As an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, I constantly ponder the following questions. Students are always demanding the be speaking perfect English. So… Do we need to be writing perfect English? Do we need to be speaking perfect English? Do we need perfect English to be able to write effectively? Do we need [...]
Teaching ESL Students
How to Create a lesson plan from a Coursebook Lesson
How do you analyze a course book and its material to create a lesson? I get a lot of emails on this question. What are the pros and cons of coursebooks? What are students expecting? I remember when I was a student in college, I found that many times the professor did not follow the [...]
The Four Kinds of Lessons
There are four kinds of lessons. The logical line The topic umbrella The jungle path The rag bag Kind of interesting names. The logical line lesson a lesson that goes step by step through a series of activities. It is like a hurdler in the Olympics. Each hurdle is an activity. This is the simplest of [...]
How to Prepare Classroom Activities
Classroom Activities in the lesson Setting up an activity and administering it is not a matter of throwing it out there and letting it happen. A poorly prepared activity can result in utter failure and can be a huge nightmare. Before the lesson: How do you prepare for an activity before the lesson: Be familiar [...]
What are classroom activities?
Classroom Activities Can you develop good quality activities? How many different activities could you develop from a single piece of material? Is the activity going to work on one of the four language skills? Reading Writing Listening Speaking Is the activity working on any to the language systems? Language Grammar Function Phonology Does the activity [...]
English Language: Letters and Sounds
LETTERS AND SOUNDS. This is a chapter from a book written in 1903. The Art Of Writing & Speaking The English Language, by Sherwin Cody We must begin our study of the English language with the elementary sounds and the letters which represent them. Name the first letter of the alphabet——a. The mouth is open [...]
Traditional vs. Contemporary methods for teaching English
Traditional vs. Contemporary methods for teaching English. When I took my CELTA class we focused on a lot of methodology for teaching. About 35 years ago the concept for teaching a foreign language started to change. Traditionally the concentration was on grammar, reading and writing, memorization and drilling. If you were to look at a [...]
Language Systems and Language Skills
Language System and Language Skills are the fundamentals To Teach English you need to be a subject matter expert in English. The toughest part of any language is becoming a fluent speaker. What students in non-English speaking countries are looking for is the Native Speaker. A native speaker is anyone that speaks the language as [...]
Classroom Management: Potential Problems
There are always pitfalls and Potential Problems while teaching. How can a teacher prevent or hinder the learning environment. As a teacher you may be a subject matter expert. You may now all the answers. You may now everything inside, outside and upside down. Where might you be falling down? The following are Potential Problems [...]
24 ways to Maximize student interaction in class
How to maximize the student interaction in class: Being honest with yourself Respecting the learners Seeing things from your student perspectives Be an encourager Having a relaxed learning environment Building rapport with the students Ask questions instead of giving explanations Ask open ended questions, not Yes/No questions Give time for the students to listen, think [...]
