What Three Tips Would You Share with Novice ESL / EFL Teachers?

What three tips would offer new a ESL/EFL teacher? Hall Houston, author of Provoking Thought: Memory and Thought in ELT, posed this question to several prominent English language trainers and teachers last year. Sean Banville, Russell Stannard, Chia Suan Chong, Nik Peachey, Scott Thornbury, and myself replied. (Naturally, I feel grateful to be included with these far more notable and...

Read More

Informational Interviews Help ESOL Students Succeed and Connect to Jobs

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” – Dr. Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990), Canadian-American educator How do you find good jobs in a bad economy? What job search technique is widely taught and practiced at elite private universities, but seldom used at community colleges, adult schools, and high schools? Why do I consider...

Read More

Choosing to speak English opens doors

As ESL and EFL teachers, we should encourage all English language learners! “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” -Brad Henry (1963- ), former Governor of Oklahoma Our students have chosen to speak English because it opens more doors. We should help them realize their ambitions, support their dreams, and avoid judging their...

Read More

Dreams and business plans unfold in English

English emerges as a lingua franca “[English] is the powerful language of resistance—it is the dialect of common sense.” -Walt Whitman (1819-1892) American poet English has rapidly become the international language for business, as a lingua franca. “That is to say, it is used as a medium of communication by people who do not speak the same first language,” explains Andy Kirkpatrick...

Read More