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!
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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!
Can anyone really say with total certainty who is intelligent and who isn’t?
How can we know or even measure something like this? What are the parameters? Many will have answers to these qu ...
“What does “get” mean?” One simple question can speak volumes about the kind of problems our ESL students face.
One little word used in so many ways leaves them confused a ...
Maintaining control over a class of up to 50 students can seem daunting, especially with the added obstacle of the language barrier that comes along with TEFL teaching.
However, there are some ke ...
Typically, ESL pronunciation instruction has focused on the word and even the phoneme (individual speech sound) level.
Students are given long lists of words to practice pronunciation, often the ...
Have you ever felt overwhelmed and under pressure before you entered a new classroom full of new faces staring at you with curious eyes and waiting for you to tell them something interesting? Aski ...
Almost everyone likes movies, and your ESL students are surely no exception.
You can take advantage of this interest. Integrate movies and movie activities into your normal classroom plans to kee ...
Teaching Advanced ESL classes in general can be difficult as advanced ESL students seem to already know a great deal; their English skills are strong, and there appears to be little left to teach. ...
Hands on activities are always great for the ESL classroom.
The more your students use their bodies when they use English, the better they will remember what they are learning. And nothing is sim ...
If you are teaching ESL to young children, you know how hard it can be to keep their attention.
This is especially true when the language barrier keeps them from understanding what you are saying ...
Intermediate listening skills classes are hard, for both the teacher and the student.
Students have reached that level where they can function in English in a number of day-to-day situations but ...
Children of both native and non-native speakers of English have a hard time learning to spell, because more often than not, pronunciation is misleading.
Learning to spell often disheartens young ...
Are you studying the future tense with your ESL class?
Are you looking for some unusual role plays to get them speaking up? In this article (see part one here: Look into the Future: 5 Role Plays ...
Have you ever wondered why people learn English?
What do they need it for? If you ask around, you’ll hear things like, “I need it for work” or “ I need it because I travel ...
ESL teachers sometimes face challenges unique in the world of education.
One such struggle is bringing together students from all corners of the world. A class that is composed of students from A ...
I’m quite sure many of you have had the pleasure of teaching a group course with people from different countries from time to time.
Often when we have a group of students like this we feel ...
Who doesn't love technology?
It’s safe to say it has made our lives much easier, at least for those who know how to use it and take advantage of it. In the case of learning for instance, th ...
At times, language learning can be straightforward. Students memorize lists of vocabulary and rules for grammar.
This type of thinking, though, isn’t very complex. Recall and memorization o ...
Ask anyone what they think about games, and the answer will be, “well … they ‘re fun”.
Isn’t that why we play games in the first place? Because we like them, right? ...
I find listening to be one of the hardest tasks as a second language learner.
This is strange as it’s supposedly one of the “receptive” skills that precedes the more “prod ...
When we think about everything we deal with on a daily basis in the classroom, all the things that require our attention and patience, the most difficult issue of all is behavior.
We can manage c ...
Grammar was taught.
Mistakes were made and corrected. Students were assigned homework, and it was handed in the following day. The students were congratulated on their efforts… do we actua ...
Role plays are one of the most common activities in ESL classes, and rightly so.
They get students thinking quickly, applying grammar and vocabulary, and putting their language knowledge to pract ...
So you’ve been assigned your first Business ESL class.
And while you might be excited at this new opportunity, you may also be somewhat nervous, as most ESL teachers spend the bulk of their ...
When you are teaching beginning ESL, English literacy, or any low level English courses, you may find your students are not quite ready for standard writing class assignments.
It makes sense. Stu ...
Intermediate ESL pronunciation classes are a challenge, for both students and teachers.
For students, who have at the intermediate level already acquired a certain amount of English, the classes ...
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