Practical Teaching Activities & Tips for Volunteer ESL Teachers
Here is an interesting video for volunteer teachers to watch before they begin working with an adult
learner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6De52Pzr8c&playnext=1&list=PLIqX0SRtnkrtPwirsKxO49rooaHELIyR&feature=results_video. This video not only demonstrates the Total Physical
Response teaching technique, but it also illustrates the challenges faced by someone who is learning a
new language for the first time.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
When you first meet the learner or learners you will be teaching, it is important to complete a needs
assessment. You will also want to revisit the needs assessment routinely as you continue your work
together. You will want to understand for what purposes the learner(s) needs/need English.
Beginning Learners
For beginning level learners, who are not yet reading and writing in English, you can use photos of
different places typically found in a community, e.g., a supermarket or mall, a bank, a post office, a
doctor’s office or hospital, an elementary school building, etc. Ask the learner to indicate the location
that is most important for him. For instance, if the learner chooses the doctor’s office, your lessons will
focus on learning vocabulary for body parts and illnesses. You will include the language structures
needed to make an appointment and talk to the doctor about an illness. You might also focus on
medications and reading medicine labels.
Intermediate and Advanced Learners
More advanced students can talk with you about what is important to them in their daily lives. You
might also ask the learner to fill out a written needs assessment to prioritize listening, speaking, reading
and writing as well as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Including a question about where the
individual needs to use English and with whom will help you to choose relevant topics for your
instruction. Also critical is inquiring about adults’ long term goals. Do they plan to attend college? Do
they hope to pursue work related to the professional careers they were trained for?
ENGAGING ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING LISTENING AND SPEAKING
In this section, you can read about a variety of different interactive activities focused on teaching
listening and speaking skills for learners at various levels.
Communication Strategies
Before jumping into the activities, a word about communication strategies is needed. Communication
strategies are essential skills to develop when learning to converse in a new language. Volunteer
teachers should explicitly emphasize these strategies so that learners are able to practice these skills
during every lesson. When communication breaks down during interactions, which it inevitably will,
this gives the learner a chance to repair that breakdown by asking the teacher to repeat, to spell, or to
explain differently. You will want to talk with learners explicitly and often about these strategies, e.g.,
“What did you say? Did you say ____? She lives where?” etc., so that they will become comfortable
using the strategies in their daily lives.
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Total Physical Response (TPR)
As demonstrated in the opening video, TPR is designed to assess listening skills after specific language
has been taught. The teacher or tutor calls out a prompt, and the learner responds through physical
action. For example, when teaching body parts, the teacher might say, “Show me your hand.” The
learner then lifts his hand. An alternative is to use photos. For instance, after teaching the vocabulary for
different occupations and providing learners with the appropriate photos, the teacher can say, “Show me
the computer technician,” and the learner points to the appropriate photo. TPR can be adapted to any
level by making the prompts more complex. For example, with a more advanced learner, the teacher
might say, “Please stand up, come to the front of the room, and write your birth date on the board.”
Using Photographs
We know from research that photographs are more effective when teaching language than stylized
drawings. Photographs can be used in a variety of ways to practice vocabulary (See TPR) and language
structures. After teaching the English words for recreation activities and the specific language structure
you want the learner to practice, you can engage in a conversation about which recreation activities she
likes and which ones she engages in regularly. For example, you and the learner might ask each other
the following questions, depending on the level and the grammatical structure taught: “Do you like
visiting museums?” etc. “Which do you like better, hiking or swimming?” etc. “How often do you listen
to music?” “What is your favorite movie?” “Have you ever played volleyball?”etc.
You can also use richly detailed photographs, such as those found at the National Geographic site
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/, to generate language. A beginner can first say
single words and then, if the learner has started writing in English, create labels for what is observed in
the photograph, with the teacher’s help, if necessary. The teacher can assist the beginner in saying and
writing sentences and then asking and answering questions about the photograph. This can lead to
writing sentences. More advanced students can describe what they see in complete sentences and write
descriptive paragraphs.
Using Videos
There are many videos at various websites and on YouTube that can be useful for teaching ESL. It is
usually best to choose short videos of no more than one to three minutes, depending on the level of the
learner you are working with. You will want to pre-teach essential vocabulary before viewing the video
together.
One site that is especially interesting is English Central at
http://www.englishcentral.com/videos#!/index. This site has a variety of videos drawn from various
contexts and at different levels of English. The videos have close captioning as well as some exercises
that can be used to enhance instruction.
Another website featuring videos, with detailed lesson plans and handouts for students, designed for
teaching English is “We Are New York” at http://www.nyc.gov/html/weareny/html/home/home.shtml.
The videos at this website are longer, and are presented in an engaging story format. The site includes
many activities for listening as well as vocabulary study for learners at different levels.
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Match Mine
This is a listening and speaking activity to practice vocabulary the learner is familiar with.
1. Both you and the learner will need a set of photos and a blank grid with 9-16 boxes. The grid can
be drawn inside a manila folder.
2. First model how to do the activity and teach the specific language needed for the task, e.g., “grid,
box, boxes, match, check, same, different, Put the fire station on number 6.” Depending on the
level of the learner, you may need to teach or review the numbers, too.
3. Emphasize the importance of communication strategies. Encourage the learner to check her
comprehension and ask for clarification when needed. It is critical to teach this language
explicitly and give the learner a chance to practice, for example: “Please repeat. Did you say
number 4? What did you say?”
4. Lead the activity by giving prompts for each photo, e.g., Put the hospital on number 9. The
learner responds by placing the correct photos in each box based on your prompts. Once the
student understands the task, you will want to hide your grid.
5. Compare the learner’s completed grid to yours. Does it match? To get more practice speaking,
the checking can be done interactively by asking the learner to report on each box.
6. You can then reverse roles with the learner giving the prompts.
Adapting Match Mine for Higher Levels
If you are working with a higher level learner, you can integrate prepositions of place and other direction
words, e.g., Place the library next to the supermarket. Put the park under the school. Put the church in
the upper right corner. Place the police station to the left of the pharmacy.” When you switch roles,
depending on the level, it may be helpful to or give the learner a handout with the prompt choices.
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Essential Small Talk
1. The teacher uses everyday “essential” questions, with learners who are already writing a bit in
English, i.e., the kinds of questions adults might be asked in interactions outside the classroom,
e.g., “Where are you from? How long have you been here?” In other words, the teacher would
not ask a question for which she already knows the answer such as “What color is your shirt?”
This gives the learner a lot of practice with the essential question words: what, where, when,
who, why and how.
2. The teacher asks the questions orally. The learner does not see the questions and is expected to
write a response on paper from only listening.
3. The student does not need to write the question, only the answer to the question.
4. The teacher states the questions only once, but emphasizes the use of communication strategies,
e.g., Please repeat. What did you say? If the learner asks the teacher to repeat the question, she
will repeat the question once and affirm the student for using communication strategies.
5. The teacher collects the paper and then goes over each question, showing the learner each
question one at a time. The teacher asks the leaner to answer the questions and models possible
correct responses. As appropriate, you can embed grammar, vocabulary, and spelling into your
explanations.
6. This activity gives the teacher important assessment information about how much the learner can
understand spoken English as well as information about the learner’s writing skills. The teacher
returns the paper during the next tutoring session or class with corrections. In the next session,
you may want to use one or more of the learner’s mistakes for a “fix the sentence” routine. You
can write one or more sentences on the board and ask the student to make the needed corrections.
7. For the next round of “Small Talk,” you will want to repeat some of the same questions,
especially the questions that were difficult for the learner. The teacher/tutor can then assess
whether there has been improvement in learner’s understanding and writing.
Building on Essential Small Talk through Interviewing
You can recycle some of the language by choosing a few of the Essential Small Talk questions for
conversation. The interview questions can include new vocabulary that has been the focus of instruction
as well as grammatical structures. You will want to go over each interview question, and give the learner
the opportunity to practice pronouncing the questions. You should also explain how to answer the
questions. You can have the learners practice short answers or complete sentences, depending on the
learner’s goal.
You can use the conversation grid to interview one another and fill in each other’s answers. Give time
for a lower level learner to fill in his answers to the questions first. Higher level students can be
encouraged to write complete sentences, while lower level students might write only short answers. The
teacher can use this opportunity to teach how writing a partner’s answer is different than writing your
own answers. For instance, for the question, “What did you do on the weekend?” a partner might say, “I
went to the park.” Her partner would then write, “She went to the park.” (See example conversation grid
on next page.)
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Sample conversation grid
What is your name?
(How do you spell
it?)
How was your
weekend?
What did you do on
the weekend?
Did you shop?
(Where did you
shop? What did you
buy?)
Did you watch a
movie? (What did
you watch? Did you
like the movie? Why
or why not?)
Of course, interviewing does not have to be combined with an Essential Small Talk activity; however,
doing so is one great way to recycle language in meaningful ways.
Scribes & Messengers (a variation on dictation)
1. Post pieces of text on the walls around the room. The text can be single words, a short sentence,
a poem, or a short paragraph, depending on the interest and level of the learner. Be sure to use
language the learner is already familiar with. You can even use the learner’s own writing as the
source.
2. Explain that one of you will be the Scribe (the writer) and the other will be the Messenger (the
reader). Reversing roles half way is an option.
3. Explain that the Scribe will sit at the table, and the Messenger will go to the wall to read the
information, memorize a bit of text, and then return to the Scribe and report what was read. The
Scribe will write what the Messenger reports. The Messenger may revisit the text as many times
as necessary. The goal is to reproduce the text perfectly.
4. Tell the learner that the Scribe may ask for clarification at any point. The Messenger may help
the Scribe using words, but the Messenger is not allowed to touch the writing instrument. It’s
important to encourage the learner to use communication strategies for example: ask for
repetition, spell words to clarify, ask “Did you say …?” etc.
5. When the dictation is complete, check the work by comparing it with the text on the wall.
Traditional dictation, where the teacher dictates a piece of text that is at an appropriate level for the
learner, can also be a useful activity to use during a tutoring session or class.
Listening Cloze
A cloze activity features a piece of text with missing words. Cloze can be done either as a reading
activity or a listening activity. To do a listening cloze, you will choose a piece of text at the appropriate
level for the learner you are working with. A learner’s own writing can be a wonderful source. It’s
helpful if you can have a typed version of the text with each sentence numbered. You would delete one
or more words from each sentence. You can delete more words for a more advanced learner. You will
provide the prepared handout to the learner and then read the complete text. The learner listens and
writes the missing words. Depending on the level of the learner, you may want to include a word bank,
too, to provide more support. (See cloze examples for learners at different levels on the next page.)
1. I lived in Malaysia for four years.
2. I worked in a restaurant.
3. I took orders and served food.
4. The restaurant was very busy with many customers.
5. I was tired after work.
6. I was happy to have a little money to buy food.
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Cloze Examples
Easy
1. I lived in Malaysia for ________________ years.
2. I worked in a ________________________________.
3. I ____________________________ orders and served food.
4. The restaurant was very _______________________ with many customers.
5. I was ______________________________ after work.
6. I was happy to have a little money to buy _____________________.
Medium
1. I lived in __________________________________ for ________________ years.
2. I ______________________________ in a _______________________________.
3. I ___________________________ orders and ___________________________ food.
4. The restaurant was very __________________ with many ___________________________.
5. I was __________________________ after __________________________________.
6. I was _________________________ to have a little money to buy _____________________.
Videos that provide a transcript can also be used to create a listening cloze exercise. The learner would
then watch the video and fill in the missing words.
Information Gap
In Information Gap, two individuals must work together to complete a task. One person has part of the
information, and the other person has another part of the information. For instance, you could use a chart
from the newspaper with daily high and low temperatures from around the world. You would create two
handouts, one for partner A and one for partner B. You would eliminate different information from each
partner’s handout. For example, you might eliminate the high temperature in Rome from partner A’s
paper and the low temperature in Rome from partner B’s paper. You and the student will work together
to complete the chart by asking each other questions. You will need to explicitly teach the specific
language needed, i.e., What was the low temperature in Rome? What was the high temperature in
Beijing? etc. Information in charts, graphs, and maps works well for creating information gap activities.
You can also use text written in paragraphs or numbered sentences.
Conversation Questions
Many adult learners are most interested in improving their conversational abilities, and having the
opportunity to engage in authentic conversations with a fluent English speaker is something they greatly
value. You can locate many websites that feature conversation questions on various topics. Of course, it
will be important to review the content to be sure it’s relevant to the level and interests of the learner(s)
you are working with. Here are some that can be easily adapted to a one-on-one teaching context:
http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/conversation/ideascards.htm
http://www.esldiscussions.com/ and http://www.eslgold.com/speaking.html
Flashcards
Research has shown that using old-fashioned flashcards can accelerate vocabulary learning. Encourage
the learner to create flashcards with English on one side and the home language on the other. The learner
can quiz himself any time he has a few extra moments, e.g., while waiting in the doctor’s office or riding
the bus. Be sure to have the student include examples on the card of how to use the word in meaningful
interactions. An alternative to paper flashcards is the Quizlet.com website where you can create
electronic flashcards for free. Quizlet is also available as a smart phone app.
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Language Experience Approach (LEA)
The LEA approach is a method of working with a learner to generate language for listening, speaking,
reading and writing practice. In LEA, the teacher supports the learner by beginning a conversation about
a topic of importance to the learner. The teacher writes the words said by the learner. Once a few
sentences are generated, the teacher works with the student in a variety of ways to build reading and
writing skills. You can watch the video at this link to see a demonstration of a tutor and one learner
engaged in LEA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXkkAItY298.
Activities for Language Learning between Tutoring Sessions (or Classes)
Volunteer teachers will want to encourage learners to engage in language learning between tutoring
sessions or classes, too. Here are a few ideas you may want to try.
Making phone calls
Using the phone is one of the most challenging tasks for those who are learning English. To give the
learner practice with the phone, you can assign the student to make phone calls for various purposes: call
a movie theater to find out when a particular movie starts, call a florist shop to find out how much a
dozen roses cost, call a department store or a supermarket to see if they carry a certain product, etc. If
you are open to the idea, you might ask the learner to call you to check in between tutoring sessions.
You can limit these calls to discussing specific questions such as what did you have for dinner tonight,
or what did you do on the weekend. You might also be able to recruit some interested volunteers to
receive calls from the learner.
You can find additional ideas for teaching the English needed on the phone in this online Telephone
Resource Kit.
Language Detective
You can encourage the learner to listen for a specific vocabulary word or phrase, idiom, or grammatical
structure that you covered during the class or tutoring session. Provide the learner with a log to record
these instances, indicating the time and the specific venue where she heard the language. During the next
class or tutoring session, invite the learner to talk about her detective work.
Listening Log
Provide the learner with a log to record new words or phrases he hears from listening to conversations,
TV, movies, music, the radio, etc. He can record the meaning of the word and write a sentence using the
word or phrase. During your class or tutoring session, you can check his work and provide feedback.
TEACHING PRONUNCIATION
Pronunciation is a particularly challenging aspect of the English language since the letters and sounds
are not well aligned. For instance, the vowel “o” has various sounds as demonstrated in the following
words: to, stop, how, bone, nation. Not surprisingly, many learners expect there to be good alignment
between the letters and the sounds, so this misalignment can be frustrating for them. Teaching some of
the most common spelling patterns will be helpful to the learner.
In addition to the specific vowel and consonant sounds of English, it is also helpful to teach what we call
the suprasegmentals of the language. The suprasegmentals relate to the rhythm and stress of the
language. For instance, yes/no questions have a rising tone at the end. We routinely reduce certain words
in the stream of speech, such as saying “gonna” for “going to” and “wanna” for “want to.” These
examples do not illustrate poor English; they represent the way all fluent speakers of North American
English use language. Accordingly, it will be helpful to the learner for you to point this out and provide
her with some listening practice.
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It is helpful to share basic information about the sound and spelling system of English with learners, and
a pronunciation textbook or website can be useful for this purpose. An interesting website for teaching
pronunciation to advanced students is Rachel’s English at http://www.rachelsenglish.com/. This site
includes dozens of short videos that focus on both the individual sounds as well as the suprasegmental
aspects of English.
It is important to model and to teach pronunciation through meaningful language interactions. The
various activities outlined above, give you the opportunity to focus on specific aspects of pronunciation
to support the adult you are working with, but it is important to provide pronunciation support as a
component of each lesson.
ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT TIPS FOR VOLUNTEER TEACHERS:
Adult English Language Learners’ Diversity
Adult English language learners (ELLs) are an amazingly diverse group that represents cultures and
languages from across the globe. These learners vary in terms of their educational backgrounds as well
as their knowledge of English. Some learners have had extensive education in their countries, while
others have not been to school nor did they need to learn to read and write in their previous community.
Moreover, many immigrants and refugees have limited or interrupted educational experiences due to
calamity or war.
Adult ELLs’ knowledge of English also differs. Some have studied English previously, while others
have no knowledge of English at all. Some learners have developed some reading and writing skills in
English, but have limited speaking and listening skills, while for other adult learners, the situation is
reversed. These individuals can understand and speak some English, but have limited ability to read and
write English.
Individuals who have had limited or interrupted formal schooling, or no schooling at all, are often
referred to as “emergent readers.” These adults are learning to read and write for the first time, and they
need instruction that is targeted to those needs.
The first step for volunteer teachers is to determine something about the background of the learner and
what skills the learner brings to learning English as well as what skills need to be improved. This section
will provide you with some guidance.
If you are working with a learner who has no or limited formal schooling, you may want to take the free,
self-paced online course at the LINCS website at lincs.ed.gov. This online course provides a good
foundation in how to work effectively with “emergent readers.” You will find additional excellent online
courses about teaching adult ESL at this site as well.
A Few Essential Second Language Acquisition Concepts
Comprehensible Input
No one can learn another language unless the content is understandable. This means that you should
simplify your language to the degree necessary for the learner to comprehend what you are saying. For
beginners, you will be doing a lot of acting out to make concepts understandable. You are also
encouraged to bring real items (e.g., actual fruits and vegetables, bus schedules, medicine labels, etc.) to
ensure the language is comprehensible to the learner.
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The Output Hypothesis
Just listening to language that is comprehensible is not enough to acquire English. Learners also must
use the language in interaction with others. You will need to structure many opportunities for the learner
to engage with you in meaningful conversations. For beginners, those conversations will be very simple:
What is your name? How do you spell it? Where are you from? How long have you been here? etc.
The Silent Period
Some newcomers, though not all, need a period of time when they are only listening to comprehensible
language and not producing the language. Providing opportunities for listening and responding through
physical actions, rather than speaking, such as through Total Physical Response, is appropriate during
this period.
Errors and Error Correction
It is impossible to learn another language without making mistakes. In fact, mistakes can be
opportunities to learn. Volunteer teachers should put learners at ease and help them to understand that
making mistakes is essential to the language learning process. The tutoring session or class should be a
safe space for learners to make mistakes and learn from them. That being said, it is not necessary, and it
could even be counterproductive, to correct every mistake. It is best not to correct a learner while she is
trying to communicate. You may want to draw her attention to something specific after she has finished
speaking, perhaps a point that is related to language you have taught.
The Role of the Home Language
It is essential to recognize that the home language is a vital support to learning a new language. In fact,
research has shown that the most effective way to learn a new vocabulary word is through translation.
Moreover, bilingual instruction with children has proven to be the most effective method for teaching
and learning language. In practical terms, it is often not possible to teach bilingually. Nevertheless,
volunteer teachers should keep in mind that drawing upon the home language in various ways is going
to be helpful to the adult learner. For instance, many learners will have bilingual dictionaries, which will
be useful. If you or the learner have access to the internet, you can almost always find translations
online. You can also ask the learner about translations as well as how certain grammatical structures
work in his language. Sharing language comparison details can be very helpful to the learner you are
working with.
The Role of Culture
Learners represent many languages and cultures that vary significantly from that of North Americans. It
is critical that volunteer teachers are sensitive to the North American culture within which they are
immersed. We are often blind to the assumptions we make about our own culture and that of others, so it
is essential that we respectfully withhold judgment about learners who come from outside of our
context.
Learners’ Advice to Their Teachers/Tutors
The following valuable teaching/tutoring tips were provided by adult learners themselves when their
ESL teacher asked for their advice (Florez, 2001).
Source: Florez, M. C. (2001). Beginning ESOL learner’s advice to their teachers. Focus on Basics, 5(A).
Retrieved from http://www.ncsall.net/index.html@id=279.html
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Repeat, but differently.
It’s important to recycle the vocabulary and grammar structures you introduce in engaging and
meaningful ways. In the next section, you can read about several teaching activities to engage the adult
learner in using language in a variety of ways.
Spend more time on topics and go more deeply into them.
Adult learners want their teacher/tutor to cover topics more intentionally rather than quickly moving on
to the next theme. Spending more time on a particular topic gives you the opportunity to recycle the
vocabulary and grammatical structures more meaningfully, as well.
Don’t fall into a vocabulary rut.
As critically important as vocabulary is, adult learners want to learn more than lists of words. The
learner needs you to show her how to use the vocabulary in sentences and dialogs as well as other
authentic tasks, and she need lots of practice doing so.
Do more reading and writing.
A valuable piece of advice is to balance listening, speaking, reading and writing as much as you can in
your lessons. Following this principle will allow you to recycle language in a variety of meaningful
ways. Of course, the particular needs and goals of the learner you are working with should guide your
lessons. Some learners may want to focus primarily on listening and speaking skills, while others may
want to focus primarily on reading and writing.
Let us know how we are doing.
Adult learners want their teacher/tutor to talk with them explicitly about their progress. There are several
ways to provide learners with helpful feedback, which are outlined in the next section. It is also valuable
to engage learners in assessing themselves.
Give us more than the simple present.
Research has clearly shown that language learning is not a linear process that builds from so-called
simple to more complex language. Even beginners need more than the simple present. Volunteer
teachers should be prepared to teach the language learners need to communicate in their daily lives.
Teaching the simple past is especially important, so adults can talk about their past experiences.
Know when to say, “That’s all you need to know for now.”
Teachers do not need to explain everything. In fact, particularly with beginners, going off on a tangent to
explain specific points of grammar or obscure vocabulary is usually not necessary or even welcome. It
will be helpful to think carefully about the specific language the learner needs to use and stick closely to
that language in the lesson.
Watch your “teacher talk.”
It is fair to say that beginners very often do not understand what their teachers say. You will want to
think carefully about the vocabulary, idioms, and grammatical structures you use during your class and
be careful to avoid using language the learner is not familiar with. When you do use language the learner
is unfamiliar with, you will want to be prepared to explain it.
Talk to us about learning and the learning process.
Adult learners are typically very sophisticated and want their teacher/tutor to talk with them about how
they learn best and what they need to learn. For example, you can invite the learner to suggest the topic
they would like to focus on during the class.
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Some Additional Websites for Teaching and Learning English
Breaking News English (low intermediateadvanced)
Brief news stories of current events for listening
and reading with a wide array of activities to
accompany the stories
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
Learn American English
Owww.elderliteracy.org. nline:
High beginning to advanced videos of a teacher
teaching grammar and vocabulary, includes
many additional resources
www.learnamericanenglishonline.com
Pumarosa
Bilingual site in Spanish and English
http://www.pumarosa.com/
USA Learns:
Beginning to intermediate videos and practice
exercises www.usalearns.org
The Learning Edge:
Intermediate level listening and reading of news
items with vocabulary and practice exercises
http://thewclc.ca/edge/
Marshall Adult Education Reading Skills
Low intermediate level listening and reading on
topics of interest to adults
http://resources.marshalladulteducation.org/readi
ng_skills_home.htm
The Elder Literacy Curriculum
(This is a basic, low-literacy ESL curriculum
NOT just for elders)
To request a free digital copy of the curriculum,
please visit You can also preview curriculum
materials on the 'Resources'
page: www.elderliteracy.org/resources/
Making it Real
Curriculum especially for non literate and low
level
http://www.camdencountylibrary.org/sites/defau
lt/files/files/Making_It_Real%20%20teaching%20refugees.pdf
Telephone Skills Resource Kit
http://literacynet.org/esl/minigrants/telephoneski
lls/
Queens Library Health Literacy
For Beginners
http://www.queenslibrary.org/services/healthinfo/english-for-your-health/teacher-beginnerlevel
For Intermediate/Advanced
http://www.queenslibrary.org/services/healthinfo/english-for-your-health/teacherintermediate-level
Online Dictionaries
Lingro
Offers clickable translation for words on any
website
lingro.com
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
http://www.ldoceonline.com/
Newbury Dictionary of American English
http://nhd.heinle.com/home.aspx
Picture Dictionary Online
http://www.pdictionary.com/
Grammar & Writing
My English Pages
http://www.myenglishpages.com/
My English Teacher
http://www.myenglishteacher.net/
Purdue University Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Advanced Composition for Non-Native Speakers
of English
www.eslbee.com
Listening and Grammar
Dave’s ESL Café
http://www.eslcafe.com/
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab
http://www.esl-lab.com/
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A Few Teacher/Tutor Training Resources for Teaching Adult ESL
including with ELL who are Emergent Readers
Bigelow, M. & Schwarz, R. L. (2010). Adult English language learners with limited literacy.
Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/ELLpaper2010.pdf
ESL Literacy Network (our colleagues in Canada have a wonderful site with a free downloadable
handbook Literacy for LIFE (Learners with Interrupted Formal Education): An ESL Literacy
Handbook free webinars, and wonderful ESL Literacy Readers, i.e., books for adult learners)
http://www.esl-literacy.com
LINCS Learning Portal features ELL-U’s free, self-paced online courses for adult ESL teachers -one course focuses on adult emergent readers
https://community.lincs.ed.gov/category/tags/lincs-learning-portal
Multilingual Minnesota a wide assortment of resources in support of multilingualism
www.multilingualminnesota.org
New American Horizons (teacher training videos) -- all are good, look for the one on Building
Literacy with Adult Emergent Readers
http://www.newamericanhorizons.org
Wrigley, Heide’s reading assessment video demonstration.
http://www.literacywork.com/readingdemonstration
Vinogradov, P. (2008). "Maestra! The letters speak.” Adult ESL students learning to read for the
first time. MinneWITESOL Journal, 25. www.minnewitesoljournal.org
Vinogradov, P. & Bigelow, M. (2010). Using oral language skills to build on the emerging literacy
of adult English learners. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED540592.pdf
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