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This website is full of resources for you to use with your students. Need pictures, vocabulary ideas, etc. This is the right place to explore. If you find something great, please pass it along to Debbie so we can share the fun stuff.

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We are grateful to the Pathway to Literacy program, under the direction of the Immigrant Welcome Center, in Indianapolis, IN, USA for the use of these materials. https://www.pathwaytoliteracy.org/

The curricular materials available on the Pathway to Literacy website are Open Educational Resources (licensed under Creative Commons) and can be used and adapted for educational (not commercial) purposes only. Attribution to the Pathway to Literacy program is required.

All images on this site, unless otherwise attributed, are from Public Domain or free stock photo images sources, such as Unsplash, Pikist, Pixaby, Pexels, Pics4Learning.

Some of the curricular materials include links to external organizations. Attribution must be provided to those organizations for those materials that are theirs.

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This is a resource to help you find possible minimal pairs for your drill target practices. Shared by Dianne Dow during a Wheaton Pronunciation course.

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In the table of vowels each cell links to a list of minimal pairs involving the phonemes in the relevant column and row. The numbers in north-eastern half of the table are the actual numbers of pairs identified. The numbers in the south-western half give an indication of the importance or difficulty of the pair calculated as follows: from a maximum of 6, deduct 1 for difference between vowel and diphthong, 1 for a difference of length within monophthongs, 1 for difference of direction within diphthongs, 1 for a difference in lip-rounding, and then for the distance apart of the starting tongue position deduct 1 for a distance of up to one cardinal vowel, 2 for up to two cardinal vowels, 3 for any wider distance. Thus a score of 4 or 5 would show two very similar sounds, a contrast likely to be a cause of difficulty for some or all learners, while a score of 1 or 2 would be unlikely to cause problems.

In the table of consonants each cell links to a list of minimal pairs involving the phonemes in the relevant column and row. The numbers in north-eastern half of the table are the actual numbers of pairs identified. The numbers in the south-western half give an indication of the importance or difficulty of the pair calculated as follows: from a maximum of 6, deduct 1 for difference of voicing, 1 or 2 for a difference of manner of articulation, 1 or 2 for the distance apart of the contact point. Thus a score of 4 or 5 would show two very similar sounds, a contrast likely to be a cause of difficulty for some or all learners, while a score of 1 or 2 would be unlikely to cause problems.

What are minimal pairs?

Minimal pairs are pairs of words whose pronunciation differs at only one segment, such as sheep and ship or liceand rice. They are often used in listening tests and pronunciation exercises. Theoretically it is the existence of minimal pairs which enables linguists to build up the phoneme inventory for a language or dialect, though the process is not without difficulty.

Each cell in the tables above is a link to a list of minimal pairs derived from a dictionary. Use the tables of vowels and consonants to retrieve the relevant lists. All the vowel and consonant lists have now been edited and commented on. Earlier versions of the lists included only one pair for each pronunciation, such as heal/hole. Newly revised versions have been added which include all the pairs which arise when one or both members of the pair have a homophone, so giving a better indication of how much confusion a given pair may cause. In the case of heal/hole, for instance, the new version of the list would include all of the following:

Please note that, as you move the mouse over a link, the name of the relevant document should appear at the bottom of the browser window and this gives a further indication of which sound contrast is featured in the list.

Source of the lists: Roger Mitton and The Advanced Learners' Dictionary

Hal Gleason (1955, p. 19), writing about minimal pairs before the era of widespread computing, said "Presumably by diligent search through the total vocabulary, minimal pairs might be found for all English consonant phonemes. But there is no guarantee that all will be found, and in any case it is hardly a feasible procedure."

I have not tried to search the total vocabulary, but I have tried to search a vocabulary which includes most of the words available in non-specialist contexts to everyday users of English. In putting together these lists I have used Roger Mitton's machine-readable version of the 1974 edition of the Advanced Learners Dictionary, incorporating Mitton's 1990 additions to the word list (see Mitton 1996). The minimal pair lists below have been prepared from the dictionary by means of a program which sorts the pronunciation field, identifies identical pairs (homophones), substitutes dummy characters for the symbols of the minimal pair, and then flags all the additional homophone pairs created by the process. This generates (fairly) complete lists of minimal pairs, though a certain amount of rather tedious post-editing is needed.

Semantic loading and density

When this project (collecting and editing minimal pair lists for all the 510 theoretically possible contrasts) is complete, I hope to be in a position to measure the functional load of a pronunciation error, ie how much potential for confusion is created by a particular vowel or consonant error and therefore how important it is. Naturally this is not just a matter of counting the number of pairs, but also depends on other factors. One of these is the part of speech of the words and therefore their potential for appearing in the same contexts. Two nouns, such as beer and pier, are much more confusable than a noun and a preposition, such as frog and from. For this reason the edited lists draw a distinction between the number of pairs and number of semantic contrasts realised by the pairs, and calculate a "semantic loading" figure. Thus if there were 100 pairs but they belonged to only 70 different pairs of headwords, the semantic loading would be 70%. For the longer lists the semantic loading tends to fall within the range 48% to 60%, but the very short lists involving rare sounds are often higher. Paradoxically, the lower the semantic loading, the more confusable pairs may exist for that contrast, since a smaller number shows there are many inflected forms in the list and signals a large number of words in the open classes: noun, verb or adjective. To some extent the figure is arbitrarily dependent on editorial decisions. I have, for instance, treated agent nouns as separate headwords from their verb roots, since there is often a large shift of meaning, as in wait/waiter.

It is also important to take into account the density of the minimal pair, namely how the actual total relates to the theoretically possible number if every word containing one of the sounds were matched by a word containing the other. This would show how the distribution of minimal pairs relates to the overall phoneme frequencies in the same dictionary. A 100% match could only occur if there were exactly the same number of words with each sound in the language, and that is clearly unlikely. But, if the number is unequal, the density depends on which sound you start with. There are 37,729 words in the dictionary containing the vowel /ɪ/ and only 784 containing the diphthong /ɔɪ/. There are 62 minimal pairs. For the diphthong this is a density of 7.9%, but for the monophthong the density is only 0.16%. For an average of diphthong plus monophthong it is 0.32% (calculated using the harmonic mean, of course). What I have decided to do is report the mean density, pointing out where, as in this case, there is a large discrepancy in frequency.

The O'Connor conjecture
It is also my ambition to examine the statistical data coming our of these lists and to see if it offers any evidence for or against what I call "the O'Connor conjecture" that language is self-repairing. I don't know if J.D.O'Connor was the first person to express this, but he presents a very simple and clear statement of it in his book Phonetics.
A language can tolerate quite a lot of homophones provided they do not get in each other's way, that is provided they are not likely to occur in the same contexts. This may be a grammatical matter: if the homophones are different parts of speech they are not likely to turn up in the same place in a sentence ... If they are the same part of speech, e.g. site sight; pear, pair they can be tolerated unless they occur in the same area of meaning and in association with a similar set of other words. Site may be ambiguous in It's a nice site, though a wider context will usually make the choice plain. ... If homophones do interfere with each other the language may react by getting rid of one or by modifying one.
What minimal pairs do is increase the potential number of homophones in a learner's speech or the potential for misunderstaning between speakers of different dialects. What we would expect, therefore, is for there to be more minimal pairs between sounds which differ greatly, such as peat/part or shake/wake, and fewer between sounds which are close enough to create problems for learners such as cot/caught or pie/buy. So far the evidence I have collected does not support a strong form of the conjecture.
Problems

There are a number of problems waiting to be resolved:

Can there be a minimal pair contrast between a vowel and a consonant? Theory would suggest not, since vowels and consonants have different functions in syllable structure. However, one can find pairs such as screen/serene which appear to contrast /k/ and /ə/, but then the syllable count and stress pattern seem to make such pairs differ by more than one sound. The dictionary is now being searched for such pairs, and the results are included in the "cons" column in the vowel tables and the "vowel" column in the consonant tables.

Related to the previous question is the problem of syllabic versus non-syllabic consonants. Is the contrast beween name and same of the same type as the contrast between button and butts? The computer program treats them as a minimal pair, though ordinary perception would deny it.

The so-called dark -l is a particular problem in this respect. It often seems to be intermediate between syllabic and non-syllabic in function. Take the pair dial/file. These would appear to be both monosyllables and a minimal pair. But the pair dialling/filing no longer seem to be minimal. The -l in dialling remains a dark -l and makes the form into a three-syllable word, while the -l in filing becomes a clear -l so that the word has two syllables. This difference seems to be largely driven by the spelling.

Can we admit minimal pairs where a sound is paired with a null? For example, could back and bank be a minimal pair? If so, the inventory of pairs would become much larger. I have begun to list these pairs, and they are shown in the "null" columns in the tables.

In some cases the inflected forms of a base pair such as seep and scene appear to be non-minimal. Where the pronunciation /sip/ and /sin/ have only one difference, the -s ending turns them into /sips/ and /sinz/, apparently showing two differences. Some research carried out by Merwyn Torikian under my supervision in 1992 used sound analysis software to investigate this and found that the physical difference in the inflections is insignificant. In the case of pairs like docks/dogs or seeps/scenes, the whole syllable is affected by the voicing or devoicing, but the final /s/ or /z/ shows up on a spectrogram as almost identical. Therefore all such pairs (including past tense endings) have been added to the lists. This does lead to an anomaly in the case of the /t/ versus /n/ contrast, since a word like wits enters pairs with wins and wince. The interesting point here is that the wins/wince contrast is not so much between /z/ and /s/ as between a fully voiced /ɪn/ and a partially devoiced /ɪn/.

You will find two related lists derived from the same dictionary source at the following links:
A note about the overall total and which words enter the largest number of pairings can be found here.
References
Gleason, Hal (1955). An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, Holt Rinehart Winston.
Mitton, Roger (1996).English spelling and the computer. Longman.
O'Connor, J.D. (1973).Phonetics. Penguin Books.
Swan, Michael and Smith, Bernard (1987).Learner English; a teacher's guide to interference and other problems. Cambridge University Press.
Torikian, Merwyn (1992). "Watch your language; an account of Soundedit with reference to the validity of phonological rules."System, 20, 4, p. 471-480. Last updated 6 March, 2019.

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Pairs of words which differ in only one sound, and which often cause trouble for foreign learners; complete lists.

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Adult English Classes and Children's Program (0 to 11 years)

Registration: August 22, 2024, doors open at 6:00 PM

Classes start: Thursday, August 29, 2024: Evenings 6:30 to 8:30 PM weekly until May 15, 2025

Location: Chapel Rock Christian Church, 2020 N Girls School Road, Indianapolis, IN 46214 map

WELL Vision: To welcome and serve our international neighbors in the Spirit of Christ through language, love and learning.

WELL Mission Statement: To provide a high-quality English language learning program for our international neighbors on the west side of Indianapolis.

The following will happen as we live out our mission:

Equip participants with the necessary language skills to open doors and create
opportunities in their new communities.

Foster an environment of compassion and love, supporting and encouraging the
participants as they learn English.

Build a community in which we bridge language barriers, build relationships, and
create a sense of belonging for all participants.

Create opportunities for participants to experience the love of God as they are served in His name.

Introduction to WELL

WELL (Westside English Language Learning) will begin in August 2024 at Chapel Rock
Christian Church located at 2020 N Girls School Rd in Indianapolis. WELL's vision is to
welcome and serve our international neighbors in the spirit of Christ through language, love, and learning.

To accomplish that WELL is recruiting volunteers who desire to build relationships and have
conversations with adult students as they learn to speak English for the first time or improve
their English-speaking skills. Volunteers will also be able to serve in the children's program
interacting with the children of WELL students (ages infant through age 11 years) who need
childcare while their parents are learning English.

As you may realize, over 70 languages are represented in households of children in the Wayne
Township & Speedway school systems. The passion to begin English classes in our Chapel
Rock community was realized as we learned existing English classes in the city reach capacity
quickly leaving a demand for additional opportunities for our neighbors to learn English. Many newcomers to this community are seeking opportunities to learn English to obtain employment, get better jobs or receive a promotion, to obtain higher education in the US, or to help their children with homework and read communication from their children's school systems.

WELL's program is patterned after (FIEC) Faith International English Classes at Faith Church at
91 st and College in Indianapolis which has existed in that community since 2005. FIEC's
program is inspirational as they are working with over 200 adults and children in this 2023-2024 session. Their willingness to share information, experience and knowledge gained from the 19 years they have been serving English learners with our WELL leadership team has been a huge blessing.

WELL has a leadership team of 7 individuals who are actively planning & preparing to launch
WELL in August 2024. There will be informational meetings in April and training in August.

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Registration: August 22, 2024, doors open at 6:00 PM Classes start: Thursday, August 29, 2024: Evenings 6:30 to 8:30 PM weekly until May 15, 2025 Location: Chapel Rock Christian Church, 2020 N Girls School Road, Indianapolis, IN 46214 map WELL Vision: To welcome and serve our international neighbors in the Spirit of Christ through language, love and learning.

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Thank you for Grant Ansert for creating this great video!

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Two-Minute Tip - Haitian Creole Pronunciation

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Two-Minute Tip - Haitian Creole Pronunciation

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Thank you, Jane! Great tips to help you better understand your Haitian Creole students.

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Keep track of interesting suggestions for teaching our WELL students. All weeks are available. Feel free to provide suggestions along the way for all of us to use and enjoy. Our students gain when we share.

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Know Your Rights: Immigrants' Rights from the office of Andre Carson (English)

Haitian Creole Version - Link HERE

Spanish Version - Link HERE

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Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. Know your rights:

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Use these exercises to help students expand their vocabulary. Focus on common themes such as daily activities, work environments, and basic conversational phrases.

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Home/Vocabulary exercises

200+ free exercises organized by theme - from everyday life and travel to business English and exam prep. All levels A1-C2, developed by experienced ESL educators.

Exercises by topic 105 exercises

English for new immigrants 24 exercises

Visual vocabulary tests 15 exercises

Idioms by keyword 23 exercises

Jobs and occupations 10 exercises

Business English 13 exercises

Other vocabulary topics 30 exercises

Here's some of your feedback about this section... thank you! ♥

"I teach English to newcomers to Canada and often use materials from your 'English for new immigrants' section." - Brendon, Canada

"In awe of all the different vocabulary topics... well done!" - Stephen, Australia

"Your vocab exercises are a great ESL resource, one which I've come back to again and again in the course of the past several years." - William, Scotland

"Love your practice tests covering holidays!" - Karim, Canada

Frequently asked questions

Are these vocabulary exercises free?

Yes! The vast majority of exercises are completely free. We also offer some vocabulary PDF bundles in our ESL SHOP.

What vocabulary topics are covered?

Topics include everyday life (food, travel, emotions, weather), business English, English for new immigrants, holidays and cultural events, jobs and occupations, visual vocabulary tests, sports, politics, and much more - all organized by theme.

What levels are the exercises suitable for?

Exercises cover all CEFR levels from beginner (A1-A2) through intermediate (B1-B2) to advanced (C1-C2), making them suitable for a wide range of English learners and ESL teachers.

Is there a section for English vocabulary for new immigrants?

Yes - our English for New Immigrants section has practical life-skills exercises covering talking to a doctor, renting an apartment, public transportation, dealing with utilities, immigration officers, and much more.

Preparing for a proficiency exam? Most major English exams don't test vocabulary in isolation - but several sections on this page are directly relevant to specific tests. Here's what maps honestly:

TOEIC
TOEIC is a workplace English test, which means the Business English vocabulary exercises on this page - general business terms, job interviews, sales and marketing - are genuine preparation, not just general practice. If TOEIC is your goal, work through those sections carefully.

Cambridge FCE (B2) / CAE (C1)
Cambridge exams include a dedicated word formation task where you're given a root word and asked to produce a related form - noun, adjective, verb, or adverb. The compound nouns, compound adjectives, and suffix exercises on this page practice exactly that skill. Phrasal verbs are also heavily tested at both levels.

Duolingo English Test (DET)
The DET includes a "Read and select" task that tests whether you can identify real English words among invented ones - essentially word recognition under time pressure. Any broad vocabulary practice helps here, and the visual vocabulary tests are good for building that instant-recognition habit.

IELTS / TOEFL
These tests focus heavily on academic vocabulary which this site doesn't specifically target - so we won't pretend otherwise. For those exams, a dedicated academic word list resource will serve you better alongside the grammar exercises on this site.

For a curated, exam-by-exam breakdown covering reading, vocabulary, grammar and listening for IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge, TOEIC, and the Duolingo English Test, visit our Exam Prep section.

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Free ESL Vocabulary Exercises by Topic | English Word Practice Online

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200+ free English vocabulary exercises by topic - food, travel, holidays, business English, immigrants' English, and more. All levels A1-C2. Perfect for ESL learners and teachers.

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These worksheets cover essential grammar points such as verb tenses, sentence structure, and prepositions. Tailored for adult learners, they provide clear examples and exercises for practice.

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Grammar Worksheets | ESL Worksheets | EnglishClub

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Practical grammar worksheets for the ESL teacher. Free printables for use in the English classroom or for homework.

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Engage students with these reading passages followed by comprehension questions. Topics range from everyday situations to cultural stories, helping learners to improve both their reading skills and cultural knowledge.

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BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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12 Fun ESL Reading Comprehension Activities for All Levels!

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Check out these ESL reading comprehension activities that are sure to engage and inspire. Incorporate these in person or online!

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Improve your students' listening and speaking skills with these interactive activities. They include listening tasks with audio clips and guided speaking exercises to build confidence and fluency.

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Top Sites
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tesl eslfast.com

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This is a collection of online listening practice websites for ESL learners. It's part of the English learning Website www.rong-chang.com, a huge English learning resource with thousands of conversations, essays, and exercises.

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Provide students with writing prompts tailored to their experiences and interests. These prompts encourage creative and reflective writing, helping learners to express their thoughts in English.

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Guest posts

Just like speaking, reading, and listening, writing is an essential element of learning a language. That's why it's so important that ESL students pay special attention to their writing skills while teachers assess their progress.

Unarguably, the best way to learn and improve these very writing skills is through practice. The more a student practices writing, the better their skills will get. Consequently, teachers need to provide their students with opportunities to practice their writing - and this can be done with the help of interesting writing prompts.
Why Should You Use Writing Prompts?
Why exactly do you need to use writing prompts? In fact, do you need them at all? As mentioned earlier, writing can be improved through practice. If you decide to write about whatever comes to your mind, you can technically improve your writing. However, you will see better results if you write with more intention.

Using writing prompts poses a challenge to the students as these prompts make them think in a particular direction and try to phrase their thoughts in relation to the topic at hand. By choosing more and more complicated writing prompts every time, you (or your student, if you are a teacher) will gradually improve their writing skills.
Descriptive Writing Prompts
Instead of only using writing prompts of one type, it's worth trying out a variety of writing prompts. Experts from the top rated research paper writing services explain, "Variety in the writing prompts you choose will help you develop different writing subskills. You should be able to describe as much as you should be able to argue your point."

Hence, here are some descriptive writing prompts to start from:

Describe your favorite place using as many details as possible. This can be anything from your childhood hideout to your writing desk to your family's summer home.

Pick and describe your favorite food. Focus on such characteristics as its taste, smell, look, and so on.

Choose and describe your favorite activity, hobby, or passion. It could be anything from reading to swimming to going on picnics with friends.

Write about your favorite fictional character or famous person. Describe their appearance, personality, accomplishments, and so on.

Describe your most memorable holiday. It could be one you went on with friends or family or even alone.

Explanatory Writing Prompts
Another type of writing prompts you should try out are explanatory ones. While descriptive prompts only ask you to describe something, explanatory prompts urge you to go into more detail with your descriptions. Here are some explanatory prompts to try:

Pick your favorite meal or food and explain how to make it by laying everything out in the form of step-by-step instructions.

Think about your hometown, choose your favorite places around it, and give directions on how to get to each place.

Explain how your favorite computer game works. Talk about the concept, the characters, the plot, the locations, the music, the functionality, and so on.

Choose some kind of skill you have and explain how someone could learn to do it. For example, if you know how to create paper planes, explain how to do them.

Argumentative Writing Prompts
Experts from the best writing services reviews sites put it this way, "Descriptive and explanatory prompts ask you to be somewhat indifferent and take more of an objective stance on different topics. Argumentative prompts, on the other hand, ask you to take a subjective point of view and support your opinion with valid points."

Here are some argumentative prompts to use:

Choose your favorite book, movie, show, etc. and try to convince others to check it out by writing about it.

Consider space exploration. Should money be spent on it? Write about your opinion on the matter and use relevant arguments to support it.

What's better: reading books or watching movies? Write about your opinion on the matter and use relevant arguments to support it.

Should more people use public transport instead of cars or should more people get their own cars? Write about your opinion on the matter and use relevant arguments to support it.

Hypothetical Writing Prompts
Last but not least, there is one more type of prompts you will find useful - hypothetical. These prompts ask you to consider a particular situation and explore it through writing. Here are some hypothetical prompts to practice your writing:

If you could change one thing about your own past, what would that thing be?

If you could have any superpower, what would this superpower be and what would you do with it?

If you could travel back in time, to which point in time would you travel and what would you do then?

If you could meet any dead person, what would you do?

If you one day won the lottery, how would you spend the money?

If you had the power to solve one world issue (e.g. hunger, global warming), what would this be and how would the world change once the issue is solved?

Final Thoughts
All in all, writing prompts for ESL students are somewhat different from those native speakers get for practicing their writing skills. This is because ESL students are usually older when they study the same topics that native speakers study at a younger age.

That being said, by using the topics listed in this article, you will be able to provide ESL students with the most interesting writing prompts. Or, if you are a student, you will be able to practice your writing skills either on your own or with the guidance of your teacher.

ESLstarter offers a wide variety of TEFL jobs so see where you can go with TEFL and put those skills into practice!

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Interesting Writing Prompts For ESL Students

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Guest posts Just like speaking, reading, and listening, writing is an essential element of learning a language. That's why it's so important that ESL students pay special attention to their writing skills while teachers assess their progress. Unarguably, the best way to learn and improve these very writing skills is through practice.

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Gain insights into the process of language acquisition and the unique challenges faced by adult learners. This resource helps you understand the theory behind language learning.

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When I read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, I remember being fascinated by the "babel fish." These were fish, who when dropped in a person's ear, would provide immediate translation of any language, thriving on sound waves and converting them into comprehensible language.

Wouldn't it be just great if learning a new language were that easy (despite the "yuck" factor)? While we do have some technology that provides translation into a variety of languages, it often fails to translate accurately due to the complexity of language. Effective communication requires so much more than just being able to translate vocabulary words - it requires knowledge of intonation, dialect, and intent, and a nuanced understanding of word use, expression, and a language's cultural context. For example, one online translation application I tried translated "Fall Events" as "fall down events" in Spanish because it didn't know that I was referring to events in autumn.

So, without a babel fish or perfect technology, we are left with the old-fashioned way of learning a new language, which requires time, effort, and patience. How much time, effort, and patience depends a lot on the individual who is learning, as well as the learning environment and situation, but language researchers have developed a general outline of language acquisition that helps explain the process that language learners go through to develop skills in a foreign language. In this article, I will provide an overview to the stages of language acquisition, and offer strategies designed to support ELL instruction at different stages of language acquisition.

Stages of Language Acquisition

Researchers define language acquisition into two categories: first-language acquisition and second-language acquisition. First-language acquisition is a universal process regardless of home language. Babies listen to the sounds around them, begin to imitate them, and eventually start producing words. Second-language acquisition assumes knowledge in a first language and encompasses the process an individual goes through as he or she learns the elements of a new language, such as vocabulary, phonological components, grammatical structures, and writing systems.

The Six Stages of Second-Language Acquisition

Pre-production

This is also called "the silent period," when the student takes in the new language but does not speak it. This period often lasts six weeks or longer, depending on the individual.

Early production

The individual begins to speak using short words and sentences, but the emphasis is still on listening and absorbing the new language. There will be many errors in the early production stage.

Speech Emergent

Speech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer, but the individual still relies heavily on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary continues to increase and errors begin to decrease, especially in common or repeated interactions.

Beginning Fluency

Speech is fairly fluent in social situations with minimal errors. New contexts and academic language are challenging and the individual will struggle to express themselves due to gaps in vocabulary and appropriate phrases.

Intermediate Fluency

Communicating in the second language is fluent, especially in social language situations. The individual is able to speak almost fluently in new situations or in academic areas, but there will be gaps in vocabulary knowledge and some unknown expressions. There are very few errors, and the individual is able to demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the second language such as offering an opinion or analyzing a problem.

Advanced Fluency

The individual communicates fluently in all contexts and can maneuver successfully in new contexts and when exposed to new academic information. At this stage, the individual may still have an accent and use idiomatic expressions incorrectly at times, but the individual is essentially fluent and comfortable communicating in the second language.

How long does it take for a language learner to go through these stages? Just as in any other learning situation, it depends on the individual. One of the major contributors to accelerated second language learning is the strength of first language skills. Language researchers such as Jim Cummins, Catherine Snow, Lily Wong Filmore and Stephen Krashen have studied this topic in a variety of ways for many years. The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency. This generally applies to individuals who have strong first language and literacy skills. If an individual has not fully developed first language and literacy skills, it may take between seven to ten years to reach advanced fluency. It is very important to note that every ELL student comes with his or her own unique language and education background, and this will have an impact on their English learning process.

It is also important to keep in mind that the understood goal for American ELL students is Advanced Fluency, which includes fluency in academic contexts as well as social contexts. Teachers often get frustrated when ELL students appear to be fluent because they have strong social English skills, but then they do not participate well in academic projects and discussions. Teachers who are aware of ELL students' need to develop academic language fluency in English will be much better prepared to assist those students in becoming academically successful. (Learn more about academic language in Colorín Colorado's academic language resource section.)

Instructional Strategies

If you have ELL students in your classroom, it is more than likely there will be students at a variety of stages in the language acquisition process. What can teachers do to differentiate instruction according to language level? Here are some suggestions for appropriate instructional strategies according to stages of language acquisition.

Emphasize listening comprehension by using read-alouds and music.

Use visuals and have students point to pictures or act out vocabulary.

Speak slowly and use shorter words, but use correct English phrasing.

Model "survival" language by saying and showing the meaning. For example, say, "Open your book," and then open a book while the student observes.

Gesture, point and show as much as possible.

More advanced classmates who speak the same language can support new learning through interpretation.

Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct language usage when students make mistakes.

Continue the strategies listed above, but add opportunities for students to produce simple language.

Ask students to point to pictures and say the new word.

Ask yes/no and either/or questions.

Have students work in pairs or small groups to discuss a problem. Have literate students write short sentences or words in graphic organizers.

Model a phrase and have the student repeat it and add modifications. Teacher says, "This book is very interesting." The student repeats it and says, "This book is very boring." Continue with as many modifications as possible.

Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct usage.

Introduce more academic language and skills by using the same techniques listed above, but beginning to use more academic vocabulary.

Introduce new academic vocabulary and model how to use it in a sentence.

Provide visuals and make connections with student's background knowledge as much as possible.

Ask questions that require a short answer and are fairly literal.

Introduce charts and graphs by using easily understood information such as a class survey of food preferences.

Have students re-tell stories or experiences and have another student write them down. The ELL student can bring these narratives home to read and reinforce learning.

In writing activities, provide the student with a fill-in-the blank version of the assignment with the necessary vocabulary listed on the page.

Provide minimal error correction. Focus only on correction that directly interferes with meaning. Reinforce learning by modeling the correct usage.

Have students work in pairs and groups to discuss content.

During instruction, have students do a "Think, pair, share" to give the student an opportunity to process the new language and concept.

Ask questions that require a full response with explanation. If you do not understand the student's explanation, ask for clarification by paraphrasing and asking the student if you heard them correctly.

Ask questions that require inference and justification of the answer.

Ask students if they agree or disagree with a statement and why.

Model more advanced academic language structures such as, "I think," "In my opinion," and "When you compare." Have students repeat the phrases in context.

Re-phrase incorrect statements in correct English, or ask the student if they know another way to say it.

Introduce nuances of language such as when to use more formal English and how to interact in conversations.

Have students make short presentations, providing them with the phrases and language used in presentations ("Today I will be talking about") and giving them opportunities to practice the presentation with partners before getting in front of the class.

Continue to provide visual support and vocabulary development.

Correct errors that interfere with meaning, and pre-identify errors that will be corrected in student writing, such as verb-tense agreement. Only correct the errors agreed upon.

You may want to assist in improving pronunciation by asking a student to repeat key vocabulary and discussing how different languages have different sounds.

Identify key academic vocabulary and phrases and model them. Ask students to produce the language in class activities.

Use graphic organizers and thinking maps and check to make sure the student is filling them in with details. Challenge the student to add more.

Help the student make connections with new vocabulary by instructing him or her in the etymology of words or word families such as, "important, importance, importantly."

Create assessments that give students an opportunity to present in English after they have an opportunity to practice in pairs or small groups.

Introduce more academic skills, such as brainstorming, prioritizing, categorization, summarizing and compare and contrast.

Ask students to identify vocabulary by symbols that show whether the student "knows it really well, kind of knows it, or doesn't know it at all." Help students focus on strategies to get the meaning of new words.

Have a "guessing time" during silent reading where they circle words they don't know and write down their guess of the meaning. Check the results as a class.

Introduce idioms and give examples of how to use them appropriately. For example, "Let's wind up our work." What's another way you could use the phrase "wind up?"

Starting at this level, students need more correction/feedback, even on errors that do not directly affect meaning. They should be developing a more advanced command of syntax, pragmatics, pronunciation, and other elements that do not necessarily affect meaning but do contribute to oral fluency.

It may also be helpful to discuss language goals with the student so you can assist in providing modeling and correction in specified areas.

Students at this level are close to native language fluency and can interact well in a variety of situations. Continue to develop language skills as gaps arise by using the strategies listed above. Although the student may seem completely fluent, he or she still benefit from visual support, building on background knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary and making connections between content areas.

Offer challenge activities to expand the student's vocabulary knowledge such as identifying antonyms, synonyms and the use of a thesaurus and dictionary.

Demonstrate effective note-taking and provide a template.

Offer error correction on academic work and on oral language. Because students at this stage have achieved near-native fluency, they benefit from support in fine-tuning their oral and written language skills.

Recommendations

Scaffold instruction so students receive comprehensible input and are able to successfully complete tasks at their level. Instructional scaffolding works just like the scaffolding used in building. It holds you at the level needed until you are ready to take it down. Scaffolding includes asking students questions in formats that give them support in answering, such as yes/no questions, one-word identifications, or short answers. It also means providing the context for learning by having visuals or other hands-on items available to support content learning. Also, when practicing a new academic skill such as skimming, scaffolding involves using well-known material so the students aren't struggling with the information while they are trying to learn a new skill. Scaffolding includes whatever it takes to make the instruction meaningful for the student in order to provide a successful learning experience.

Use cognates to help Spanish speakers learn English and derive meaning from content. The Colorín Colorado website has a helpful list of common cognates in Spanish for teachers to reference. Teachers can explicitly point out cognates for Spanish speaking students so they begin to realize that this is a useful way for them to increase their English vocabulary.

Explicit vocabulary instruction is very important in accelerating ELL students' English language development. Textbooks include lists of new vocabulary words based on grade-level content, but ELL students need further vocabulary instruction. There are many words in a text that may affect the ELL student's comprehension of the text that a teacher may assume he or she knows. It is important for teachers to develop ways to help students identify the words they don't know, as well as strategies for getting their meaning. Of course it is also beneficial if teachers reinforce the language structures or common associations of vocabulary. For example, "squeak" is a sound that often goes with "mouse" or "door" and it may be stated as, "squeak, squeaky, squeaks, or squeaked."

Error correction should be done very intentionally and appropriately according to student language ability, as noted earlier in the article. Students who are just beginning to speak English are already nervous about using their new language skills and constant correction will not improve their ability; it will just make them want to withdraw. I inform students in advance of the type of errors I will correct, such as "missing articles" and "third person agreement," and then those are the only errors I check. In my class, I do not correct the errors; I circle the mistakes and return the paper to the student. They are responsible for correcting the errors and returning the paper to receive more points. Most of the time the students can make the corrections themselves when they see the area I've circled, but if they have difficulty, I guide them as they make the correction. In this way, I feel there is a manageable amount of correction information to work with and the student will actually learn from doing the correction.

Learning another language. If you learn the language(s) your students speak, they will be thrilled to hear you try it with them. I learned how to say "good morning" in Somali and had to practice for an hour before I felt comfortable saying it. When I did I was rewarded with the big grins of students as they entered the room. They were excited to teach me other phrases as well, and we discussed how much English they had learned since they arrived in the country. They were very proud to think of how much progress they'd made.

Seek the experts in your building or district who can offer you guidance on effective instructional strategies for your ELL students. There are many teachers who have taught ELL students in your content area, have taught a certain population of students, or are trained ESL or bilingual teachers who have a lot of advice and support to offer. Don't hesitate to look for support when you are challenged to reach students who are learning English. This can be especially true when you have a "pre-production" or "beginning level" student and you are responsible for grade level content instruction.

Visit the hotlinks section for this article for more information on specific research regarding language acquisition and recommended instructional strategies. You can also search the Colorín Colorado educator information for useful information and resources to assist you in meeting ELL student needs.

ELL teachers encounter students with a variety of backgrounds and abilities, and until the babel fish comes into existence, they will need to have flexibility, creativity and skill in order to help ELL students make meaning from the new language and content they are learning. An understanding of the language acquisition process and levels will help teachers tailor instruction to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. Students will benefit from everything teachers do to support the development of their language skills while teaching them grade level content. Together teachers and students develop their understanding of each other, the world around them, and the language that connects us all.
The Stages of Second Language Acquisition
This chapter from Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners Facilitator's Guide, by Jane D. Hill and Cynthia L. Björk, offers information on the second language acquisition process and effective ELL instruction. It includes a a simplified chart of language acquisition levels and the kinds of language teachers can use to help students at each level.

Simple description of the stages of language acquisition and recommendations for instructional strategies according to level.
Overview of Second Language Acquisition and Strategies
Downloadable booklet from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, "Strategies and Resources for Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners." Includes useful information on language levels, acquisition and 10 things teachers can do today to help ELL students.
Understanding the "Silent Period" with English Language Learners
This article describes some strategies used by two kindergarten teachers to communicate verbally and nonverbally.

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“One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.”— Chinese ProverbWhen I read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, I remember being fascinated by the “babel fish.” These were fish, who when dropped in a person’s ear, would provide immediate translation of any language, thriving on sound waves and converting them into comprehensible language.Wouldn’t it be just great if learning a new language were that easy (despite the “yuck” factor)? While we do have some technology that provides translation into a variety of languages, it often fails to translate accurately due to the complexity of language. Effective communication requires so much more than just being able to translate vocabulary words — it requires knowledge of intonation, dialect, and intent, and a nuanced understanding of word use, expression, and a language’s cultural context. For example, one online translation application I tried translated “Fall Events” as “fall down events” in Spanish because it didn’t know that I was referring to events in autumn.So, without a babel fish or perfect technology, we are left with the old-fashioned way of learning a new language, which requires time, effort, and patience. How much time, effort, and patience depends a lot on the individual who is learning, as well as the learning environment and situation, but language researchers have developed a general outline of language acquisition that helps explain the process that language learners go through to develop skills in a foreign language. In this article, I will provide an overview to the stages of language acquisition, and offer strategies designed to support ELL instruction at different stages of language acquisition.Stages of Language AcquisitionResearchers define language acquisition into two categories: first-language acquisition and second-language acquisition. First-language acquisition is a universal process regardless of home language. Babies listen to the sounds around them, begin to imitate them, and eventually start producing words. Second-language acquisition assumes knowledge in a first language and encompasses the process an individual goes through as he or she learns the elements of a new language, such as vocabulary, phonological components, grammatical structures, and writing systems.The Six Stages of Second-Language AcquisitionPre-productionThis is also called “the silent period,” when the student takes in the new language but does not speak it. This period often lasts six weeks or longer, depending on the individual.Early productionThe individual begins to speak using short words and sentences, but the emphasis is still on listening and absorbing the new language. There will be many errors in the early production stage.Speech EmergentSpeech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer, but the individual still relies heavily on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary continues to increase and errors begin to decrease, especially in common or repeated interactions.Beginning FluencySpeech is fairly fluent in social situations with minimal errors. New contexts and academic language are challenging and the individual will struggle to express themselves due to gaps in vocabulary and appropriate phrases.Intermediate FluencyCommunicating in the second language is fluent, especially in social language situations. The individual is able to speak almost fluently in new situations or in academic areas, but there will be gaps in vocabulary knowledge and some unknown expressions. There are very few errors, and the individual is able to demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the second language such as offering an opinion or analyzing a problem.Advanced FluencyThe individual communicates fluently in all contexts and can maneuver successfully in new contexts and when exposed to new academic information. At this stage, the individual may still have an accent and use idiomatic expressions incorrectly at times, but the individual is essentially fluent and comfortable communicating in the second language.How long does it take for a language learner to go through these stages? Just as in any other learning situation, it depends on the individual. One of the major contributors to accelerated second language learning is the strength of first language skills. Language researchers such as Jim Cummins, Catherine Snow, Lily Wong Filmore and Stephen Krashen have studied this topic in a variety of ways for many years. The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency. This generally applies to individuals who have strong first language and literacy skills. If an individual has not fully developed first language and literacy skills, it may take between seven to ten years to reach advanced fluency. It is very important to note that every ELL student comes with his or her own unique language and education background, and this will have an impact on their English learning process.It is also important to keep in mind that the understood goal for American ELL students is Advanced Fluency, which includes fluency in academic contexts as well as social contexts. Teachers often get frustrated when ELL students appear to be fluent because they have strong social English skills, but then they do not participate well in academic projects and discussions. Teachers who are aware of ELL students’ need to develop academic language fluency in English will be much better prepared to assist those students in becoming academically successful. (Learn more about academic language in Colorín Colorado’s academic language resource section.) Instructional StrategiesIf you have ELL students in your classroom, it is more than likely there will be students at a variety of stages in the language acquisition process. What can teachers do to differentiate instruction according to language level? Here are some suggestions for appropriate instructional strategies according to stages of language acquisition.Language StageStrategiesPre-productionEmphasize listening comprehension by using read-alouds and music.Use visuals and have students point to pictures or act out vocabulary.Speak slowly and use shorter words, but use correct English phrasing.Model “survival” language by saying and showing the meaning. For example, say, “Open your book,” and then open a book while the student observes.Gesture, point and show as much as possible.More advanced classmates who speak the same language can support new learning through interpretation.Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct language usage when students make mistakes.Early ProductionContinue the strategies listed above, but add opportunities for students to produce simple language.Ask students to point to pictures and say the new word.Ask yes/no and either/or questions.Have students work in pairs or small groups to discuss a problem. Have literate students write short sentences or words in graphic organizers.Model a phrase and have the student repeat it and add modifications. Teacher says, “This book is very interesting.” The student repeats it and says, “This book is very boring.” Continue with as many modifications as possible.Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct usage.Speech EmergentIntroduce more academic language and skills by using the same techniques listed above, but beginning to use more academic vocabulary.Introduce new academic vocabulary and model how to use it in a sentence.Provide visuals and make connections with student’s background knowledge as much as possible.Ask questions that require a short answer and are fairly literal.Introduce charts and graphs by using easily understood information such as a class survey of food preferences.Have students re-tell stories or experiences and have another student write them down. The ELL student can bring these narratives home to read and reinforce learning.In writing activities, provide the student with a fill-in-the blank version of the assignment with the necessary vocabulary listed on the page.Provide minimal error correction. Focus only on correction that directly interferes with meaning. Reinforce learning by modeling the correct usage.Beginning FluencyHave students work in pairs and groups to discuss content.During instruction, have students do a “Think, pair, share” to give the student an opportunity to process the new language and concept.Ask questions that require a full response with explanation. If you do not understand the student’s explanation, ask for clarification by paraphrasing and asking the student if you heard them correctly.Ask questions that require inference and justification of the answer.Ask students if they agree or disagree with a statement and why.Model more advanced academic language structures such as, “I think,” “In my opinion,” and “When you compare.” Have students repeat the phrases in context.Re-phrase incorrect statements in correct English, or ask the student if they know another way to say it.Introduce nuances of language such as when to use more formal English and how to interact in conversations.Have students make short presentations, providing them with the phrases and language used in presentations (“Today I will be talking about”) and giving them opportunities to practice the presentation with partners before getting in front of the class.Continue to provide visual support and vocabulary development.Correct errors that interfere with meaning, and pre-identify errors that will be corrected in student writing, such as verb-tense agreement. Only correct the errors agreed upon.You may want to assist in improving pronunciation by asking a student to repeat key vocabulary and discussing how different languages have different sounds.Intermediate FluencyIdentify key academic vocabulary and phrases and model them. Ask students to produce the language in class activities.Use graphic organizers and thinking maps and check to make sure the student is filling them in with details. Challenge the student to add more.Help the student make connections with new vocabulary by instructing him or her in the etymology of words or word families such as, “important, importance, importantly.“Create assessments that give students an opportunity to present in English after they have an opportunity to practice in pairs or small groups.Introduce more academic skills, such as brainstorming, prioritizing, categorization, summarizing and compare and contrast.Ask students to identify vocabulary by symbols that show whether the student “knows it really well, kind of knows it, or doesn’t know it at all.” Help students focus on strategies to get the meaning of new words.Have a “guessing time” during silent reading where they circle words they don’t know and write down their guess of the meaning. Check the results as a class.Introduce idioms and give examples of how to use them appropriately. For example, “Let’s wind up our work.” What’s another way you could use the phrase “wind up?“Starting at this level, students need more correction/feedback, even on errors that do not directly affect meaning. They should be developing a more advanced command of syntax, pragmatics, pronunciation, and other elements that do not necessarily affect meaning but do contribute to oral fluency.It may also be helpful to discuss language goals with the student so you can assist in providing modeling and correction in specified areas.Advanced FluencyStudents at this level are close to native language fluency and can interact well in a variety of situations. Continue to develop language skills as gaps arise by using the strategies listed above. Although the student may seem completely fluent, he or she still benefit from visual support, building on background knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary and making connections between content areas.Offer challenge activities to expand the student’s vocabulary knowledge such as identifying antonyms, synonyms and the use of a thesaurus and dictionary.Demonstrate effective note-taking and provide a template.Offer error correction on academic work and on oral language. Because students at this stage have achieved near-native fluency, they benefit from support in fine-tuning their oral and written language skills. RecommendationsScaffold instruction so students receive comprehensible input and are able to successfully complete tasks at their level. Instructional scaffolding works just like the scaffolding used in building. It holds you at the level needed until you are ready to take it down. Scaffolding includes asking students questions in formats that give them support in answering, such as yes/no questions, one-word identifications, or short answers. It also means providing the context for learning by having visuals or other hands-on items available to support content learning. Also, when practicing a new academic skill such as skimming, scaffolding involves using well-known material so the students aren’t struggling with the information while they are trying to learn a new skill. Scaffolding includes whatever it takes to make the instruction meaningful for the student in order to provide a successful learning experience.Use cognates to help Spanish speakers learn English and derive meaning from content. The Colorín Colorado website has a helpful list of common cognates in Spanish for teachers to reference. Teachers can explicitly point out cognates for Spanish speaking students so they begin to realize that this is a useful way for them to increase their English vocabulary.Explicit vocabulary instruction is very important in accelerating ELL students’ English language development. Textbooks include lists of new vocabulary words based on grade-level content, but ELL students need further vocabulary instruction. There are many words in a text that may affect the ELL student’s comprehension of the text that a teacher may assume he or she knows. It is important for teachers to develop ways to help students identify the words they don’t know, as well as strategies for getting their meaning. Of course it is also beneficial if teachers reinforce the language structures or common associations of vocabulary. For example, “squeak” is a sound that often goes with “mouse” or “door” and it may be stated as, “squeak, squeaky, squeaks, or squeaked.“Error correction should be done very intentionally and appropriately according to student language ability, as noted earlier in the article. Students who are just beginning to speak English are already nervous about using their new language skills and constant correction will not improve their ability; it will just make them want to withdraw. I inform students in advance of the type of errors I will correct, such as “missing articles” and “third person agreement,” and then those are the only errors I check. In my class, I do not correct the errors; I circle the mistakes and return the paper to the student. They are responsible for correcting the errors and returning the paper to receive more points. Most of the time the students can make the corrections themselves when they see the area I’ve circled, but if they have difficulty, I guide them as they make the correction. In this way, I feel there is a manageable amount of correction information to work with and the student will actually learn from doing the correction.Learning another language. If you learn the language(s) your students speak, they will be thrilled to hear you try it with them. I learned how to say “good morning” in Somali and had to practice for an hour before I felt comfortable saying it. When I did I was rewarded with the big grins of students as they entered the room. They were excited to teach me other phrases as well, and we discussed how much English they had learned since they arrived in the country. They were very proud to think of how much progress they’d made.Seek the experts in your building or district who can offer you guidance on effective instructional strategies for your ELL students. There are many teachers who have taught ELL students in your content area, have taught a certain population of students, or are trained ESL or bilingual teachers who have a lot of advice and support to offer. Don’t hesitate to look for support when you are challenged to reach students who are learning English. This can be especially true when you have a “pre-production” or “beginning level” student and you are responsible for grade level content instruction.Visit the hotlinks section for this article for more information on specific research regarding language acquisition and recommended instructional strategies. You can also search the Colorín Colorado educator information for useful information and resources to assist you in meeting ELL student needs.ELL teachers encounter students with a variety of backgrounds and abilities, and until the babel fish comes into existence, they will need to have flexibility, creativity and skill in order to help ELL students make meaning from the new language and content they are learning. An understanding of the language acquisition process and levels will help teachers tailor instruction to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. Students will benefit from everything teachers do to support the development of their language skills while teaching them grade level content. Together teachers and students develop their understanding of each other, the world around them, and the language that connects us all.Hot linksThe Stages of Second Language AcquisitionThis chapter from Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners Facilitator’s Guide, by Jane D. Hill and Cynthia L. Björk, offers information on the second language acquisition process and effective ELL instruction. It includes a a simplified chart of language acquisition levels and the kinds of language teachers can use to help students at each level.Simple description of the stages of language acquisition and recommendations for instructional strategies according to level.Overview of Second Language Acquisition and StrategiesDownloadable booklet from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, “Strategies and Resources for Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners.” Includes useful information on language levels, acquisition and 10 things teachers can do today to help ELL students.Understanding the “Silent Period” with English Language LearnersThis article describes some strategies used by two kindergarten teachers to communicate verbally and nonverbally.

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Learn effective teaching strategies that cater to the needs of adult ESL students. This guide covers differentiated instruction, culturally responsive teaching, and motivational techniques.

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Teaching Adult ESL: Insights and Helpful Strategies for Navigating the Journey

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The pros and cons of teaching adult ESL are many, but whether you are considering a career in adult ESL teaching, thinking of teaching an adult ESL class once a week, or already have some

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Discover practical tips for managing adult ESL classrooms, including strategies for creating a positive learning environment and dealing with common classroom challenges.

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Without this classroom management strategy, this could be your situation:

"I'm DONE!" You look, and you've got some students already on their phones because they've finished everything and others who seem to have barely started but are working away as hard as they can. Short of dividing yourself in half, what can you do?

I have a student who is very meticulous in all that she does. "Kawther" has no interest in hurrying, and I really don't want to rush her. However, this means that whenever she writes, she needs a lot of time. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, I have a student who appears to believe he needs to finish writing before he takes his next breath. Yeah, "Wang Wei" is that fast. He'll be done with a fairly strong paragraph before Kawther has a sentence down.

Adult ESL IEPs Require a Special Touch

Now generally, in an Intensive English Program (IEP), the urge to keep everyone on the same page at the same time is strong. Each session or term is short, and the material that needs to be covered is extensive. Not meeting all the objectives for the class is not an option when students are paying and have a limited amount of time left on their visas.

Of course, you could always give that fast student additional work, but that tends just to increase the gap in knowledge between your fastest student and your slowest student.

It's like trying to solve the problem of shattered glass on your tile floor by pouring oil all over it. Not helpful! So what classroom management strategy can an adult ESL teacher use to meet this challenge?

Find the weak points of your strongest students

Wang Wei writes at the speed of light, but he also happens to be the lowest level for speaking. He has difficulties with pronunciation and forgets the grammar when speaking that he gets perfectly when writing. So, I send him out of class to do conversational visits!

Sometimes I give him the questions I want him to ask, and sometimes I give him the topic and have him write his own questions. He practices saying them with me or with another fast finisher who has strong speaking skills, and then I send him to other classes to interview students! Every class always has some faster students who have already finished what the others are working on, so they are perfect for this. Wang Wei takes notes on what they say, and then when he comes back, he reports to the rest of the class what he learned from the other students.

While he's gone, I can work more in-depth with the students who need extra help and attention. Don't feel like you have to keep all your students in your classroom and under your direction at all times. That's not what makes a good teacher, and that's not good classroom management. Create the framework that helps them get what they need, and it won't matter if they are in your classroom, someone else's, the hallway, the lobby, or anywhere else.

Great example, but my students are strong speakers. Now what?

How are they with their reading fluency? Can you pair a struggling reader with someone who needs listening practice? Do they have strong writing skills? Have them write speeches for other students with weak pronunciation skills to practice giving. Pick their weak points and develop an activity that will allow them to practice it while working with another student who needs something else. This simple classroom management technique will also ensure your students DON'T depend upon you for everything during every minute of the class.

Those conversational visits have benefits beyond classroom management.

Originally, I just thought that interviews were great speaking and listening practice for Wang Wei. Later I thought about it some more. "Fadel" started really low for speaking, but now he is great. I didn't send him out every day to talk to other students, but I didn't have to! He did that on his own during every break. Wang Wei just isn't that outgoing. He doesn't talk to anyone who isn't his classmate. He's not antisocial or shy, but he's uncomfortable talking to people he doesn't know. Catch 22, right?

To get him talking more, he needs to be more comfortable with the other students in school. Having him interview students every day, always asking them their names and questions, allows him to get to know them a little. Plus, he's practicing the grammar and vocabulary he has been learning. It's simply a win-win situation!

Especially when they are new to the country or even to the language school / English course, adult students might struggle to make connections with other students. They worry about their pronunciation, about expressing themselves, even to another ESL student. They stress over possible communication hurdles. BUT...if their teacher assigns them to speak to another student, it's somehow easier. It gives them a purpose to approach a stranger or someone they don't know well. Plus, they can always blame me if they want. "My teacher says I have to do this."

How does sending students out of class benefit those who remain behind?

Remember Kawther, the slow writer? Well, the only way she is ever going to become faster at writing is to write. She's not just dealing with an entirely different writing script. She must train her hand to write from left to right, instead of vice versa. By sending some students out of the classroom and grouping others to do other activities, I can give her the time she requires. She doesn't feel pressured to hurry or like she's slowing anyone down. In another month or two, her speed will have improved. And hopefully, Wang Wei will have made some non-Chinese-speaking friends and be speaking in English a lot more.

Here's one last benefit to this classroom management strategy.

This simple classroom management strategy for adult ESL classes made a huge difference in reducing the various gaps in my students' abilities. Leveling that out made our class more enjoyable for me to teach and for them to learn. This also afforded students the opportunity to move to a higher-level class once their proficiency gaps had been filled, which made classes a better fit for everyone. Try it and see how it works for you!

What's a challenge you have faced in your classes, and what classroom management strategy did you use to resolve it? Or, what challenges face you (or your students) now?

Read more about teaching adult ESL and classroom management!

Freebie Alert!

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1 Ultimate Classroom Management Trick for Your Mixed-Ability Adult ESL Classes | Rike Neville

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Using this classroom management strategy in your adult ESL classes will help even the gaps in your students' abilities. It is a true winner in an IEP class!

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Explore various assessment methods to evaluate your students' progress effectively. This includes formative assessments, summative assessments, and alternative assessment techniques.

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This week's new question-of-the-week is:
What are effective assessment strategies for multilingual learners?
Assessment is a key element of teaching-we need to know where our students are in the learning process, how effective our instructional strategies have been, and if there are additional challenges we need to be aware of as we plan future lessons and student support.

Assessments, however, cannot be used in a one-size-fits-all strategy.

Today, Margo Gottlieb, Vivian Micolta Simmons, Cindy Garcia, and Karen Nemeth, Ed.M., share strategies educators can use to effectively assess English-language learners. Margo, Vivian, and Cindy were also guests on my 10-minute BAM! Radio Show. You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

Maximizing 'Linguistic and Cultural Equity'

Margo Gottlieb, WIDA co-founder and lead developer, introduces assessment as, for, and of learning in her 2016 book, Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges to Equity, and expands on the approaches in subsequent books, chapters, and articles. Her most current publication is Classroom Assessment in Multiple Languages: A Handbook for Teachers (Corwin, 2021):

When thinking about effective assessment strategies for multilingual learners, what if we switched our attention away from school or district scores generated from testing that leave "gaps" in student performance and revisit data through the lens of stakeholders? Let's start with a series of questions about multilingual learners, our most important stakeholders, to help position their centrality in the assessment process and provide a context for interpreting assessment data.

What are the languages, cultures, and educational backgrounds of your multilingual learners?

To what extent does your language program leverage your multilingual learners' languages and cultures in curriculum and instruction?

To what extent do your multilingual learners connect their personal interests and their home/community life to school?

The first step in planning classroom assessment is to determine its purpose. How might you prioritize the primary reasons for assessing multilingual learners in one or more languages?

Do you want to get a pulse on multilingual learners' thinking, how they are feeling, and their self-reflection on learning? Being more inclusive of students' views and encouraging student agency are features of assessment as learning.

Do you want to provide feedback to multilingual learners to move their learning forward? Acting on insight from the interaction between students and teachers during instruction reflects assessment for learning.

Do you want to contribute to programmatic or schoolwide accountability? Using student projects, performances, and products, along with uniform criteria for success formulated by teachers with input from students, are representations of assessment of learning.

Now that you have a purpose and a corresponding approach to assessment in mind, let's explore their associated effective strategies.

Assessment as learning as a classroom practice is a student-driven activity that broadcasts multilingual learners' voice, empowerment, and identity. Assessment as learning can occur face to face or online when multilingual learners interact with their peers in the language(s) of their choice to:

explore topics or issues of mutual interest

contribute to crafting classroom activities or tasks

engage in self- and peer assessment

pursue learning from their own perspectives

select preferred mode(s) of communication (e.g., oral, written, graphic, visual) for processing information and expressing learning.

Assessment for learning might begin with teacher and student conversations leading to collaboration in making mutually agreed upon learning goals. Both are keenly aware of where multilingual learners are in their learning that is anchored to grade-level academic content and language proficiency/development standards. In assessment for learning, multilingual learners interact with their teachers in English or their shared language(s) to:

co-construct criteria for success and types of acceptable evidence for their work

apply criteria for success to give criterion-referenced feedback

plan differentiated instruction for content and language learning

give feedback in real time to student performance or needs.

Assessment of learning at a classroom level is shaped by teachers, individually or as a department or grade-level team, with input from students. It represents what students have accomplished at the culmination of a period of instruction, such as a unit of learning. Assessment of learning is geared to determining student growth over time and centers on collaboration among teachers with support of school or district leaders to:

match evidence for assessment with learning targets

document extent of meeting standards for units of learning

share of learning for products, performances, or projects

guide student production of capstone projects or portfolios

Together, assessment as, for, and of learning offers a comprehensive system that optimizes opportunities for multilingual learners to participate as educators strive to maximize linguistic and cultural equity for their students.

'Formal and Informal Assessments'
Vivian Micolta Simmons was born in Colombia and has been in the U.S. for seven years. She has been a teacher for 14 years and is currently working as a ESL/DLI lead teacher for the Iredell-Statesville schools in N.C:
When assessing my culturally and linguistically diverse students, I always like to think about my own experience as a language learner. We all function differently; we are all smart with certain dominant areas or language skills. For instance, I consider myself good at speaking and pronunciation, but writing is an area where I need extra help. That does not mean that I cannot produce in a second language. It only means that I need to polish specific language skills.

I like to rely on both formal and informal assessments and make my recommendations-to homeroom teachers and parents-based on the data I can gather from these instruments.

Listening and reading activities, writing prompts (that provide sentence starters), formal and informal conversations (my favorite), and role-plays are some of my preferred activities to assess my students.

Pop quizzes, games, note-sketching, prior knowledge questions, video recordings (like Flipgrid), and formal pretests and post-tests are all part of my assessment arsenal. You can pick and choose from a great selection of data-collection options. For sure, I loathe paper-pencil assessment as the only performance measurement (for children and adults). They do not show what we are all capable of in terms of language production.

Rubrics, Portfolios, & Conferences
Cindy Garcia has been a bilingual educator for 15 years and is currently a districtwide specialist for PK-6 bilingual/ESL mathematics. She is active on Twitter @CindyGarciaTX and on her blog:
When assessing multilingual learners, teachers have to keep in mind both content and language. Teachers also have to be focused about what they assess and academic-language development might not always be something they need to assess.

Rubrics can be an effective way to assess student understanding because there are multiple indicators that students are trying to meet. Rubrics are also a good tool for assessing multilingual learners because they provide a consistent criterion for grading when tasks or projects might be subjective. This criterion helps teachers ignore other factors and use only the criteria in the rubric to assess student learning. Instead of multiple-choice type of assessment where there is only one correct response, a rubric allows the teacher to pinpoint what the student is understanding and what the student has yet to master. A rubric has a rating scale that provides the teacher with a way to provide feedback for students that will help them think about their work, ask questions, seek clarification, and improve their work. Rubrics also help students take ownership of their learning, because they are able to use the rubric to evaluate their work before they submit it for grading.

Portfolios are another great way to assess multilingual learners because the teacher is able to see evidence of student work and learning for a longer period of time than an end-of-unit assessment. This allows the teacher to see if the students "got it" right away and have they been able to "keep it" for longer than the length of the unit of instruction. When compiling a student portfolio, there are usually multiple pieces of evidence or student work for each concept, standard, or topic. Student-work samples could be writing prompts, a project, multiple-choice test, etc. This means that student portfolios also show a clearer picture of how a student learns.

Another effective strategy to assess multilingual learners is student-teacher conferences. Conferring with students provides students the opportunity to explain and share what they have learned without the usual stress of completing a formal test. Conferring also allows the teacher to provide more authentic feedback because it's real-time feedback that addresses student questions, wonderings, or misconceptions. Conferring makes it easier for the teacher to focus the conversation just on content, academic-language development, or another area. The goal of each conference can be focused on the precise needs of each student and provide the specific data that teachers need to plan for instruction.

'Portfolio-Based Assessment'
Karen Nemeth, Ed.M., is an author, consultant, and advocate focusing on early-childhood education for ELLs/DLLs. She has leadership roles in NAEYC, NABE, and TESOL. She hosts a resource website, Language Castle:
Developmentally appropriate assessment strategies for young English-/dual-language learners do not focus on one-shot test scores. The truth is, 4- and 5-year-old children are just not that interested in displaying their knowledge on demand. Terms like portfolio, sampling, and multiple measures guide best practices for the early years.

Children who are developing multiple languages have separate language systems for each of their languages. They learn some content in one language and some content in the other language. Even if they seem very strong in English, they may not have English words for all of the knowledge they've developed in their other language(s).

It is important to provide all screening and assessment in both of their languages. Further, the bilingual brain does not function the same way as two monolingual brains. According to research, the best screening and assessment tools would be designed specifically for bilingual thinkers and would capture what they know and can do in both of their languages. These kinds of tools are not available with sufficient quality and in the variety of languages needed. Kindergarten-entry assessments and other district-mandated monolingual assessments are not very accurate for young children who are multilingual learners. The best approach is to gather data about a child's skills and knowledge through a variety of measures over time. I like to say that, in the early years, assessment is not a score, it's a folder. Scores might be in the folder along with lots of other information that teachers can use to chart a child's progress and determine their learning needs.

The solution recommended by most experts is to practice portfolio-based assessment. Instead of focusing on a snapshot or numeric score, portfolios allow teachers to gather authentic evidence about what each child understands and talks about. Portfolio-assessment software is available with some curriculum models or as independent products. They may include prompts, benchmarks, and a variety of ways to enter data on an ongoing basis.

It is very important that teachers should be allowed to use phones or tablets to record language and activity at any time during the day. This is critical for multilingual learners because it is the most accurate way to fully capture what the children actually say when they are talking in a language that is unfamiliar to the teacher. It is also critical that teacher assistants who are bilingual must be carefully prepared to participate in the assessment process as they may be the only adults who have home-language interactions with some of the bilingual children.

Information obtained from families can be another important component of the assessment process. A teacher might not ask the parents of a 7 th grader about how they are doing with algebra at home, but many preschool and kindergarten children show advances in language and learning at home that may not be evident in the classroom. For example, a shy English-learner may not participate in singing activities at school but the family might send a video of the child singing happily with sophisticated lyrics at home. Young children may not always perform on demand or in expected ways at school. Families can also provide cultural context and information about the young child's interests that help the teacher scaffold learning for each individual child. Multiple measures over an array of activities and times of day will make it possible for young children to show more accurately what they know and can do-and what they are ready to do next.

Thanks to Margo, Vivian, Cindy, and Karen for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it's selected or if you'd prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.
Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign-new ones won't be available until February). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column.
You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo.

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It's titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching.

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Four educators share practical assessment strategies to support English-language learners.

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Basic Level - Goals/Expectations - 2024-2025.docx

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Level 2: Goals/Expectations - 2024-2025.docx

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Level 3 - Goals/Expectations - 2024-2025.docx

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Levels 4 - Goals/Expectations - 2024-2025.docx

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Stay informed about professional development opportunities for ESL teachers. This includes workshops, online courses, and conferences to enhance your teaching skills and knowledge.

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BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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By Camille Turner
August 12, 2021

Professional development for ESL teachers is sometimes overlooked, but it's important. Whether you're looking for a new position or want to move ahead at your current job, ESL professional development can help you stand out to employers as someone who stays on top of trends in education and values lifelong learning. To make your resume shine, we'll share eight professional development opportunities, such as earning specialized TEFL/TESOL certificates, attending webinars, and applying for TEFL/TESOL fellowships.

What is meant by professional development for ESL teachers?

Professional development is learning designed to improve one's capability, expertise, and knowledge in a certain job or career field. This learning often involves earning or maintaining certain credentials through academic certifications and coursework but can also involve informal learning opportunities, such as peer groups or conferences.

When it comes to ESL professional development for teachers, for example, a TEFL/TESOL-certified, experienced teacher might take a specialized course to learn a new skill, such as teaching English online, or attend a TESOL conference in-person or online to stay on top of the latest methods of teaching English.

Why is professional development important for ESL teachers?

Professional development for EFL teachers provides opportunities for both traditional and online English teachers to stand out among other professionals in this highly competitive field. It can improve your chances as an applicant and help you advance in your current job.

Furthermore, TEFL/TESOL professional development is important if you want to continue to be a better and more successful teacher for your students. Without participating in professional development opportunities, teachers can become stagnant in their teaching practices and in their EFL careers.

What are some examples of professional development for ESL teachers?

There are countless opportunities for ESL professional development. Below are eight of the best ways you can take part in this kind of ongoing learning, all of which will give your resume a boost and provide talking points for your next TEFL/TESOL job interview.

1. Earn a TEFL/TESOL certification of at least 120 hours

If you don't already hold an internationally-recognized TEFL/TESOL certificate, earning this credential will open doors to a wider range of teaching opportunities both worldwide and online. Most reputable employers require a certification of at least 120 hours, so if your current certificate is fewer hours than that, upgrading it to meet this international standard will result in more opportunities, as there are various types of jobs you can get with a TEFL/TESOL certificate. Even if you're already a teacher, it's important to get TEFL/TESOL certified to advance your career. Fortunately, earning a TEFL/TESOL certificate online is an option, so it's possible to take this step no matter where in the world you're located!

2. Specialize your training/certification

If you're already TEFL/TESOL certified, specialized courses will enhance your resume by showing employers that you go above and beyond and value continuous professional development.

Specialized Certificates

Teachers can specialize in high-demand areas, such as teaching young learners or teens, to qualify for more diverse jobs and be better prepared for the classroom. Specialized training also provides opportunities for experienced teachers to expand into new and growing areas of TEFL/TESOL, such as teaching English online or using Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), a bilingual education method growing in popularity all around the globe.

Micro-credentials

You can even take professional development courses through Bridge via TEFL/TESOL Micro-credentials! These short, targeted courses cover practical, current topics in English language teaching, and you can take as many as you like. There are plenty of courses geared toward online English teachers working from home as well. You'll also have the option to get tutor support in your micro-course and to earn a verifiable certificate and digital badge upon completion.

Available Micro-credential courses are the following, and more are added on a continual basis:
General Micro-credentials Micro-credentials for teaching English online
3. Showcase your achievements with digital badges

When you complete a TEFL/TESOL certification course or specialized certificate with Bridge, you will receive a digital badge that allows you to highlight your achievement. Add digital badges to your resume, LinkedIn profile, or Bridge Job Board Teacher Portfolio to showcase your professional development. These stackable, shareable digital credentials provide employers with the full scope of the program you completed with just one click.

4. Attend or present workshops at your school or virtually

Team up with colleagues to identify areas in your teaching methods or your school that could use improvement, such as handling challenging students online. Then, host a workshop on the specific skill set that needs to be addressed. Workshops can be held in-person or virtually via software like Zoom.

These professional development workshops can be scheduled on a monthly or bi-monthly basis; teachers can take turns presenting or you can host a roundtable discussion instead. Consider incorporating peer evaluations or self-reflective practices like journaling into your workshops, providing teachers an opportunity to share the areas in which they excel and in which they need to improve. That way, you'll never run out of workshop topics to cover!

5. Connect with ESL peers and influencers

There are various ways to connect with ESL peers or other experts in the field. Try joining an interactive TEFL/TESOL training course, such as the IDELTOnline™, with an international cohort of trainees in order to share ideas with other teachers through online forums, discussion threads, and collaborative projects.

You can also join EFL/ESL groups on social media sites like Facebook. These groups provide teaching support and allow you to discuss ESL teaching methods and ideas with other professionals. Some groups even revolve around specific topics, such as lesson planning, to help you grow in specialized areas. Others, such as the Bridge TEFL/TESOL Jobs Facebook Group, focus on job searching.

You can also connect with ESL peers through networking events like conferences. Use these opportunities to attend information sessions, share ideas, and learn from experts in the industry.
Join the Bridge Teaching English Online Facebook Group to connect with teachers around the world.
6. Attend virtual or in-person TEFL/TESOL conferences

Attending TEFL/TESOL conferences is a great way to continue your EFL professional development. There are many annual regional, national, and international conferences available to teachers, and these conferences are even shifting to a 100% online format.

Two of the most popular include the TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo and the IATEFL International Conference. Conferences such as these provide opportunities for ESL teachers to network and hear from leading experts in the industry. Plus, attending a prestigious TEFL/TESOL conference shows employers your continued interest in professional development and your involvement in the EFL community.
Take a deeper look at TESOL and IATEFL to learn more about these ELT industry giants.
7. Apply for a TEFL/TESOL fellowship or grant

Applying for a teaching fellowship or research grant in an ESL-related field can give your career a huge boost in terms of making you more marketable and providing you with invaluable teaching experience.

National programs, such as the U.S. Department of State's English Language Fellow Program, are competitive, and acceptance into one of these teaching programs looks great on your resume. If you'd rather focus on a research project for a specific ESL topic, try searching your government's education site for grants. Most countries have a decent budget for awarding grant money to teachers for ESL projects, and having specialized, government-funded research under your belt will set you apart from other English language teaching professionals.

8. Get your master's in TESOL

This one may not be as easy as getting a specialized TEFL/TESOL certificate, but if you're thinking of making teaching a career, consider getting your master's in TESOL. An MA TESOL opens up the most competitive job opportunities and qualifies you to teach at a higher level, such as at universities. MA TESOL jobs are diverse and include opportunities as an academic advisor or a materials writer.

If you're not ready to make the commitment to a master's program right now or you want to explore other options, consider ESL continuing education classes or certifications like the Bridge IDELTOnline™, which can be taken as a pathway to graduate study at Bridge partner universities.
Is a master's in TESOL worth it for you? Read this article to find out.
Training and participating in English language teachers' professional development opportunities, such as attending conferences or completing specializations, makes you a better teacher. But, it's also key to enhancing your TEFL/TESOL resume and standing out in a competitive job market.

If you think earning a master's in TESOL might be the right step for you in professional development, consider getting started with the Bridge IDELTOnline™ course, which can be a pathway to your master's.

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Professional Development for ESL Teachers - 8 Ways to Boost Your Resume

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By Camille Turner August 12, 2021 Professional development for ESL teachers is sometimes overlooked, but it's important. Whether you're looking for a new position or want to move ahead at your current job, ESL professional development can help you stand out to employers as someone who stays on top of trends in education and values lifelong learning.

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Loving WELL and Teaching WELL - Additional Resources (In Progress)

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Loving WELL and Teaching WELL - Additional Resources (In Progress)

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New Conversation Coach Training - Thursday, July 30, 6:30 pm (Door #14)

Teaching WELL Training - Thursday, Aug. 6 - 6:30-8:30 pm

Loving WELL Training - Thursday, Aug. 13, 6:30-8:30 pm

Still working on these documents:

Volunteer Handbook - Link HERE

Loving WELL - Link HERE

Teaching WELL - Link HERE

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Prayers - Teacher (English Only) - Fall 2024

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Prayers - Teacher (English Only) - Fall 2024

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Psalms Fall 2023 English for Instructors

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Prayers - Teacher (English Only) Spring 2025

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Prayers - Teacher (English Only) Spring 2025

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Psalms Winter Spring 2024 English for Instructors

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* Entire Piece - WELL - Loving Well Training - Fall 2024.docx

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Teaching Well - pages from binder

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*7-25-24-WELL - TEACHING WELL - Fall 2024.docx

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A revised version will be available by 7/30/26.

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This will be a handy document to view as you serve throughout the school year. If you have additional questions or concerns, please email Marsha Greiner.

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WELL Ready Reference 2026-2027 - Revised 7_7_26 - Google Docs

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138 Get to Know Me Questions - The Most Complete List Ever

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Building strong relationships with others requires us to develop genuine interests in their lives. This often involves asking a lot of questions.

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Worksheets and activities for all levels.

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191000+ English ESL free printable worksheets, EFL video lessons

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A treasure trove of free English ESL handouts pdf & doc, slides, video quizzes with reading & listening comprehension exercises, vocabulary & grammar practice

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This is the updated WELL Student Binder materials.

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Revised 6-25-26 - WELL Student Binder.docx - Google Docs

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This is a great tool to share with students to use as they practice and review vocabulary taught in class. The audio is clear. The website has interactive practice, as well, with immediate feedback.

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Aims to help students and children to memorize English (US) vocabulary in an easy and efficient way by using images, pronunciation and games. Free and Fun!

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Director of Legal Services at Exodus (Rachel Van Tyle) - January 2025 - Facebook Live

How Do Executive Orders Affect Refugees? | Facebook Live 1.24.25

Documents which accompanied the video above - Link HERE

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How Do Executive Orders Affect Refugees? | Facebook Live 1.24.25

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WTHR - Story regarding the Exodus Refugee Immigration reaction to recent changes

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Refugee resettlement programs halted for Hoosiers

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Story about the reaction from Exodus Refugee Immigration and the shut down of refugee resettlement

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Exodus Refugee Immigration reacts to Trump’s immigration orders

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President Donald Trump’s first day in office included taking action on some of his immigration campaign promises.

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Story about the reaction from Exodus Refugee Immigration and the shut down of refugee resettlement.

This article has additional facts that also address the contributions of immigrants to Indiana and its economy.

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Exodus Refugee Immigration closes doors in response to increased ICE threats

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Non-profit Exodus Refugee Immigration announced last week that it is locking the doors to its Indianapolis building and moving appointments to virtual or off-site locations.

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Exodus Refugee Immigration subscribe and receive their newsletter

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Want to know how you can help refugees? Stay up to date on the latest news and information from Exodus by joining our email list.

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ENL - 2 Minute Tips: Supporting Haitian Creole - Speaking Students in the Classroom

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ENL - 2 Minute Tips: Supporting Haitian Creole - Speaking Students in the Classroom

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Great tips! - Thank you, Jane Taylor.

If you access this video on your computer, it has a wealth of resources to help you as you work with your Haitian Creole speaking students: dictionary, translator, Bible, Alphabet, Haitian Creole words, language learning, etc.

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Common Pronunciation Errors for Spanish Speakers

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Common Pronunciation Errors for Spanish Speakers

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This is a very thorough list of pronunciation tips to help the Spanish speaker.

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Common Pronunciation Errors for Spanish Speakers

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Minimal Pairs for Haitian Creole Speakers

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Minimal Pairs for Haitian Creole Speakers

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Listen carefully. Correct pronunciations since the purpose is for the student to capture the SOUND of the word and to identify the slight differences between words with various vowel and consonant distinctions.

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I Have; Who Has? - Different Games for Synonyms and Antonyms

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I Have; Who Has? - Different Games for Synonyms and Antonyms

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Several different versions for your students: synonym and antonym. Distribute a few cards to each student (29 total).

Start with card that states, "Start Here." First students says, "Who has LARGE?" Students determine the next student by answering the question.

If the class is focused on SYNONYMS, then the students holding the card that says, "What is BIG?" speaks up. Followed by the next question on the same card, "Who has LITTLE?"

This continues until every student has "used" their cards to answer.

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Download these free synonym I have who has games to help your children practice matching synonym pairs in the classroom. Free from The Curriculum Corner.

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Conversation - Small Talk and More Jazz Chants 

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Conversation - Small Talk and More Jazz Chants 

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Exercises that provide your students with a "rhythmic expression of standard American English as it occurs in a situational context." This technique assists in the rhythm and intonation patterns of spoken American English.

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Short Stories in Easy English (levels A1—B1)

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Short Stories in Easy English (levels A1—B1)

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Leveled stories for your ESL students.

Easy short stories at three CEFR levels:

A1 (elementary)

A2 (pre-intermediate)

B1 (intermediate)

Each story has key vocabulary and a comprehension quiz to help you check your understanding

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EasyEnglish - 🙂 English is easy with easy English

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Want to get conversations started in your class? Try this as a warm up for class.

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This is a great way to allow you to control the conversation topics, but allow students to have some choice, as well.

Hand out provided - Make a copy to make changes for your class level.

page 1 = sample

page 2 - blank copy

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hyQB5ym4NLlB8hueuFEWfCHq6ACMcn2-FPRNYqxdiVc/edit?usp=sharing

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Want your students to carry on phone conversations? Here are some possible phone conversation scenarios to use in class. 

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https://tinyurl.com/4fp8y7nf

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This is an essential tool for the ESL classroom, particularly for lower level learners.

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Total Physical Response (TPR) in English Language Teaching

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Discover Total Physical Response (TPR) in ELT. Learn its principles, benefits, limitations, and classroom activities for effective language teaching.

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This is a great resource.

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BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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What Is TPR for Teaching English and How Can I Use It? - BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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TPR, or Total Physical Response, is an ESL teaching technique based on the way children first learn to speak their native tongue. Learn how to incorporate this highly effective strategy into your virtual or in-person classes.

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Games & Activities for the ESL/EFL Classroom

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Games & Activities for the ESL/EFL Classroom

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Over 100 games on a variety of topics.

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esl games efl activities esl activities efl games

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Games & Activities for the ESL/EFL Classroom (I-TESL-J)

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A collection of games and activities which work well in the ESL/EFL classroom. For TESL/TEFL/TESOL teachers.

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Reading this document is highly recommended to give you a better understanding of challenges we may encounter in building relationships and teaching English to people from backgrounds unlike our own. Information from this document will be referenced during our Loving WELL and Teaching WELL sessions. In advance, thank you for taking the time to view and think about its content.

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Recent policy updates and resources to help people across America to welcome newcomers and help them thrive here.

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Join the national coalition working together to welcome refugees.