Suggests that using mazes in English-as-a-Second-Language and other preservice-teacher-education classes provide student teachers with an opportunity to enhance decision-making skills by choosing a particular course of action and reflecting on its likely outcomes. Mazes let students engage in debate with their peers about classroom actions without…

Presents recommendations for a teachers'-guide evaluation checklist intended for less-experienced English-as-a-Second-Language teachers. The checklist can be used independently to meet various objectives. Notes reasons for evaluating materials, discusses published checklists, and presents a revised compilation of their criteria and a concise…

Discusses the problem which English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teacher trainees who are nonnative English speakers have in reading articles about EFL teaching methods. As a solution to this problem, the author produced a worksheet for the students to fill in while reading the articles which followed Hoey's…

Recounts how the author planned one computer-based language lesson, which she describes as a "disaster," and how she combined her own analysis with feedback from the students to plan a more successful second lesson. Discusses student failure, purpose and motivation, appropriateness of materials, process-oriented learning, and openness between…

Argues that the "communicative approach" to second-language teaching ignores possible differences in students' needs, interests, and responses. Describes a survey of students' attitudes at a secondary school in Spain and three experiments on the interaction between the first and the target languages and on the effectiveness of communicative and…

Examines foreign attitudes toward Chinese learning methods in the light of a course taught in China. Argues that there are a number of historical, psychological, and pedagogical reasons for the Chinese learning methods and that these methods are not necessarily unworkable alongside modern English-as-a-foreign-language teaching methods. (SED)

Describes an attempt to bridge the gap between the English learned in the classroom and the English encountered outside of class and to improve listening comprehension by putting engineering undergraduates through an experimental course in which a weekly academic lecture would be the point of focus. Discusses outcomes of the experiment. (SED)

Project planners and coordinators should consider twelve tips to ensure that English language training projects in developing countries will continue after external funding and high-cost aid personnel are removed. Involving local participants at all stages of the project, assuring future maintenance, and providing adequate incentives are some…

A checklist of criteria for determining a text's appropriateness is provided. Suggestions assume four needs: current methodology, guidance for nonnative teachers, students' special needs, and relevance to the sociocultural environment of instruction. Criteria cover general considerations, speech, grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and…

It is argued that dictation is a neglected technique for second-language training. Students' error patterns at three levels are presented to show how the technique can be used effectively for both teaching and testing, and to develop integrative skills and accuracy in both listening and writing. (Author/MSE)

This article proposes a modified version of traditional sentence combining (SC) exercises for use in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes. Called SC Plus, this technique involves sentence combining, ordering these sentences into a meaningful text, and editing and revising the constructions initially used in the combining process. (25…

This article examines parallels between participatory development projects and English language teaching (ELT) projects in the developing world, focusing on the need to involve local teachers and administrators in ELT development projects. Ten strategies for managers of innovation in ELT projects are included. (12 references) (MDM)

This article examines five emphases associated with humanism in language teaching, namely feelings, social relations, responsibility, intellect, and self-actualization, and some of the difficulties of using these emphases in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Japan. A sixth emphases, religious humanism, may be added to address some of…

This article examines the function of silence in both preservice and in-service teacher education classroom observations, workshops, and feedback sessions. Teacher educators and teacher trainees need to be aware of the effects of silence in oral and written discourse. (19 references) (MDM)

Describes practical guidelines constructed by the staff of a large-scale self-access English language instruction project in Malaysia, focusing on the production of self-access materials in a situation where staff have limited resources, where both quantity and quality are required, and where there is a need to provide an in-house look to the…