Annotated Bibliography of Books on American Language Pedagogy on Reserve in the VCU Language Learning Center

Prepared by Sofiya Lochilova (University of Miras)

1) ESL Information Gap Activities in the Content Areas

Nicholas V. Flammia

This book provides 25 ready-to-use communicative activities that may be photocopied legally. The activities are designed for pair work and are intended for students from age 11 to adult. They help students practice their academic vocabulary in various content areas (Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts). Each activity is preceded by a full lesson plan, outlining content and language objectives. While designed for students going through the American school system, they may still serve as a useful resource for those teaching abroad.

2) Fifty Speaking & Listening Activities

Deb Scott

This book contains 50 fun and educational ready-to-use reproducible activities focusing primarily on speaking and listening (with a little reading and writing) appropriate for all ages, from children, to teenagers and adults. ESL/EFL students engage in group-work, at levels that vary from beginner to advanced, and activities can be easily adapted to the course textbook being used by the school district. Clear instructions are a positive feature, as is the range of topics and activities. For example, students are expected to give and follow directions; to describe how they feel when they are ill, and talk about parts of the body; to use numbers and shapes; to discuss their families; to go over calendars, schedules; trips; to order and discuss food; to talk about sports, and other topics. Levels, objectives, and timelines are presented in a helpful fashion.

3) Over 1,000 Conversation Starters and Strategies for Creating a Communicative Classroom for Any Language Course

Sue Fenton

This author uses the Internet, authentic materials and realistic experiences to teach language and grammar. She includes many practical and creative stimuli to get students talking: role-plays, improvisation and skit topics, brainstorming concepts, speech topics, and story chains. She presents detailed explanations for teachers, tips on web site resources and authentic materials, suggestions for materials and planning activities, and much more. Students will learn language from practical application through culture, and they will learn usable skills.

4) Get Them Talking!

Patti Lozano

This publication contains sections on Chanting, Singing, Storytelling, and Theatre. There are strategies and techniques to encourage students’ speech production, creativity, and self-expression. Activities are ready-to-use; for all ages and levels, from kindergarten to adult classes. The level of the activities varies depending on the age and level of the students. Students are expected to retain the language, improve their phonetics, and learn to enjoy language learning.

5) Writing Proficiency Lessons and Activities

Carol H. Behrman

Addressing the teachers working with the 8^th grade level, this ready-to-use book can be used by ESL/EFL specialists for intermediate levels in virtually all secondary classes in schools abroad. Included are a variety of easy-to-use, reproducible activity sheets that provide application and review of basic language skills as well as extensive practice in producing the types of writing called for in standardized tests. Each section is preceded by detailed teacher lesson plans and followed by a practice test focusing on the concepts and skills covered in the section, plus answer keys and scoring guides with student writing samples.

The topics covered in the book are: choosing the right word; writing sentences; writing paragraphs; essay-writing techniques (informative, persuasive), narrative writing; writing letters; and preparing for standardized proficiency tests.

6) Real-Life Reading Activities for Grades 6-12

James F. Silver

This practical resource provides over 200 ready-to-reproduce lessons and exercises to teach and reinforce basic reading skills with students of all abilities. Each lesson includes an Instructor’s Page with background information and teaching suggestions followed by one or more student skill sheets designed for sequential development of skills that build to higher levels of reading proficiency within each section. The sections are as follows: reading for deeper meanings; reading and vocabulary; reading diagrams/charts/tables/graphs; reading pictures/cartoons/maps; reading and study skills; reading and its writing connection; and reading and research.

7) What Teachers Need to Know about Language

Edited by C. Temple Adger, C. E. Snow, D. Christian

This book presents a “conversation” among educators about crucial issues – the knowledge about language that teachers need in order to be effective educators, the courses in educational linguistics teachers should take. Much is focused on the United States, while other issues are more international in orientation.

8) Grammar-Focused Shenanigames

J. Kealey, D. Inness

Grammar-Focused Interactive ESL/EFL Activities and Games presents 49 photocopiable communicative activities that encourage students to interact with one another while practicing specific English grammar points. There are two types of activities: the first provides students with the grammatical forms, while the second requires students to produce them. Both types include cooperative task-solving and opinion-sharing activities. All are student-driven. For students from age 12 to adult. (When they mention 7^th grade, this corresponds to age 12.) The grammar includes Adjectives/clauses, Comparatives, Conditionals, Nouns/clauses, Prefixes, Yes/No and tag questions, Verbs (tense, mood, voice), Adverb clauses, Modals, Gerunds and Infinitives, Participles, Prepositions, Transitions.

9) Zero Prep for Beginners: Ready-to-go Activities for the Language Classroom

L. Pollard, N. Hess, J. Herron

Included in this book are classic activities as well as innovative ones to capture students’ attention, increase motivation, and maximize learning, all designed to develop students’ own correctness “monitors”, helping them to find their own errors. The book gives many ways to provide language input, including routines for using reading, dictations, pictures, actions, and songs to convey meaning. Every activity is clearly presented with the corresponding level, aim and materials required, as well as the step-by-step procedures.

10) Purple Cows & Potato Chips

Multi-Sensory Language Acquisition Activities

M.A. Christison, S. Bassano

Here are 56 stimulating, non-traditional multi-sensory activities that allow students ages 10 through adult to develop their communicative skills (through individual, pair and group work), promote language acquisition through exploration of the primary senses (sight, hearing, touch and movement, smell, taste). Each of the 4 units begins with specific Notes for the Teacher on how to prepare for and present each of the activities in that unit, followed by 14 exercise sheets that can be duplicated. (When they refer to Grade 5, this corresponds to age 10.)

11) Games for All Reasons

Interacting in the Language Classroom

M.Schultz, A. Fisher

This is a resource with over 50 original games for interacting in the elementary and secondary ESL classroom, beginning to advanced (reading level 3-6, interest level 6- adult). But as far as variations in using each activity provided, they can be adapted to any skill level in any EFL classroom.

The book includes games for practice with sentence formation; vocabulary development; pronunciation, listening, and number skills; role-paying and TPR (Total Physical Response) exercises. Goals, materials, levels, ages, group sizes and detailed explanations for teachers are all provided.

12) Rockin’ Rhythms & Rhymes

Musical Chants, Rhythms and Rhymes for ESL Classroom

Lonnie Dai Zovi

The songs found here include very “can’t-get-it –out –of –my-head” authentic cultural tunes to teach and reinforce vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, syntax and general fluency to beginning ESL/EFL students (reading level 4-6, interest level 6- adult).

The illustrated book contains the words to the “spoken songs” (chants), listening comprehension (cloze-type) sheets, work sheets, general instructions and suggestions for teachers, a few different ideas for each activity, and a glossary of the musical genres used. The accompanying CD has the 22 musical, voiced chants as well as the non-voiced music for karaoke or for improvisation.

13) Plays for the Holidays

Historical and Cultural Celebrations

A.Siebert, R. C. Clark

This book is designed as a student workbook to help students explore, understand and take part in American holidays, and improve their English. For each holiday there is a section with Background Reading information; Listen and Write exercises (dictation); Answer exercises (to check comprehension); a Pronounce section (to practice the stress patterns); Matching exercises (to understand the meaning and use of the words); Copy and say activities (to reinforce the basic sentence pattern of English, to work on the stress and rhythm of a complete sentence, to practice speaking with natural pauses at the end of phrases); Illustrated poster (to help anticipate the play); Playbill (to be used as a stimulus for group decision-making, and to give students the opportunity to choose who will do what); and the Play about the holiday (in each play a few characters/stars are supported by a chorus, so that everybody has a part).

The student’s guide how to use the book and the teacher’s notes with some suggestions on preparatory work and performances are included.