The Turkish students who study at Russian universities continue learning Russian at the main departments. The main difficulty which foreign students face while learning Russian is scientific style. Those who teach Russian as a foreign language admit that foreign students are often unprepared to learn specific vocabulary. The article covers a…

In this article Vanessa Mari describes how she uses the linguistic landscape to bridge two or more languages with students learning English. The linguistic landscape is defined by Landry and Bourhis (1997, 25) as "the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on…

One of the possible ways of assessing students' collaborative work in Virtual Exchange (VE) is by the use of Peer Assessment (PA) -- a formative assessment technique in which students review each other's work to provide descriptive feedback on the basis of a set of criteria. This article describes a VE procedure, in which students from three…

While starting a tutoring program may seem like a daunting and time-consuming task, it does not have to be. The best way to approach the creation and development of a tutoring service is with a list of clear objectives. In this article, the author describes the process she used to create a tutoring program with her English as a foreign language…

It should come as no surprise that digital video technology is of particular interest to English language learners; students are drawn to its visual appeal and vibrant creative potential. The seven original case studies in this book demonstrate how video can be an effective and powerful tool to create fluid, fun, interactive, and collaborative…

The definition of "English language classroom" is changing. When students have the opportunity to learn content and language at the same time, disciplinary boundaries overlap. Teachers are rethinking how they design courses, plan lessons, assess students, and collaborate with colleagues to support student learning and facilitate their…

Writing, and the vocabulary building that goes with it, is a more complex process than merely putting words on a page. In the process of acquiring vocabulary, for example, students need to understand not just what individual words mean but also which combinations of these words in sentences or paragraphs convey a meaningful message to the reader…

This article provides 10 reasons why it is important to do critical media analysis in the second language classroom and describes how a process-writing approach can be used for this in a university writing class. The authors explain how to prepare a lesson plan and the idea of an "Adbuster." They then describe 10 stages in the lesson…

Teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) who want to develop successful lessons face numerous challenges, including large class sizes and inadequate instructional materials and technological support. Another problem is unmotivated students who refuse to participate in class activities. According to Harmer (2007), uncooperative and…

Four activities for the French language classroom are described. These include helping students discover comparative expressions by using advertisements; using horoscopes for teaching vocabulary; using a missing persons report as a source for intermediate to advanced level discussion, collective writing, and questions; and a video designed to…

Global English is under contestation. Although some consider lingua franca English (LFE) as a neutral medium or code that does not belong to any specific culture or nationality, others see the deceptive nature of this linguistic globalization. Along with Spring (2007/this issue), they see global English as embodying partisan interests and values.…

Teachers can further Spanish language students' appreciation of the language's variety and richness through consideration of the use of puns in contemporary Spanish advertising. The puns are useful in introducing and reinforcing grammatical points and for providing culturally relevant and interesting material to students. (CB)

Discusses use of authentic listening experiences in second language classroom so that students will become involved in listening process demanded in authentic listening situations. Gives examples of sample classroom activities. (BK)

Approaches taken in the United States and France to use of visual pedagogy are compared and discussed. The necessity of integrating semiotic theory and visual pedagogy is underscored, a semiotic model of visual literacy and decoding is outlined, and some advertisements are analyzed, giving suggestions for teaching use. (MSE)

In the author's experience, Colombia is among the most misunderstood Spanish-speaking countries. Most of the news about Columbia involves drug trafficking or guerilla warfare, due to the many social and political problems that face the country. It is rare that the public is informed about the culture and people of this beautiful South American…