TEFL Articles
A selection of articles and essays related to the teaching of English as a second or foreign language. If you wish, you can submit an article for possible publication.
A reflection on mutual understanding between teacher and student
Why a course on teaching English might include Japanese lessons—and what you can do even if it doesn’t^^
Andrew Forrester explores the perils of mixing business with pleasure
The author of the ebook “English Prepositions List” summarizes some of the key points to understand when teaching prepositions and offers tips to make your teaching more effective
The author of the ebook “1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context” suggests practical ideas to make teaching phrasal verbs easier and more productive
From the creator of the world’s best-selling ESL board game—ten practical ideas on using games when teaching English
Matt Errey looks at competitive versus co-operative games, and healthy versus unhealthy competition
This article speaks about the importance of teaching pronunciation, or accent reduction, to all ESL students, and includes ideas for lesson plans.
Teachers need career pathways because if they don’t know where they’re going how can they expect others to follow?
A look at strategies for assessing and evaluating students considering a specific group
Short but thorough guide to teaching “must have done”, “can’t be”, etc.
How to stop wasting class time.
Going beyond phrases such as “like” and “for example”.
Using and expanding students’ memories while studying English as a foreign language.
How to start English for Academic Purposes classes in a pleasant and useful way.
What clothes vocabulary to teach and how to do so, including introducing loads of fun.
Fun classroom activities for prefixes and suffixes, especially useful for FCE, CAE and other exam classes.
Presentation and practice ideas for adults and young learners studying “You can’t…”, “… isn’t allowed”, etc.
Fun activities to practise talking about desires.
All kinds of lessons on the vital topic of green spaces in our towns and cities.
An overview of which body words to teach and how.
How to present and practise a much neglected and badly taught verb for expressing desires.
Presentation and practice of polite requests in communication inside and outside the classroom, including typical student problems.
When and how to use TPR-like activities with adult learners.
All kinds of lessons on a pleasant and surprisingly popular topic, also suitable for ESP students such as landscape architects.
Games with miming and other movement for the pronunciation and meaning of can and can’t.
Ways of adding fun and loads of other useful language to what is usually your students’ introduction to modal verbs.
A quick summary of what prepositions to teach kids and how to do so.
The unusual but suprisingly fun and effective combination of televisual images and words like “above” and “between”.
The great combination of artistic activities and words like “on”, “in” and “under”.
Total Physical Response activities to practise on, under, next to etc with young learners.
Ways of revising vocabulary as you present prepositions like “on” and “above”, or revising prepositions like these as you present new vocabulary.
Teaching the language that students need in order to give and ask for opinions, rather than just asking them to do so.
Much more intensive language of agreeing and disagreeing etc than just the usual discussion questions.
Ways to make sure craft activities develop students’ English ability as much as their artistic skills.
How to teach the CLILtastic topic of shapes, also vital for cutting down on L1 in classroom instructions.
Connor Davies offers tips for TEFL teachers who dream of self-employment.
Students often use the freedom of one-to-one classes to ask too many unimportant questions or questions the teacher can’t answer off the top of their head. This article offers some solutions.
Stimulating and efficient ways of teaching the basics of numbers to young learners.
A video about the native speaker myth.
Making sure that all classes get lots of functional language and that those lessons are useful for everyone.
Other ways to improve accuracy for the many times when simple correction of oral errors isn’t the best way.
Fitting cultural information in with a grammatical syllabus without taking up extra time.
Practical ideas for teaching polite language and friendly language.
Tying the extended speaking task in with the rest of the IELTS exam.
Practical suggestions for the popular topic of urban areas.
Reassuring tips and messages for people new to IWBs.
The most important language for all parts of the IELTS Speaking exam.
Stimulating practice for “first”, “second”, “twenty third” etc.
Looking at the practicalities of bringing grammar into classes that are mainly about business communication.
Stimulating ways of practising must/may/might/could/can’t for speculation.
Easier, more fun, more challenging and more useful classroom tasks for IELTS Reading.
A practical guide to helping students cope with this most challenging and most modern of skills.
Things to teach to students of all levels about the most important kind of politeness.
Entertaining ways to practise expressing gratitude.
Stimulating ways of quickly improving your students’ vital writing skills of planning and paragraphing.
How students can boost their score in the first part of the BULATS Writing exam.
Fun practice for one of the most common mistakes in English, including ideas useable with levels from False Beginner.
Things you need to cover to really teach the vital skill of emailing in English.
Entertaining speaking activities for “always”, “sometimes”, “never” etc, as well as similar expressions like “once every two months” and “three times a day”.
Issues associated with the use of student and teacher names in class.
Practical tips on bringing up the topic of names in the ESL classroom.
Ways to teach pronunciation and recognition of the English alphabet, including in fast connected speech
A summary of problems different students have with saying and recognising the English alphabet, including in connected speech
Minimal pairs are underexploited. This article looks at how teachers can teach pronunciation with minimal pairs, with some specific ideas for classroom use.
Fun pronunciation games using pairs of words that vary by one sound only
Games to introduce and practise the important point of words that sound the same but are spelt differently
Reasons to use homophones in teaching English and lots of ways to do so
Making the clichéd topic of weather interesting, relevant and linked to other useful language
Activities and classroom dynamic techniques for coping with students who take over
Stimulating activities to teach and practise the difficult but fascinating topic of words that describe people’s character
Suggestions for bringing the topic of political correctness into class in interesting ways, and for dealing with PC issues when they come up naturally
Ten entertaining ways to present and practise the names of clothes and ways of describing them, with activities for all ages and levels
Classroom issues connected to gender and interesting ways of using that topic in classes of various ages
More fun activities based on the names of clothes and how to describe them. For all ages and levels.
How to use real and pretend noises to liven up the class, make the language memorable, and teach a useful emergency communication technique
Using TPR, drawings, stories and games to make feelings vocabulary memorable and fun
Upgrade your TEFL skills for free in your own time.
Are you thinking about taking a TEFL training course? Are you a recent TEFL graduate? Please participate in this Q and A. There’s a treat at the end!
Questions to ask when your classroom is feeling lifeless
If tech is your thing, you likely know about the weekly #edchat on #Teacher Tuesday that takes place on Twitter. This week’s #edchat focused on technology. While the topic was whether or not it is possible for teachers to make the wrong choices when using tech in the classroom, many of the contributors focused on […]
EnglishClub learners are challenged every day. Here is a challenge for the English teachers!
You know from your own time at school that there were some teachers who you just did not mess around with.
EnglishClub.com now has a YouTube channel. Here are some other popular ones for ESL learners.
Use quotes as icebreakers, warmers, discussion topics, vocabulary lessons, and more…
Have you cleaned your computer lately? Spend a week getting your computer in top shape for a new school year.
Teach students to survive language learning by being active participants.
How teachers of English are using twitter professionally and personally
Presenting Vocabulary in YL Classes
Be creative. Be appealing. Be quick. To make sure your students will remember all the new words you taught them, be fun and have fun as well!
Ideas on Classroom Management in YL Classes
Tips to make your Young Learner classes work like magic
Cool Corporate English Consciousness
Giving your corporate classes the best approach
Two Gateways for Teachers of English
Review of EnglishClub and TEFL.net
Word Up Review by Alex Case
The biggest hit in our school this year
Guide to Teaching EFL in France
An EFL teacher shares her experience of teaching in central France
Hands off that e-dictionary!
The (few) merits and (many) disadvantages of e-dictionaries from the author's point of view
Lexis - the new grammar?
How new materials are finally challenging established course book conventions
Marketing Your Language Program 101
The basics to successful promotion of your courses
A Student Like Me
Suggestions for those who aspire to re-enter the classroom to get a degree
Motivation and Motivating in EFL
Coursebook: Take it or leave it
We do not have to dispense with the textbook. We only have to disabuse ourselves of the tendency to take a coursebook as gospel.
Intellect or Affect?
Intellect or affect? one may ask. Certainly both. We should not view them as two forces vying with each other, but as the ends of a continuum that is called self-awareness and spiritual elevation.
Speaking Practice through Presentations
Are You Netting the World's best ESL Resource?
Classroom: Forum or Arena?
A look at some of the factors that play an important role in the teaching-learning situation.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Language Learning
SAC Shock!!
Tips for self access centres
Should ESL Instructors Speak Other Languages in the Classroom?
20 Presentation Tips for Your Students
Cutting Out Cutting Up
Tips for lesson plans
How Was the Dip?
A personal reflection on the DELTA
Notes on Using Video in the Language Classroom
The Cultural Dynamics of Teaching
The changing winds and shifting sands of the history of English Language Teaching
Ingredients for Successful Communicative Tasks
Taking off the Training Wheels
Language and Sex
Why can't a woman be more like a man?
Accommodation Theory
Each one of us is aware that our style of speech changes in the twinkling of an eye, as it were, depending on a wide range of variables...
An Introduction to "Befogging" Idioms
Do idioms really call the shots?