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ESL Articles
View our latest knowledgebase articles that will help you become a better English teacher. Learn from
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In today’s globalized world, most beginner ESL students have had some contact with the English language, usually through the Internet, movies or TV.
Many ESL students, often referred to as ...
No ESL teacher is perfect, no matter if you’ve been teaching for 20 minutes or 20 years (present company included!) Anyone can make mistakes, most of which are the results of our trying too ...
Try as you might, careful as you are with your planning, sometimes what you plan to cover in class does not work with the clock.
When you are ready for the bell but the bell is not quite ready ...
When the typical teacher sees her students using cell phones in class, her response is to put it away, take it away or through some other means remove the phone from the classroom.
Today’s ...
Going into a new class on the first day can be exciting and intimidating for new teachers and experienced teachers alike. Depending on your teaching situation there are a lot of variables to take ...
ESL students come in all shapes and sizes, from adorable little preschoolers to senior citizens who want to learn another language in their free time. In the middle, we have all sorts of students, ...
As far as your ESL class is concerned, you could face a multitude or problems – or none at all.
A typical ESL class, anywhere in the world, has its own set of typical problems and challenge ...
Congratulations! You’ve chosen to become an ESL teacher, and it’s one of the most rewarding professions around. Yet, you must be warned – though tremendously satisfying on a pers ...
A lone student stands self-consciously at the front of the class, hiding behind a sheet of notes. She almost has to shout to be heard over the fragmented conversations of the rest of the class. Ev ...
If you haven’t witnessed the explosion of Smartphone popularity, you have been living under a rock.
Thousands upon thousands of applications are available from Apple’s App Store, Andr ...
Almost without exception, when I tell people that I teach English as a Second Language, they ask, “Oh, what languages do you speak?”
Though I would like to answer with polylingual aut ...
No classroom is perfect. If we try, we could probably list hundreds of improvements we would like to see in our classrooms. Unfortunately, budgets are often our biggest enemies when it comes to cl ...
Not long ago, I was having lunch at a local cafe, and I witnessed an interesting conversation between a woman and her parents.
In all fairness, I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping—the ...
Teaching is not the same today as it was even 10 years ago, much less four decades ago, which is when many of today's retiring teachers first entered the classroom as an instructor.
In the midst ...
For those who speak English as a second language, speaking English on the telephone can be one of the most challenging and frustrating tasks.
On one hand, listening comprehension proves to be mor ...
You ask your ESL class a question, and you’re met with a room full of blank stares. You call out a student’s name, but getting an answer from him is like pulling teeth. You notice that ...
Not every teacher is able to show digital presentations like PowerPoints (PPTs) in their classroom.
However, those that are might have discovered that these presentations can be rather uninspirin ...
The alarm goes off, and you groan.
Getting out of bed is a feat of sheer will. You love teaching, and you enjoy the time you spend with your ESL students – most of the time. But they are no ...
Very few would argue that in today’s world, reading is important. For ESL students, reading can provide grammatical instruction and vocabulary development even as it confers information on t ...
What would you do if a big, bad pig tried to blow down your little brick house?
Run away as the bricks tumbled, just like the three little wolves did in Eugene Trivizas’ story The Three Lit ...
Many students travel overseas to study English, and though they may be in a scholastic setting their real goal is advancement in the business world.
Many ESL programs offer classes and courses of ...
The end of the year is a special time for any class. Students may have a tough time focusing on getting through the final days of school, but there is a lot you can do to keep them engaged.
End y ...
As a teacher, sometimes you want to give your students access to more than just the run of the mill Wikipedia and Google search results for out of class education.
This is true whether you're tea ...