This article describes a simple method to teach pitch, a feature common to both word stress and intonation. The technique can be used by native and nonnative English-speaking teachers and is applicable to students of different levels and language backgrounds. Pronounced as /m/, "mmm" is a sound that should be easy for speakers of any…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the world of education has found a new normal, with new online courses, tools, educational apps, and artificial intelligence gaining in advancement and popularity. Interactive video is a multimedia tool that allows the viewer to actively engage with the content in the video by making choices and inputting data. In this…

The author, Elizabeth Hanks, is the creator and host of her own English-learning podcast, and in this article she shares ideas for using pre-made EFL podcasts, creating your own podcasts, and using general audience podcasts to give students of various levels opportunities to practice all skills and "advance on their English-learning…

This article uses the Stephen Crane story "The Open Boat" (freely available on the American English website) as an anchor text to demonstrate how teachers can apply Raphael's Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) technique to a text that students might be assigned to read. The article includes numerous examples and tips that teachers can…

One of the biggest challenges seasoned English language teacher Mina Gavell has faced in the classroom is how to liven up reading classes. Not only is reading inherently a quiet and solo task, but the standard skills teachers are trying to build in their students--skimming, scanning, making predictions and inferences, guessing vocabulary meaning…

The author describes a challenge that is familiar to many language teachers: trying to get students to speak up independently, share thoughts, and participate authentically in the target language. The article includes general and specific tips for creating a comfortable, communicative classroom environment.

Advocates of using songs and music in English as a second language (EL2) teaching and learning contexts emphasize the educational benefits of song lyrics. To make the full potential of using songs more visible and accessible to EL2 teachers, this article presents a methodological framework that can be used when planning a song unit for learners.…

Nonprofit commercials are an inspiring but often overlooked resource in language teaching. Teachers can use these short and thought-provoking films in different scenarios with communicative language activities and strategies and to help students practice skills that form part of Bloom's so-called higher-thinking skills, such as creating (using…

According to I.S. P. Nation (2009, 66), four conditions must be present for an activity to be categorized as fluency development: (1) learners' attention must be focused on the meaning of the text they are reading rather than its grammatical or structural features; (2) here should be no new vocabulary and few irregular language features in the…

From a cultural perspective, humor may be a universal feature of all cultures, but what is considered funny varies greatly from culture to culture. In this article, the authors demonstrate the importance of understanding kinds of humor that differ across cultures and offer clear suggestions for teaching three kinds--verbal irony, memes, and…

The author presents strategies for successful team-bonding games along with descriptions of games and suggestions for building a collaborative atmosphere before, during, and after the games.

An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling each good or service to the highest bidder. Participants bid openly against one another; each bid must be higher than the previous bid. In the activity described rather than goods or services, English teachers sell sentences!…

Traditionally, many English language teachers around the world have conformed to an English as a foreign language (EFL) model. In this model, they expose their students to the standard language norms of English-dominant nations, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. However, English learners do not only need language skills to…

Being a lucky child, I played lots of games, as my parents were primary-school teachers, and playing games is a natural part of growing up and learning. More recently, I took the opportunity to create new games while teaching a course called "Teaching English to Young Learners" to preservice teachers of English. Among these games, there…

During a recent English class at the Universidad Tecnológica El Retoño (UTR) in Aguascalientes, the teacher, Celeste Fernández, asked a student a question. When the student paused for a few seconds, other students shouted out answers. Ms. Fernández reminded those students, "Give her time to think, please!" This short moment shows the…