In this article, we describe an online English collocation explorer developed to help English L2 learners produce correct and appropriate collocations. Our tool, which is able to visually represent relevant correct/incorrect collocations on a single webpage, was designed based on the notions of collocation clusters and intercollocability proposed…

Teaching stand-alone grammar lessons is not as beneficial as instructors think if they want their students to learn how to write. If teachers truly want their students to become better at writing grammatically correct papers they will provide practice in writing, lots of practice. It is only through the practice of writing can students improve…

This study reviews the difficulties that learners of English as a second or foreign language encounter in the use of English articles and puts forward some suggestions that can help advanced learners overcome their problems. It has been observed that learner performance may be deceptive and accurate article selections may be led by inappropriate…

"English Grammar and Teaching Strategies" aims to demystify grammar and equip any teacher to teach it in the classroom. Carefully set out for ease of reference, this book covers every aspect of grammar, from nouns, adjectives and verbs to punctuation and prepositions. Each grammatical term is clearly defined and accompanied by varieties…

Adjective- noun order errors are a common occurrence throughout all levels of English language students. Based on professional experiences, existing literature and revisiting what some may consider archaic methodologies, this reflective article aims to analyse adjective-noun order errors among Colombian learners of English, understand why it…

This article examines how the radio drama, or "Hörspiel", might be successfully implemented in the German classroom to train students' ability to listen for context. "Hörspiele" can help students reduce their dependency on visual stimuli, develop critical and discerning listening skills, and acquire familiarity with a…

An understanding of noun positions in sentences can correct many recurring problems in the writing of English language learners. This article outlines an approach for anticipating and preventing these sorts of errors while providing a framework to explain the errors to students. For this approach to be successful, students need to have an…

This article aims to provide better metaphors for thinking and speaking about culture, identity and values. In terms of human behaviour, the words culture, identity and values are viewed as useful reifications which have allowed us to discuss human action in terms of nouns. However, the terms have been used over many years in various theoretical…

This article offers a critical examination of the current practices and beliefs about vocabulary teaching and learning in typical communicative-approach German classrooms. While research on vocabulary acquisition is scarce, frequency dictionaries reveal that current practice is based heavily on the use of concrete, referential lexemes that may be…

This article describes Pop in a Popper, an effective lesson for teaching students how to choose and use words to give their writing fluency and flair. Pop in a Popper introduces the appositive: a group of words inserted after a noun to modify that noun. In simplest terms, writers pop this group of words into a sentence to tell more about a noun.…

This paper addresses the complicated issue of attribution of gender in French nouns. Firstly, it presents a range of views on how native speakers address noun gender allocation, plus some insight into why they are accurate with most, but by no means all, gender attributions. Secondly, the paper explains some of the inconsistencies in noun gender…

Pronouns take the place of other nouns. In the case of personal pronouns, they often take the place of nouns that identify persons. The pronoun highlights the difference by being formed differently, and by being placed in different spots in the sentences. Pronouns point out the differences as they change form, and vary their representational…

Previous work in the literature reveals that EFL learners were deficient in collocations that are a hallmark of near native fluency in learner's writing. Among different types of collocations, the verb-noun (V-N) one was found to be particularly difficult to master, and learners' first language was also found to heavily influence their collocation…

Presents a simplified binary schema of the English article system as a pedagogical tool for selecting the appropriate article, a universally acknowledged difficulty for nonnative speakers of English. (25 references) (GLR)

In this article, I discuss a method for teaching EFL students about language bias. The method involves (A) introducing vocabulary, (B) activating knowledge, (C) giving instruction, (D) group and individual practice, and (E) reflection. I also summarize guidelines for teaching students about the use of gendered pronouns, gender-loaded nouns and…