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Is “They” Okay? Is it okay to use “they” for a singular pronoun of unknown gender?
‘Chandos’ Portrait of Shakespeare in the National Portrait Gallery, London “There’s not a man I meet but doth salute me As if I were their well-acquainted friend.” Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene 3: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British playwright How acceptable is it …
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Teaching Matters: The Art of Teaching “Unplugged”
“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.” – Thomas Berger (1924-2014), American novelist What is teaching “unplugged?” How does this approach enhance language learning for students? What kinds of activities can English teachers implement that reflect this style…
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Teaching Matters: Introducing Informational Interviews to Your Advanced ESL Class
“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.” – Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), American author Speaking skills – in particular interview skills – matter. Job interviews – a perennial topic on this blog – are often stressful, especially for English language learners. A broad consensus …
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The Value of Playback: Recording Student Presentations and Making Good Mistakes in Real-time
“Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.” – Dr. Richard Carlson (1956-), bestselling American author and psychologist Creating a classroom atmosphere of tolerance, understanding, and constructive criticism remains a constant challenge. How do you help your ESL students recognize their…
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Have you taught English in Vietnam? Share your insights in a brief survey!
“One day of traveling broadens the mind.” – Vietnamese proverb
What have you found satisfying about teaching English in Vietnam? How do you select or create EFL materials to help your students learn English? What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started teaching English in Vietnam?
We would like to include your insights! Teresa X. Nguyen and I are collecting research from EFL teachers and TESOL members with experience teaching English in Vietnam via a short survey. Can you share your insights and experiences in a brief 12-question survey?
The survey results will be part of an upcoming TESOL 2018 panel discussion on creating and implementing intercultural classroom materials around the world, including Vietnam. We also hope to use the survey results in a future article on teaching (and tutoring) English in Vietnam. Survey participants will be given a free ebook of our supplemental bilingual English-Vietnamese conversation exercises from Compelling Conversations – Vietnam: Speaking Exercises for Vietnamese Learners of English.
Please access this link in order to share your experiences and contribute to this research by March 11, 2018.
Have you registered for TESOL 2018 yet?
If so, please consider attending the panel session titled Intercultural Insights in Creating and Implementing EFL Content if you attend the TESOL 2018 convention in Chicago. Personally, I find these global gatherings of dedicated English teachers quite informative and a bit inspiring. They allow us to both deepen our knowledge and appreciate the significance of our work in English classrooms. Best of all, you get to have real conversation – face to face – with English teachers and material writers that you have “met” online or read in classrooms.
Cost, of course, remains a real barrier for too many ESL teachers who would like to attend. Money, distance, and time prevent even more EFL teachers from attending TESOL conventions. I do wish these international conferences could be held in a wide range of locations, including some outside of the United States and Canada. Why can’t Tokyo host a TESOL convention? Consider me curious!
Naturally, I hope you choose to participate – even if only vicariously – in TESOL 2018 by completing this survey. If you provide the information, I will gladly share the results. Deal?
Thank you for your time, energy, and contribution!
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Create Compelling Conversations.
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About the Author
Eric H. Roth teaches international graduate students the pleasures and perils of academic writing and public speaking in English at the University of Southern California (USC). He also consults English language schools on communicative methods to effectively teach English.Roth co-authored Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics in 2006 to help English language learners increase their English fluency. Recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, the advanced ESL textbook has been used in over 50 countries in English classrooms and conversation clubs. Easy English Times, an adult literacy newspaper, has published a monthly column, “Instant Conversation Activities,” based on the book since 2008. The first specific version for a particular country, Vietnam, was published in 2011. Compelling American Conversations came out in 2012, and Compelling Conversations – Japan arrived in 2015. Eric enjoys sharing reflections, resources, and teaching tips on this #ESL #EFL #ELT blog.
