach grammar, vocabulary, and creative writing.