RELO Resources
Interactive Activities for Language Instruction
Last Updated 02/05
Dictionaries (Call no. O /1515/ 1998)
Jon Wright
Oxford University Press 1998
Dictionaries are one of the most widely available, but under utilized resources English teachers and students have. Jon Wright's book sets out to rectify that. It is full of practical classroom uses for dictionaries. In fact, there are 98 different exercises with extensions to many. It has techniques for using dictionaries as a learning resource for pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary, reading skills and more. The exercises are photocopiable and so teacher friendly. Although example texts are given in the latter part of the book the exercises are easily adaptable to any texts that appeal to your students. I use this book more often than any other single ELT resource book. I highly recommend it to ELT teachers.
Film (Call no. O /1519/ 2001)
Susan Stempleski & Barry Tomalin
Oxford University Press 2001
This book provides activities that help teachers to select, structure, and teach their lessons around films, providing adaptable ideas with popular examples at all levels. There are ideas on how to integrate films into a general course and how to set film projects, and a glossary of useful terms. Teachers require no previous film knowledge.
Language Learning in the Age of Satellite Television (Call no. O /1525/ 1998)
Ulrike H. Meinhof
Oxford University Press 1998
This book explores the relationship between language and culture, focusing on some of the most frequent and popular genres shown on television such as news, game shows, soap operas and adverts. The author shows how these genres can provide the potential for developing language learning. She discusses and illustrates different strategic approaches and includes suggestions for teaching and learning.
Laughing Matters: Humor in the Language Classroom (Call no. C /0317/2002)
Peter Medgyes
Cambridge University Press 2002
Laughing Matters is a resource book dealing with humor in the language classroom. It provides over 120 activities that will inject some light-hearted fun into lessons whilst still being grounded in respected language learning theory. Jokes provide teachers with a rich resource of patterned language use and cultural knowledge. Humor is also a very effective way to help students remember key concepts and structures. Humor can be one of the hardest aspects of a foreign language for students to understand; yet it is also one of the most rewarding. This book provides support for teachers in the form of background information on humor and step-by-step guidance on how to carry out the activities and suggestions for further work. It will be of particular interest to teachers who are non-native speakers and may need some confidence building before using humor in the language classroom.
Literature (Call no. O /1531/ 1990)
Alan Duff & Alan Maley
Oxford University Press 1990
This book offers a wide variety of interesting and practical ideas for using literature in the language classroom. It is designed specifically with the needs of the foreign language learner in mind. No previous knowledge of literature is needed either by the teacher or by the students, since it is not a book about how to study literature but on how to use it for language practice.
Music & Songs (Call no. O /1532/ 1992)
Tim Murphy
Oxford University Press 1992
This book describes a variety of ways in which to use music and songs in the language classroom. It can be used with small children, adolescents and adults and with all types of music from traditional, folk, and classical to jazz, rock and pop. It shows how to integrate the motivating aspects of music into the teaching of composition, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary building, and reading.
Newspapers (Call no. O /1533/ 1993)
Peter Grundy
Oxford University Press 1993
This book contains over 100 creative and original ideas for making effective use of the wealth of readily available, authentic English-language texts in newspapers. The activities are practical, and most need little teacher preparation.
New Ways in Using Authentic Materials in the Classroom (Call no. T /2035/ 1999)
Ruth e. Larimer and Leigh Schleicher, (Ed.)
TESOL 1999
This book demonstrates how a wide range of authentic materials can be adapted into interesting and innovative lessons for language learners. Each variety centers around an audio, visual or written text from an English language environment. These include samples from many different television genres, books, magazines, cards, recipes, schedules, and brochures.
New Ways in Using Communicative Games in Language Teaching (Call no. T /2036/ 1999)
Nikhat Shameem & Makhan Tickoo, (Eds.)
TESOL 1999
Communicative games give language learning a whole new meaning. Learning takes place- even if incidentally- while students are engaged in a self motivating activity. They have fun and interact socially to perform a task and reach a satisfactory outcome. This international collection of activities enables students to learn, develop, and use strategies in realistic situations akin to those in which they would use their L1.
New Ways of Using Drama & Literature in Language Teaching (Call no. T /2039/ 1996)
Valerie Whiteson, (Ed.)
TESOL 1996
Contributors to this volume offer original and exciting ways to incorporate literature into the language classroom. Contributions range from ideas for lessons for young children to ideas for lessons for students in graduate school. The authors of these lessons range from students in graduate school to leaders in the field with well-known names.
Language Play, Language Learning (Call no. O /1554/ 2000)
Guy Cook
Oxford University Press 2000
This work represents a major statement of the research being conducted on the learning of second languages from a socio-cultural perspective. The book is divided into a theoretical and an empirical part. Specific topics covered include: learning and teaching languages in the zone of proximal development; L1 mediation in the acquisition of L2 grammar; socio-cultural theory as a theory of second language learning; gestural mediation in a second language; and constructing a self through a second language.
Project Work (Call no. O /1556/ 2002)
Diana L. Fried-Booth
Oxford University Press 2002
This volume provides a wide variety of immediately accessible ideas for projects inside and outside the classroom. Fully updated and revised, the text offers projects which have been designed and tested by teachers from all over the world. Activities can be used with a wide range of levels and age groups and need a minimum of preparation. Each is explained in full - the aims, resources, preparation and implementation, and feedback. The projects vary in length between 3 hours and 20 weeks, and they have satisfying outcomes for students to improve their overall communicative ability. The tasks give participants the chance to improve their competence in the four skills as well as in useful areas such as giving presentations, making a video, and producing reports and articles.