Editor’s Choice
Welcome to ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice! This service is designed to showcase relevant ELT articles of broad readership interest to English teachers and ELT professionals in Switzerland and elsewhere. Against a set of criteria, the Editorial Board picks some of their personal highlights from a selection of articles published in current and past ETAS Journals.
Are you looking for inspiration? Take it from the bookshelves of our ever-reading members of the Editorial Board and explore the Editors’ Choice here.
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 1 (September 2015)
Enjoy reading our selection. ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 1 Brigit Zogg: The secret lives of Walter Mitty and Stanley Stone, or: Writing inspired by reading ETAS Journal, Volume 32 Number 3 (Summer 2015), pp. 28-30 Introduction Despite having occupied a large part of traditional language teaching approaches, literature and literary texts were relegated to the sidelines when language teaching and learning started to focus…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 2 (September 2015)
Picturebooks for teenagers: The house that crack built Sandie Mourão ETAS Journal, Volume 32 Number 3 (Summer 2015), pp. 33-34 Introduction What do you associate picturebooks with? Children’s literature might spring to mind. Beautifully decorated children’s books where endearing creatures leap out of every page and playfully accompany the text, building tension and enticing us to…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 3 (November 2015)
Enjoy reading our selection: George Jacobs: Writing for publication in language learning journals: Some suggestions ETAS Journal, Volume 29 Number 2 (Spring 2012), pp. 54-57 Dear Readers, Writing for publication can incite fear, apprehension, self doubt, and worry for some. What could I write about? How do I get started? Is my writing good enough? Indeed,…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 4 (December 2015)
Enjoy our reading selection: Judith Mader and Rudi Camerer: Testing intercultural competence in academic and corporate contexts: The WHAT and HOW ETAS Journal, Volume 33 Number 1 (Winter 2015, pp. 40 – 42) Introduction In this outstanding piece, Mader and Camerer present an innovative test of communication skills. We have selected this because we feel that it could be particularly useful for…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 5 (January 2016)
Enjoy reading our selection: Is the native speaker dead? Barry Tomlin ETAS Journal, Volume 33 Number 1 (Winter 2015), pp. 27-29 For this edition of Editors’ Choice, I have chosen an article by Barry Tomalin on the important issue of native speaker models. In this piece, he gives us an excellent and comprehensive overview of a…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 6 (January 2016)
Enjoy reading our selection: The use of literature in ELT Daniel Xerri and Stephanie Xerri Agius ETAS Journal, Volume 30 Number 1 (Winter 2012), pp. 18-23 This extremely well-researched article discusses the rationale behind using literature in the language classroom (LLE) with reference to contemporary research. It also shows the benefits to the learner; questions teacher…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 7 (January 2016)
Enjoy reading our selection: What’s in a word? How cultural identity narratives are hidden in our language George Simons ETAS Journal, Volume 33 Number 1 (Winter 2015), pp. 29-30 ‘My Name is George’ is the name of a Swiss band. How did they come by that name? George Simons is not an English teacher, but…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 8 (March 2016)
Enjoy reading our selection: Teaching creative writing to dyslexic students Rachel Harris ETAS Journal, Volume 32 Number 1 (Winter 2014), p. 49 I read Rachel Harris’s article about teaching creative writing to dyslexic students just as I was widening my horizons on learners with special needs. So, when given the honor of choosing the article…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 9 (May 2016)
Enjoy reading our selection: Beyond language teaching – towards Global Citizenship: Teaching English as a life skill Mark Fletcher ETAS Journal, Volume 33 Number 2 (Spring 2016), pp. 20-21 For this edition of Editors’ Choice, I have chosen an article by Mark Fletcher on going beyond the standard English language syllabus and helping students achieve…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 10 (May 2016)
Being one of the co-editors of this summer’s Special Supplement has given me the unique opportunity of being able to read a wide variety of excellent articles on Creativity, including some on domains that are unfamiliar to me. I don’t teach Business English and before reading Marjorie Rosenberg’s article found it hard to imagine using…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 11 (July 2016)
Enjoy reading our selection: There’s more to it than coloured pencils and bits of paper: Creativity-based activities and approaches in the classroom Rob Dean ETAS Journal, Volume 33 Number 3 (Summer 2016), pp. 28-30 How could you use the song Penny Lane by the Beatles to introduce creativity in your classroom? Can you apply creative…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 12 (August 2016)
Wake up your inner elephant! Jane Revell ETAS Journal, Volume 33 Number 3 (Summer 2016), pp. 26-28 Anything to do with elephants immediately wakes me up. If you’ve read The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony, you will also be more than fascinated by these magnificent, intelligent animals. After Anthony’s death in 2012, two herds of…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 13 (September 2016)
Learning styles Marjorie Rosenberg ETAS Journal, Volume 31 Number 1 (Winter 2013), pp. 23-25 Marjorie Rosenberg takes us on a journey – a journey that may change your view of your learners and inspire your teaching. It allows us to catch a glimpse of a number of interesting facets of learning styles. Her goal is…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 14 (November 2016)
Three features of a MOOC that can help your online writing course Vedrana Vojkovic-Estatiev ETAS Journal, Volume 33 Number 2 (Spring 2016), pp.27-28 The title of this article by Vedrana Vojkovic-Estatiev in the Spring Journal 2016 immediately caught my attention. I’ll explain why I couldn’t resist flicking to page 27 straightaway. First, I’ve participated in…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 15 (November 2016)
Why bring art into our English classroom Adriana Millikovsky ETAS Journal Volume 32 number 2 (Spring 2015), page 34-35 The description of how a teacher introduces a piece of art to her Monday morning English class draws me into this text and I can visualize how the students react to a painting with a true…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 16 (January 2017)
Marjorie Rosenberg: Creativity in the Business Context ETAS Journal Volume 33 Number 3 (Summer 2016), pp. 25-26 What is a Business English teacher? Is it an English teacher who teaches a course from a business coursebook? Or is it an expert in business? Frankly, we might ask that if they were experts in business, why…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 17 (January 2017)
Alan Maley: Creative writing for students and teachers: Some practical ideas This week I saw the film Paterson about a bus driver called Paterson, who drives a bus in small-town Paterson, NJ, and writes poetry in his notebook. An everyday life experience; low-key, movingly expressed in simple words. Paterson writes about his world. His wife…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 18 (March 2017)
Emilia Siravo: Testing from a language learner’s perspective We live in an education world where people want tests. Governments, universities, employers: they all like numbers. This has created an environment where we, as teachers, worry about the balance between testing and learning. As teachers we have often erred on the side of being wary of…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 19 (March 2017)
Enjoy reading our selection: Oksana Hera: Give your learners a business perspective ETAS Journal, Volume 34 Number 1 (Winter 2016), p. 18 Are you teaching Business English at a university or some other institution and want to foster your students’ ability to work in a team? Do you want to give your learners the opportunity…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 20 (May 2017)
Enjoy reading our selection: Kevin Stein: Shaken not stirred: Seven ways to start your class differently ETAS Journal, Volume 34, Number 2, (Spring 2017), p. 22-23 Every lesson starts somewhere. I wonder how many of us design our lesson plans and keep strictly to them. I find there’s no set strategy for starting, simply because…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 21 (May 2017)
Enjoy reading our selection: Kevin Stein: Shaken not stirred: Seven ways to start your class differently ETAS Journal, Volume 34, Number 2, (Spring 2017), p. 22-23 Although research-based articles are extremely important in helping to inform teaching practices, I believe that it is also important for teachers to engage with one another and exchange practical…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 22 (July 2017)
Daniel Xerri: In imitation of Hockney: The value of teacher versatility ETAS Journal, Volume 34, Number 3, (Summer 2017), p. 14-15 Daniel Xerri begins this very thought-provoking article about teacher versatility by discussing an art exhibition on Hockney he had recently attended. While I am not familiar with Hockney or his works, I felt immediately…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 23 (July 2017)
Daniel Xerri: Teachers want to know answers to questions: Dudley Reynolds on teacher research ETAS Journal, Volume 34, Number 3, (Summer 2017), p. 12-13 ‘Research needs to be on everyone’s agenda’ This edition of Insights finds Daniel Xerri, a lecturer in TESOL at the University of Malta, in conversation with Dudley Reynolds, the 51st President of TESOL…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 24 (September 2017)
Dina Blanco-Ioannou: ELT for Personal Growth and Success by Dina Blanco-Ioannou Few would argue that motivation and confidence are vital for learning to take place. Whilst we, as teachers, are aware of this and try to foster these aspects in the classroom it is not often that we incorporate whole activities intended to help students focus…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 25 (November 2017)
Benjamin Haymond – The future of presentations is storytelling with data: Now what does it mean for the EFL profession? ETAS Journal, Volume 34, Number 3, (Summer 2017), pp. 35-36 In this piece from the ETAS Journal Summer edition’s Voices of Experience section, Benjamin Haymond provides us with exactly what we need to continue to be better…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice, Number 26 (January 2018)
Phil Chappell: An Introduction to Systemic Functional Grammar ETAS Journal, Volume 30, Number 3, (Summer 2013), p. 24 Grammar- some people love it and some people hate it, others manage to understand it just enough to get by. As language teachers, there is no way around it because our students expect us to be experts…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 27 (January 2018)
Hildegard Elisabeth Keller: Listen & Watch: An Audio-Play Project ETAS Journal, Volume 35, Number 2, (Spring 2018), p. xx-xx Let’s face it: Teachers are often pressed for time with a syllabus to follow, exams to prepare their students for, and more often than not piles of marking to do. In addition, language teaching should ideally…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 28 (March 2018)
Katharina Hegy-Bûrgin: A very special school, indeed ETAS Journal, Volume 27, Number 3, (Summer 2010), p. 12-14 For language teachers, it is second nature to adapt our lesson plans and objectives to our students’ needs, and Katharina Hegy-Bûrgin’s article is an excellent example of how we do that, in her case in a school for partially…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 29 (April 2018)
Patricia Daniels: A touch of drama: A teacher’s personal and professional reflection ETAS Journal, Volume 35, Number 2 (Spring 2018), p. 34-35 Don’t you find that when you read through the programme for ETAS events there are just too many good workshops to choose from? Sometimes it’s clear because the topic is what you are…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 30 (April 2018)
Chia Suan Chong: Understanding intercultural communication ETAS Journal Volume 31, Number 1 (Winter 2013), pp. 26-27 The number of people using English to communicate is constantly growing as English dominates as a global lingua franca particularly in the business world, but do we actually understand each other? The situations Chia Suan Chong uses in this fascinating read on intercultural…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 31 (June 2018)
Simon Borg: Supporting teacher research in English Language Teaching ETAS Journal Volume 35, Number 3 (Summer 2018), pp. 40-42 How is teacher professional development defined and what forms can it take? And what are the conditions required to make it meaningful and effective? Despite the nuances in definitions, there seems to be a general consensus…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 32 (September 2018)
“A classroom is a centre of inquiry in all its forms”: Thomas S.C. Farrell on teacher research ETAS Journal, Volume 34 Number 2 (Winter 2017), pp. 20-21 Research is a word which often ‘frightens [teachers] away’. Maybe because we assume it will not only be time consuming but the whole prospect of where to start and…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 33 (January 2019)
Claudia Harsch: How external tests can support teaching and learning in the foreign language classroom. ETAS Journal, Volume 34, Number 1, (Winter 2016), pp. 29-32 The issue of testing and assessment is often a source of intense discussion because people are so personally invested in it, with – in an ideal world – teachers painstakingly…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 33 (January 2019)
Birte Horn: Project-based learning in the Business English Classroom ETAS Journal, Volume 36, Number 1, (Winter 2018), pp. 40-41 I have chosen Birte Horn’s article because of the manner in which she creatively utilises project-based learning in a Business English context. It is evident that this project, which focusses on developing a start-up company, is a…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 34 (April 2019)
Patricia Daniels: A Doctoral Journey: The first steps ETAS Journal, Volume 35, No 2 (Spring 2018), pp. 50-51 I recommend this article for people looking at taking the next step in their academic career after a DELTA or Master’s. Like many before I was daunted by the complexities of getting started. However, Patricia’s words unpicked the mysteries,…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 35 (May 2019)
THE INTERVIEW: Professor David Crystal On bridging the vocabulary gap, the failure of traditional dictionaries, and semantic targeting ETAS Journal, Volume 36, Number 2, (Spring 2019), pp. 14-17 I have chosen this transcription of an interview with David Crystal for a number of reasons. First of all, he has a worldwide reputation not only among…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 36 (May 2019)
Penny Ur: Vocabulary review: just reminding is not enough ETAS Journal Volume 36, Number 2 (Spring 2019), pp. 28-30 I have selected this article because of its practical take on vocabulary revision. In addition to asking tough questions about what does and does not work when revising vocabulary, Ur also provides concrete examples of how to…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 37 (July 2019)
Article: Interview with Phil Dexter ETAS Journal Volume 37, Number 3 (Summer 2019), pp. 25-29 As a teacher with limited knowledge and experience of educating those with Special Education Needs (SEN), I found this interview with Phil Dexter by Rachael Harris a highly informative introduction to the concept, discussing topics such as the wide range of needs we might…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 38 (September 2019)
Article: Interview with Professor Sylvie Donner ETAS Journal Volume 36, Number 1 (Winter 2019), pp. 50-51 I particularly enjoyed this interview with Sylvie Donner about Business English, because many of the points she makes resonate with what I strive to achieve with my language learners, whether the focus is Business English or not. As an example, she…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 39 (January 2020)
Stefanie Giebert – Jeans stories: Staging globalisation ETAS Journal Volume 35, Number 2 (Spring 2018), pp. 24-25I have selected this best practice report because it compellingly demonstrates how the arts can enrich a regular university Business English course. Stefanie Giebert shares her experience of staging an evening of short plays about fashion and the global…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 41
Derek Callan in conversation with Matt Firth Setting up online, creating content and teaching under lockdown ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Volume 37, Number 2 (Spring/Summer 2020), pp.19-21 I chose this interview that our editor Matt Firth did with Derek Callan because it might very well interest many of you out there right now. Derek Callan is a teacher and coach…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 42
The mental lexicon and its implications for EFL teaching: Some insights Stephan Kneubühler ETAS Journal Volume 37, Number 1 (Winter 2017), pp. 40-43 If you are looking for a short yet thorough article on the ‘mental lexicon’ and how this term took on new meaning for a young teacher-researcher when he met his new class…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 43
Four principles for creating vocabulary Julie Moore ETAS Journal Volume 36, Number 2 (Spring 2019), pp. 24-25 I have chosen this article because it offers clear and concise advice along with practical ideas for how to plan effective vocabulary activities based on research. Hannah McCulloch Four principles for creating vocabulary The vocabulary strand of many…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 44
Continuing the conversation about the climate crisis: ‘Green’ talk in my classroom Sylvia Goetze Wake ETAS Journal Volume 37, Number 3 (Winter 2020/21), p. 10 I have chosen this article because it not only addresses a current topic that affects us all, i.e. climate change and sustainable practices, but it provides practical suggestions with regard to raising awareness of these issues. Significantly, Sylvia encourages…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 45
Using social media in my ongoing professional development Zhenya Polosatova ETAS Journal Volume 37, Number 1 (Winter 2019), pp. 38-39. I have selected this reflective piece because of its many useful tips for getting started with and making the most of professional development online. Connecting with others is more important than ever. I can attest…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 46
Hana Tichá: Speaking? Yes, please! Low-tech and low-prep activities which will get your teenage students speaking. ETAS Journal Volume 35, Number 3 (Summer 2018), pp. 34-35 Two questions that often get asked in staff-rooms when English teachers meet: How can I get my students to learn? And how can I get my students to speak? In many…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 47
ETAS Journal Volume 36, Number 1 (Winter 2018), pp. 35-36 Helen Strong: Peer Feedback in Presentations Training I have chosen this article primarily for selfish reasons. I was uncomfortable with the way peer feedback had been going in one of my groups and was looking for inspiration. After doing some research on the topic, I decided…
ETAS Journal Editors’ Choice Number 48
Kartarzyna Bartoszuk: How volunteering questions your teaching experience ETAS Journal Volume 38, Number 1 (Summer 2021), p. 44 Back in August 2019, whilst on a train from Zurich airport, I met a woman and we started chatting. I told her that I teach English and she said that she recruits English teachers to teach in Mongolia….