Have You Got a Picture File? Over the many years that I taught
ESOL, there were certain goals that I always wanted to achieve
beyond the specific language objective for any given lesson.
Those goals had to do with realism and cultural influences on
the targeted language point. I especially had these goals in
mind whenever I did EFL teacher training to groups in non-
English speaking countries where both local teachers and
students don’t have the wonderful opportunity to be immersed in
a country with native English speakers and their culture on a
daily basis the way ESOL teachers and students do. One thing I
found could help me accomplish these extra goals to a large
extent, and what I found was the single most useful teaching aid
a teacher can have, is a picture file. A wonderful resource such
as a picture file doesn’t cost much to make since all you need
is magazines, some glue or tape, sturdy paper or backing
material, and a pair of scissors. To put your file together,
choose magazines that have lots of pict