Aisha Arshad

S2018084014
Review of ‘English Forum’

1. ‘This American English Class’: A New Model of Cultural Instruction

by Eleanor Kashmar Wolf and David Gasbarro Tasker

The EFL learners can benefit from a cultural model that helps to understand the
sophisticated cultural essence. The teachers should create critical thinking among students. They
should discuss and investigate the targeted culture. Moreover, it is usually boring for second
language learners because they are not interested in the others culture. A worth mentioning
method that is explored in the article that students themselves investigate the similarities and
differences between their culture and target language culture. It might interest them.
The native speaker of the target language cannot even define their own culture to the
learners because of insufficient background knowledge. The learners have to rely on the
information given through radio programmes. The focus should be on understanding the culture
through investigation rather than being a blind believer of what is being told.
The cultural events can also be involved in the educational setups to give insight into the
culture and tradition of the target language.

2. Engaging Language Learners with Biography-Based Lessons, Units, and Courses

by Sally La Luzerne-OI and Jean Kirschenmann

The aim of the article is to develop interest of students in reading biographies. Different
techniques are employed to enhance reading through listening, speaking, writing and vocabulary
building through pictures descriptions and interviews. The task-based activities are involved to
assess the learner. It is integrated skills teaching, where content is used to improve the four
language skills.
This is a kind of communicative language teaching where students are engaged in a range
of activities to learn receptive and productive skills, but the main focus is reading skill.
The reading material given at the end is useless because students have enough
information about the text by using different activities and have discussed much about the
personality they have studied so their interest may lose.
Aisha Arshad
S2018084014
Review of ‘English Forum’

3. Developing Reading Fluency by Combining Timed Reading and Repeated Reading

by Ethan M.Lynn

In this article the writer talks about how he tried to make readers more fluent with timed
and repeated reading activity. The materials should be used easy to understand that is usually not
available in university syllabus. As intensive readings are more focused in universities. The
article is detailed and very good description to the procedure introduced to enhance fluency. The
learner’s autonomy is important as he is aware of his progress and self-motivation is very
important to achieve required fluency.
What is thought provoking for me is that the University syllabuses are preferably task-
based and skills oriented. Would this reading technique facilitate to all reading purposes?

4. Readers Guide

In reader’s guide, the pre-reading and post-reading tasks are discussed to help teachers to
conduct activities.

5. Experiential learning with Dvolver

by Charles McKinney IV

The writer seized the reader’s attention from very beginning. He introduced the movie
making website ‘Dvolver’ and gave an instructional view of the website to students and teacher
step by step. I am impressed by the magical advent of Dvolver and its usage for language
learning purposes. It would be of great help to students in classrooms and homes as well and
easy to use as can be used on smartphones and tablets. The learning becomes experimental rather
than memorising the rules and structures. The writer gave a way out to the edutainment by saying
that learning in not dependant on technology.
Aisha Arshad
S2018084014
Review of ‘English Forum’

6. My Classroom TURKMENISTAN
by Sarah Bedrouni
The article is about realistic and creative ways of teaching English Language to Zelila
Roziyeva. The writer gave detailed overview of the teaching techniques adopted by Roziyeya to
teach future diplomats of Turkmenistan. The collaborative tasks and interesting subject matter
are focused to teach realistic English skills that would be needed in future jobs. The writer
presented the all aspects of Roziyeva personality as a hardworking, enthusiastic language teacher
and a domestic lady as well.

7. Thousand-Word Pictures
by Tabitha Kidwell
A lesson is planned to teach students of beginner and advanced levels. The focus is on
compare and contrast of their own culture and the culture presented in picture. A detailed
procedure is given to select the picture and to conduct the activity in the class. This is good for
advance level leaners but beginners more need to learn about complex sentences would be
uneasy to synthesis cultural similarities and dissimilarities in the pictures. This kind of cross
cultural studies is good to enhance research and analytical skills in students. The learner’s is
autonomous in giving opinions about the pictures.