August 2002
One: Establishing a Positive DynamicJoyce Mandell, of New York, New York, describes the elements of a classroom in which students are engaged to make a personal investment in their learning.
Two: Meet Susan Gaer
Susan Gaer, associate professor of Santa Ana College's School of Continuing Education, shares insights from the frontier of project-based CALL. Also, read about Sharon Seymour, chair of the department of English as a Second Language, at City College of San Francisco; Denise Murray, director of the National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research (NCELTR) at Macquarie University; and Joy Reid, author of the famous Process of Composition textbooks.
Three: Motivating Children in the ESL Classroom
Lida Baker coordinated a group of teacher-trainees from Hong Kong this summer, and they came up with some principles for motivating young ESL/EFL learners.
Four: More Ideas for Motivating Children
Maria Spelleri, of the Literacy Council of Sarasota, Florida, saw the list Lida Baker's students came up with, and added several more ideas.
Five: How Much Input Is Too Much?
Mary Ellen Radloff teaches Spanish and French at Hattiesburg High School, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She wants to know where the line is between necessary L2 input and learner anxiety.
Six: Report from NJTESOL/NJBE Summer Institute
ESL MiniConference Editor Robb Scott attended the NJTESOL/NJBE Summer Institute on the "No Child Left Behind" Legislation, and submitted this report. Also, read a report on a school that already doesn't leave any children behind, Riley Elementary School, in Great Bend, Kansas.
Other August stories:
Comparing Distance and Face-to-Face TEFL Training (Ken Merwin, Cambria, Wisconsin)