ESL activities

Teaching grammar for young learners: children learn languages differently to adults

The grammar juggernaut continues to roll on despite many of the criticisms of an overly grammar-oriented focus that we’ve discussed previously here. In spite of our criticisms, one of the confusing things to make clear is that we don’t discourage teachers from teaching grammar entirely.  Even though students may to an extent (especially in… All categories, How to..., ESL activities, Certificate courses, Diploma courses

6 Valentine’s Day ESL Activities for Young Learners and Adults

Valentine’s Day is a wonderful time to delve into themes of love and friendship with your ESL / EFL classes. In my teaching experience, kids and adults alike enjoy discussing and sharing traditions and ideas about love. Here are some of English for Asia’s favourite Valentine activities to do in class. Love letters : Famous People – 8 years old… All categories, ESL activities, How to..., Certificate courses, Theme based learning

Incorporating Current Affairs into EFL classrooms

I remember shortly after the Brexit referendum, finding myself in a Chinese class trying to explain to my Mandarin teacher, why the British public were so polarised in their decision on whether to leave the EU. I struggled to express my opinion and needed to ask my teacher for topic specific vocabulary, such as ‘referendum’ and ‘European… All categories, ESL activities, How to..., Teaching skills

A linguistic history of Christmas in 5 words

Many teachers at this time of the year have turned their thoughts to bringing Christmas into their classrooms with songs and vocabulary. I’ve also heard many a time on the bus, the lively teacher chit chat about when their term ends and the holiday destinations that await them… But how much do you and your students know about those ‘Christmas… All categories, ESL activities, Theme based learning

Finding the right TESOL approaches for your students

In the world of TESOL, more than anywhere else, there is more than one way to bake a cake. The teaching approaches and methodologies that we use are based on a huge amount of research that has been done over the years. This research has informed the evolution of many different ways of approaching the way we plan to teach different language… All categories, Teaching skills, How to..., Five ways to, ESL activities

TEFL Masterclass: how to structure brilliant PPP lessons

When planning to teach a language item, how can you ensure that your learners are getting what they need at key points in the lesson? The way in which teaching and learning activity, tasks and activities are ordered can go a long way to helping students to achieve within the limited time they have and with the content you are teaching. The … All categories, Teaching skills, How to..., ESL activities, Certificate courses

Unlocking student motivation and engagement: what makes learners tick?

In the choppy world of full-time language teaching, teachers working with several groups of learners for short periods, sometimes moving between settings with adults, kids, teens, businesspeople and tutorial students, it is easy to lose track of the individuals who are looking up to you for their development. A common symptom is when the… All categories, Teaching skills, ESL activities, How to...

Integrating reading and listening skills for IELTS & ISE exams

Reading and listening requirements for IELTS & ISE exams are vital for ESL students to study abroad at English speaking universities. These skills are especially important as they’ll need to attend lectures and interact with various materials throughout their studies. Additionally, they may be living in an English environment where they will… All categories, ESL activities, Teaching skills

Incorporating the 4 C’s into Chinese classrooms

As 21st century skills become a hot topic in the world of ESL, teachers regularly face the challenge of integrating the 4 C’s (creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication) into an often already busy curriculum and perhaps more importantly, the challenge of making them accessible to their students. This is where culture, or more… Teaching skills, ESL activities

Top 10 grammar mistakes in Hong Kong (part 2)

Continuing on from our part 1 article which highlighted five major English grammar problems faced by Cantonese speakers, here are another 5 common problems, with some explanations and teaching ideas to address them in class. 6) Can you cooking? / play tennis is fun What's the problem? Cantonese speakers have… All categories, How to..., ESL activities, Teaching skills

Beyond single words: working with meaningful lexical chunks

As a brand new teacher, I found myself teaching supply to a class of eight year olds. I had just completed a Cert TESOL a month prior, but I still didn’t have an overwhelming bank of ‘go to‘ vocabulary activities to draw from. The games that I remembered from my own childhood were “I Spy” and “Hangman”, so I decided to give… All categories, Teaching skills, ESL activities, How to...

Top 10 grammar mistakes in Hong Kong (part 1)

Users of English from different language backgrounds have specific issues with language for a variety of reasons. Sometimes patterns of grammar or pronunciation get carried over from their first language (L1 transfer issues), and sometimes a feature exists in English that is not present in their first language. This article… All categories, How to..., ESL activities, Teaching skills