Michelle Dunaway, who teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri, writes that interviewing is an integral part of teaching students about public speaking. She encourages English teachers to think of interviewing as "a way for students to start small in building up their public speaking repertoire."  Continue reading...

An eponym is a word that is derived from a person's name — or, in this case, an ancient figure's name. Instead of calling something harsh, students can learn to call it draconian, herculean or sisyphean — after they learn about the ancient figures that served as inspiration for these adjectives.  Continue reading...

In his best-selling grammar book for teachers of English as a foreign language, Basic English Usage (1984), Michael Swan famously used the term "taboo words" to discuss words that we tend to skirt around in the classroom, and this term entered the EFL teachers lexicon from that point on.  Continue reading...

A dictionary definition is a place to start (or end); it cannot capture a word's essence or connotation. Students need to learn that words — like people — have personalities. Some get along with everybody. Some only get along with other select words. Some are comfortable everywhere, while some have special hangouts or niches.  Continue reading...

In this week's worksheet for teachers, we're not stuffing animals (thats taxidermy); we're just sorting them. Binomial nomenclature is the scientific system of classifying each organism by giving it a two-part name indicating its genus and its species (e.g., "Homo sapiens" is the binomial name for human).  Continue reading...

Phrasal verbs combine a verb with a preposition or an adverb, and they tend to confuse English language learners. This week's worksheet helps students to make sense of them.  Continue reading...