How and why to improve reading speed Ken Gibson Seeing a student's T.O.E.I.C. scores improve dramatically with "non-stop reading" led Gibson to further research, which convinced him of its validity as a way to ensure greater retention of the material. Reading too slowly results in not getting enough information to...

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Developing Personalized Portfolio Rubrics for the EFL Classroom Steve Quasha Discouraged by the old paradox of using written tests to examine verbal competence, Steve Quasha has developed a system of personalized portfolio rubrics designed to tap into students' intrinsic motivation via creativity and critical thinking which require them to identify...

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Implementing Differing SLA theories into Teaching Matthew Jenkins Jenkins agrees with Thornbury that second language acquisition research is useful for validating our classroom practices and as a starting point for developing new techniques-- as well as a bulwark against imposters promoting questionable teaching methodologies. After distinguishing between second and foreign...

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Using Manga translation for deeper understanding in the language classroom Robert S. Murphy TRIDENT (Triangular Denary System for Translation Disparity) is a triangular grid devised by Robert Murphy as a tool for making such dimensions of language as uniqueness vs. universality and figurativeness vs. literalness more tangible for students. Within...

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CALL in the classroom - possibilities and outcomes Malcolm Swanson & Paul Collett Collett and Swanson gave us an inspirational couple of hours regarding CALL in the classroom and out, integrating students' lives ever more closely with using English in functional and fun ways. Social networking Facebook and micro-blogging Twitter...

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Developing Japanese learners' use of the English article system through task-based learning in an intermediate level University program. Neil Millington and Colin Thompson Responding to the current MEXT objective of traditional teacher-centered classes giving way to a more communicative and interactive approach, Thompson and Millington constructed some task-based exercises to...

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Use of English Language for International Development Work Amihan April Mella-Alcazar Amihan April Mella-Alcazar provided both inspiration and advice to an audience largely consisting of university English majors. The inspiration came from her own example of learning a third language at school in her native Philippines and her fourth through...

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Teaching for the TOEIC Kimiko Murata, Kristen Sullivan Murata wrote, "There is a shortcut to the TOEIC test" on the whiteboard and then illustrated how she successfully guides students through their preparation with that adage in mind. Motivate them by reminding them of the bragging rights that come with a...

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Language Awareness and Language Variety: Ways to Utilize Tacit Knowledge in Language Classrooms Saeko Urushibara, So English is not so different from Japanese-- nor other languages either? Urushibara proposes that "Language Awareness" be the basis for English education in Japan, particularly when it is introduced at the primary level. She...

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What is Red? David Lisgo English language education seems about to become mandatory from elementary school in Japan. However, it appears that reading and writing are not to be taught at this level. Long-time EFL materials writer, instructor and school owner David Lisgo is concerned that teachers will be unprepared...

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