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 don’ts 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!
Why did the teacher cross the road? She was trying to get to some excellent lessons to celebrate National Humor Month this April.
Most people would agree that starting their days off with a laugh ...
Almost every time I assign a research paper, I’ll get completed papers turned in that list Wikipedia as a source and sometimes even Webster’s Dictionary.
I have a required number of s ...
Students notoriously have lots of problems learning about helping verbs and creating questions.
One of the reasons I enjoy teaching tag questions is because it seems to solidify their question mak ...
It’s important to practice speaking in the appropriate context; however, the classroom is a contrived situation that doesn’t always afford the opportunity for students to practice natu ...
If you want to help your students improve their listening comprehension, nothing works better than videos.
But this begs the question: which movies/TV shows should we show them in class? Clearly ...
One of the topics ESL learners really enjoy is describing people. It is a universal need and want to be able to talk about the people close to us.
I adore teaching this topic because students are ...
The Communicative Method is all about communication.
Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. The teacher sets up situations that students ...
April 2nd each year marks the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson in 1805 and the celebration of International Children’s Book Day.
Since reading is an integral part of any ESL program, you ...
Everyone loves a good joke, even when it’s played on them.
Take advantage of April Fools’ Day to develop your students’ cultural knowledge, increase their motivation, and build c ...
Years ago when I was an undergraduate, another student greeted me as I entered class with, “Hey, Stacia! Did you bring the stuff for the thing?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It& ...
As with any classroom setting you may encounter problem students in ESL classes.
Problem students are challenging because they may disrupt the learning environment, make your job more difficult t ...
As teachers we know there are always going to be topics that are challenging to make fun or interactive.
Grammar can be incredibly dry and tedious if you allow it to be, but with a little inventi ...
Beginning level grammar may be easy, but teaching it to speakers of other languages is a challenge in and of itself.
Before you walk into that classroom full of beginning students or continue with ...
In many countries throughout the world, April first is a day designated for humor and foolishness, and children and adults alike play practical jokes on their friends and family.
The degree of tom ...
Dictations are often thought of as ancient archaic activities done in the days of yore.
In actuality, dictations are valuable tools for many skills in ESL; they can be adapted to involve writing, ...
As teachers, we get in the habit of being in charge, in charge of our classrooms, that is.
We decide what material to cover and how to cover it. We tell our students the behavior we expect and as ...
It happens almost every class.
The teacher explains something. The students nod. The teacher asks “Does that make sense?” The students nod. However, when the students go to practice, ...
You’ve probably experienced it.
You’re in front of your class, having just introduced a complicated grammar point, perhaps the present perfect tense. You’ve just taken the stude ...
Reading is one of the most essential skills to teach language learners; however, if you’ve ever been in a reading classroom, you know that reading can also be one of the skills students are ...
Active and accurate listening skills are crucial for students to operate the language outside of the classroom.
It can sometimes be difficult or frustrating coming up with natural ways for student ...
For ESL students, reading and writing have a tendency to occupy most of the teaching time, but listening and speaking are just as valuable, if not more so, in helping your students reach English f ...
Teaching advanced language learners is very different from teaching any other level.
Every teacher should have exposure to all different levels, but just like beginners, advanced students require ...
At every level of language learning, vocabulary acquisition is vitally important to success.
Obviously we cannot express ourselves unless we have the words to do so. In the beginning stages, somet ...
There are many creative ways out there to move students to want to write, but often it can be difficult to facilitate interactive writing activities.
Writing is such a solitary activity and studen ...
You have taken the classes, read the books, and it is finally time to start teaching. But wait!
Before you walk into that classroom on the first day of school, take a look at these things that ...
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