Two of the original authors of "Giving a Virtual Voice to the Silent Language of Culture: The Cultura Project", published in "Language Learning & Technology" in 2001, look back on the origin of the Cultura project, its goals, and the approach and materials used. Their commentary then focuses on the features and the…

Reverend Father Professor Amechi Nicholas Akwanya is one of the towering scholars of literature in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. For decades, and still counting, Fr. Prof. Akwanya has worked arduously, professing literature by way of teaching, researching, and writing in the Department of English and Literary Studies of the University of…

Suggests that the use of collections of authentic, thematic resources can facilitate research writing for English for academic purposes students and can form a unifying curricular thread in a variety of English teaching settings. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes the difference between "ultimate-target language" (authentic English in all its varieties), "learner's language" (with its limitations), and "learning-goal language," this latter referring to differentiated instruction with graded "input" steps. Teaching suggestions are given. (IFS/WGA)

Shares insights of an English teacher gained through a variety of teaching experiences. Describes how the Bay Area Writing Project provided effective strategies to improve the teaching of writing. (NH)

Describes the way one English teacher used a variety of stories to introduce students to the conventions of narrative fiction, with specific attention paid to the problem of the unreliable narrator. Claims that teaching the truth of fiction depends upon a clear appraisal of the story's narrator. (HB)

Discusses teaching and learning English as a foreign language in its cultural context, and the culture of the native speaker of English and its relation to the culture of the learner. Native-speaking teachers should recognize the international status of English and work from local varieties of the language. (Author/LMO)

Literacy is the foundation for success in school and society. An essential goal of every school is to help every student read, write and think critically. Dedicated teachers are the catalyst for reaching this goal. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) developed a literacy professional learning model to better support these dedicated…

The wide gap that exists between linguists and English teachers accounts for some of the difficulty involved in determining whether or not students "have a right to their own language." Linguists generally concern themselves with cognitive sufficiency; whereas, English teachers, concerned with behavioral sufficiency, encounter language…

Writing assessment can be used for a variety of purposes, both inside the classroom and outside: supporting student learning, assigning a grade, placing students in appropriate courses, allowing them to exit a course or sequence of courses, certifying proficiency, and evaluating programs. Given the high-stakes nature of many of these assessment…

A selection of the ideas presented at the 1982 TESOL convention is presented. The volume is divided into four sections: (1) Policy and Planning, (2) Challenging Assumptions, (3) Conditions for Learning, and (4) In--or out of--the Classroom. Part I provides five perspectives on varieties of English, the relationship between English and other…

The past 100 years of "English Journal" have positioned students and teachers in a variety of ways. As the authors embarked on exploring issues in the constructions of students in "EJ", they found that some concerns that teachers raised about English and English education resonated in their own classrooms and experiences as students and teachers.…

This book, intended for anyone involved in the education of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students, explores the social and cultural factors in second language learning in the school setting. The first section examines the situation inside the classroom, looking at the characteristics of ESL learners, factors affecting their academic…

In this article the author tells the story of her experiences with a high school U.S. literature class composed of English language learners (ELLs). The students were from a variety of nations and cultures, spoke several different languages, and had a wide range of English proficiency levels. During their time together, the author and students…

To writing, painting, drawing, and photography as artistic media, the author would like to add teaching as a creative endeavor as well. Especially in a classroom where English is not the first language for many students, the writing teacher needs to be creative with assignments and activities that address nontraditional ways of learning. Her…