ESL Teaching Methods

ESL teaching methods have come a long way in the past 60 years. Before the 1950s, the emphasis, at least in the United States, was placed entirely on reading ability and not at all on communicative ability.

ESL Teaching Methods

This was mostly because the American people at that time had little opportunity or reason to communicate with people of different language backgrounds. It was not until the U.S. entered World War II that the government realized how vital oral and aural abilities were in foreign language education, and it was out of this realization that many of the ESL teaching methods used today were born.

English hasn’t always been the popular choice. Once upon a time those who were considered “cultured” learned Latin and/or Greek. Soon after French was the popular choice where second languages were concerned. English as a second language gained importance not so long ago, in the mid nineteenth century. Before the late nineteenth century, second-language instruction followed what was called a Classical Method of teaching.

Latin and Greek lessons were based on repetition drills and students were asked to read translations of ancient texts. Since the 1940s, communicative skills gradually became more and more important to those who wanted or needed to study other languages and that’s when many of the different Theories of second-language acquisition began to appear.

How helpful would it be to find teaching methods that are so clever, they just stick with you all the time?

Imagine having handy teaching hints constantly on recall, similar to the manner in which the melody to “Sweet Caroline” is never more than two seconds away from your mind’s reach.

The difference being, these methods are actually helpful. Caught in a communication conundrum? Grab a visual! Frustrated that your students don’t seem to be getting it? Recall those ever-important stages of language acquisition!

Prepare to have all these, and more, permanently imprinted on your brain. Just for the time being, clear your mind of the lyrics to “Yellow Submarine” and make some space for five ESL teaching methods that’ll rock your world!

Learn more about this topic by reading on Esl.YourDictionary.

After reading “ESL Teaching Methods” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.

Conversational Grammar and Lexis

PDF #154 – The Grammar and Lexis of Conversational Informal English in Advanced Textbooks

Conversational Grammar and Lexis

The field of foreign language teaching has undergone many fluctuations and dramatic shifts over the centuries. As opposed to physics or chemistry where progress is more or less steady, it is a field where fads and heroes have come and gone in a manner fairly consistent with what occurs in youth culture.

I believe that one reason for this almost random change is the fact that very
few language teachers have even the vaguest sense of history about their profession. They are unclear concerning the historical bases of the many methodological options they currently have at their disposal.

It is hoped that this brief and necessarily oversimplified survey will encourage many language teachers to learn more about the origins of their profession. Such knowledge will give them some historical perspective that will be healthy in evaluating the so-called “innovations or “new” methods that they are frequently exposed to.

The Grammar and Lexis of Conversational Informal English in Advanced Textbooks defends the view that the acquisition of conversational English depends highly on the kind of materials available to L2 learners. The need to acquire a proficient competence in English is growing exponentially in an incessantly demanding society, but it is the oral skill, and more specifically the ability to communicate in everyday situations, that learners are calling for.

The current learning process, nonetheless, is not particularly effective, as is shown in the data collected by the Eurobarometer and published in June 2012, which shows that only 38% of the Europeans surveyed were able to maintain a conversation in English, although 67% believed it to be the most useful language to learn for personal development.

The present study supports the idea expressed in The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which states that a language is learnt reactively, following the instructions and carrying out the activities prescribed for them by teachers and by textbooks (2001: 141).

Consequently, these materials should reflect the everyday use of informal discourse and allow learners to analyse, understand and interpret the different underlying messages conveyed by means of lexico-syntactic, as well as paralinguistic, elements.

The book is divided into seven chapters in which various different linguistic aspects of conversation are dealt with. In the opening chapters, spoken language is presented and approached as a multidimensional entity, particularly as the sum of lexico-syntactic and socio-linguistic elements.

The following chapters provide a description of the main characteristics of conversational English based on corpus-informed grammars and publications. The final chapter analyses twenty ESL textbooks in order to determine how corpus data has influenced the materials designed for the acquisition of conversational discourse.

After reading “Conversational Grammar and Lexis ” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.

Simple Present Worksheets

In this section you will find Simple Present Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. 

After reading “The Structural Approach”, you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my channel on YouTube.

Simple Past Worksheets

In this section you will find Simple Past Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. You can follow me on my social medias, the links are on the homepage.

Simple Future Worksheets

In this section you will find Simple Future Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. You can follow me on my social medias, there links are on the homepage.

Present Continuous Worksheets

In this section you will find Present Continuous Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. You can follow me on my social medias, there links are on the homepage.

Past Continuous Worksheets

In this section you will find Past Continuous Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. You can follow me on my social medias, there links are on the homepage.

Future Continuous Worksheets

In this section you will find Future Continuous Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. You can follow me on my social medias, there links are on the homepage.

Present Perfect Worksheets

In this section you will find Present Perfect Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. You can follow me on my social medias, there links are on the homepage.

Past Perfect Worksheets

In this section you will find Past Perfect Worksheets that may help you in your classes. Some of these worksheets have been taken from the internet and some of them I have prepared myself. If you know a great worksheet that it is not here let me know and I shall place it here. You can follow me on my social medias, there links are on the homepage.