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For many of our students, the classroom is the focal point of their English exposure. It is the base of where, when, why and how they speak English. The physical appearance of the classroom in itself is very important. And because of its importance, I am often amazed at how many English classrooms in Japan lack stimulating visual English materials.

As most people find TOEIC listening Part One an easy place to pick up points and it comes at the beginning of the exam and so can give you confidence for the rest of the test, it is well worth spending some time and effort thinking about how you can get the most out of it.

Enhancing students' reading is one of the major concerns in the field of teaching. There are different strategies that teachers can follow in order to support and encourage students to read properly as well as developing their critical thinking. Among those strategies is scaffolding. Many studies have shed the light on the use of scaffolded instruction in the classroom. The present paper seeks to survey the literature in order to reflect on the following questions: What is scaffolding? What kinds of scaffolding strategies can teachers use to encourage students to read properly? How is scaffolding proved to be an effective strategy? Several definitions of scaffolding will be given. Next, the theory behind scaffolding will be highlighted. Finally, a review of related literature, starting from 1991 to a more recent research in 2008, will be demonstrated.

The answer to this question is plain and simple: very, if not the most important thing. You see, English is a stressed language as opposed to others that are considered syllabic languages. It means that stress is what carries most of the meaning in spoken language, rather than syllables. There is a very practical way of getting to understand this.

The principles of L2 teaching philosophy has greatly changed from the ancient principles of the Grammar-Translation approach historically used for teaching Greek and Latin. All the teaching philosophies and subsequent methodologies are reactions to this limited due to three major drawbacks

You're probably asking this question because you are already or soon plan to be an EFL teacher. This means that you probably like working with people, that you prefer variety to routine, and that you are don't mind taking calculated risks.

Introduction
What is modeling? Although some of you may be thinking that it is the act of walking down a runway in New York City, London, or Rome in order to show new clothing designs, the type of modeling that will be discussed here is quite different.
Modeling is a term used in psychology that means to demonstrate or show a correct behavior so that another person can imitate or reproduce the behavior. In ESL, conversation teachers strive to induce students to follow their verbal cues to the letter when teaching new words or sentences.
Everyone is a Parrot
Some years ago, when I was learning to speak Portuguese during those first days, weeks, and months, I used to hear the word "papagaio" and then laughter directed toward me. Well, because I couldn´t understand what was being said, I asked my wife the meaning of "papagaio". She said that it meant parrot, because I only repeated what I heard others say.
Of course, my first reaction was to be offended, but then after thinking about ...

When I first started teaching English abroad my students sometimes complained that my classes were boring. Most beginning teachers get those kind of complaints. It actually took me about a year and a half, even close to two years, before I got beyond that stage.

Grew up in an English speaking country? Or your Mum and Dad taught you to speak English? Or both? Congratulations! You have a talent that is in huge demand and that can take you just about anywhere in the world. Teaching English as a second or foreign language.

In this article, it is argued that metaphoric intelligence is an important aspect of intelligence, and that it can contribute to language learning success. It is thought to play a role in communicative competence and communication strategy usage. A number of activities are suggested which are designed to exploit and promote metaphoric intelligence in the language classroom.