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If you are teaching specific vocabulary, sometimes the best lesson is the one you design yourself. Students often lack versatility when it comes to their vocabulary choices so using synonyms and antonyms is a good way to get their ideas flowing.
It is 5:06 AM and my alarm clock goes off. The sun fails to shine through my bedroom window, as Chicago remains in darkness. I climb out of bed, feed my dog, shower, and plug in the coffee maker. As I get ready, I keep a close eye on the clock, as I have to be ready to teach my Indonesian students a...
This is the first in a series of short articles on English pronunciation and the teaching of English pronunciation to non-native speakers. This first article in the series concerns what I view as one of the most important aspects of English pronunciation, one that receives the least structured atten...
Sometimes with the learner-centered approach to teaching, we teachers may forget that we must still maintain control of the class in order to assure that each student gets his or her fair share of the learning experience. For instance, what to do about the cute couple, young man and young woman, in ...
What is Concept Checking? Concept checking is a technique used by the teacher during the lesson that involves the language learner in the process of discovering and understanding language. It often follows on from eliciting (see Eliciting), but can also be used whenever new words/ terms/ concepts h...
What is Eliciting? Synonyms: searching, drawing out, discovering, realizing, understanding. Eliciting is a technique used by the teacher during the lesson that involves the language learner in the process of discovering and understanding language. Anything in the lesson can be elicited: vocabulary...
You’ve got what you think is a great activity for your ESL students. You prepare them to do it. You’re enthusiastic and motivated about your class. And then—your students don’t take to it.
A common issue that teachers have to deal with is how to correct student errors. No-one likes being corrected; however, the school and the parents often demand it, and students themselves will complain that a teacher doesn’t correct them enough. So how can you create a win-win situation?
There are many ways to give feedback on your learners’ written work. The most important guideline, however, is to consider just how much to correct. Low-level learners may become demoralized by over-correction. Using a red pen to excessively mark up a paper that the learner has struggled to produce,...
