Videotaping Helps ESL Students Recognize Their Good Mistakes – and Learn from Them!
How do you help your ESL students recognize their errors in speaking English? What techniques do you use to make their mistakes “psychologically real” to them? One technique I’ve found effective may seem rather counter-intuitive: encourage them! This unorthodox teaching idea has recently attracted some welcome attention.. Larry Ferlazzo, the award-winning ESL blogger and author...
Read MoreDo Informational Interviews Have a Place in Business English Programs?
Speaking skills – especially in stressful situations – matter. Most quality Business English and VESL (Vocational English as a Second Language) programs provide extensive training and practice in both short and long job interviews. Job interviews are stressful – especially for English language learners. In fact, many adult, community college, and university ESL programs also...
Read MoreAsk Your English Students to Review TED.Com videos – and Create Compelling Conversations
How can you encourage your advanced ESL students to develop their speaking skills and tap their interest in our rapidly changing world? Create compelling classroom assignments that respect their intelligence, engage their curiosity, and model great speaking skills. Let your students be hunters, gathers, and presenters of new information to their classmates! Adding a homework assignment that...
Read MoreEnglish Teachers Confront the Billion-Person Question
“How can rural Chinese students develop their listening and speaking skills with very limited opportunities to speak with actual native speakers in person?” This question remains the billion person question! English language learners across Asia – in China, Thailand, and Vietnam – and the entire globe – confront this profound problem. As somebody who has only taught English for a...
Read MoreFluency Requires Practice
“To know and not do is to not know.” The Talmud Fluency requires practice. Our students also know that speaking English can be both satisfying and stressful. Therefore, we require speaking activities in class – and strongly suggest ways to speak more out of class. Our students want to be fluent, but they often hesitate to practice their speaking skills. Many students do not...
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