In this section there are 2,124 articles that cover essential ESL topics such as how to teach grammar, use realia, and teach young learners. There are also a lot of lesson ideas and fun activities included in the articles. This ESL article, for example, is about teaching grammar and describes five great activities. It has been given five stars by other busy teachers so it obviously has useful content. Check it out for yourself or take a look at other articles that relate better to your questions or teaching situation.
There are a lot of dos and donts and tips and tricks that many teachers learn through teaching.
Our ESL Essentials section will help you master the basics of teaching English and will help you start teaching like a 'pro'. Every ESL Essentials article provides clear, to-the-point instructions that can be used with the students right away.
At the moment we have 2,124 ESL Essentials.
Sometimes that is the best way to learn but the experiences of others can also help you develop your teaching skills without having to make the same mistakes. If you have a great story or activity, feel free to submit your own article so that you can share your knowledge with others. We would love to hear from you!
Create awesome-looking custom word searches in seconds!
Make A Word Scramble:
Instantly create custom word/sentence scrambles for your class!
Make A Double Puzzle:
Generate double puzzles your students will love - hours of fun!
ESL Articles
View our latest knowledgebase articles that will help you become a better English teacher. Learn from
professional teachers and put a bit of your own creativity into it!
When you hear the word monitoring, do you think of nerdy teenagers patrolling the halls of your high school?
Or maybe you think of large television-like monstrosities that used to plug into your ...
What is Eliciting?
Though the phrase eliciting techniques may be a little off putting, it’s really quite a simple thing. Eliciting means getting students to use specific language skills y ...
Do you know the expression “closed question?” It refers to a question that only requires a yes or no answer.
And closed questions can be the bane of an ESL teacher’s existence. ...
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge.
My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge.
My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge.
My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge.
My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge.
My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
Your ESL students can know all the grammar in the world but not be able to speak a word of English if their vocabularies are not developed enough.
Knowing a large number of words is key for being ...
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime. That’s the basic mindset behind self-correction – teaching students to recognize and fix their ...
You’re the teacher.
You’re in charge of your class, what subjects you study, and what materials you use. But when students have input in to their own learning, they are more successfu ...
When I think about professional development, some of the most useful – and certainly the most nerve-wracking – experiences I’ve ever had were during the handful of practice lesso ...
If you are like many teachers, you may feel that if you aren’t talking the whole time in class, your students aren’t getting their money’s worth from you.
While that may be true ...
Whether you are talking about the big, bad wolf or Little Bo Peep, adjectives are everywhere!
They are a basic building block of the English language, and one that’s worth practicing with E ...
Are you teaching a large class?
Here are ten tips to make sure it is a success for both you and your students.
10 Tips for Teaching Large Classes
1
Establish Routines
When you have a larg ...
I’ve worked with plenty of students one on one, but my smallest actual class was only three people.
It was challenging for many reasons, not the least of which was simply the number of stud ...
Before we start a new course we often make the same kind of consideration.
We plan overall objectives for that year, choose our material and start planning our individual lessons. It seems so sim ...
Imagine for a moment that you had a time machine, and could return to speak to your past self during your teacher training period.
There would probably be a lot you’d want to say – ad ...
I gave myself rather a shock the other day.
I noticed, for the first time, that twenty years have now passed since I graduated from high school, back in England. Where on Earth all that time has ...
Learning a second language is a long process where students will experience different levels of fluency.
The most important thing students can do is keep their head in the game and persevere thro ...
If you are new to teaching ESL or if you have years of experience and classes under your belt, teaching a mixed level class can still be a challenge.
Having students at different skills and profi ...
Let’s start at the very beginning.
A very good place to start.
It’s true for more than just classic musicals. Where else would your ESL class start but at the beginning? Whether a be ...
Have you ever had a hard time including some activities in your ESL lesson due to lack of space?
If you have, your aren't the only one. Sadly , lack of space in the classroom is a common issue an ...
Whether you are deciding what to eat for lunch or you are making a recommendation on what movie to watch on a Friday night, you are always making comparisons.
Comparing and contrasting are a part ...
What is one thing international students all have in common?
Travel! Students studying English overseas have all travelled from their home countries to study English abroad. You may teach English ...
25,827All
Got a great worksheet on
ESL Essentials?
Tell us about it and become a BusyTeacher contributor!
10,490
![In Your Face: 6 Simple Tips for Teaching Advertising [ESL Business Students]](https://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2016-04/1461104145_be4.jpg)
