what are esl strategies

6 Essential Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

• 1. Cultivate Relationships and Be Culturally Responsive No surprise here. ...
• 2. Teach Language Skills Across the Curriculum ...
• 3. Emphasize Productive Language ...
• 4. Speak Slowly—and Increase Your Wait Time ...
• 5. Differentiate—and Use Multiple Modalities ...
• 6. Incorporate Students’ Native Languages—and Don’t Be Afraid of Technology ...

Full Answer

How to teach ESL to total beginners?

Teach classroom phrases to your beginner ESL students with a demonstration: open the book, close the book, raise your hand. Similarly, you can use the same verbs to teach the students to close the door/window, open the door/window, etc. Remember, in the very beginning stages, showing and telling it in short are essential.

How to teach vocabulary to ESL students?

• using examples
• using illustrations in the form of pictures or objects
• demonstrating the word through acting or miming
• putting the word in a meaningful context in a story or appropriate sentence
• using opposites
• translating the word into the students' native language
• using associated ideas

How to teach verbs to ESL students?

Method to Teach ESL Verb Conjugation, Form, and Function of Tenses

• ESL Verb Conjugation Review. A common teaching strategy is to present the conjugation of verbs first. ...
• Overview of "Form" and "Function" Here are the five forms ESL and EFL students must learn for every verb tense. Affirmative Usage (e.g., She is eating dinner.)
• Function (s) of ESL Verb Tenses. ...
• Review and Recommendations. ...
• Irregular Verbs. ...

What are the best teaching strategies?

attention. The best technique I observed was instructors simply displaying plain-old enthusiasm for teaching. That's contagious and it keeps students interested. Other techniques worth noting include demonstrating good rapport, using students' names, maintaining good eye contact, and maintaining a good voice volume. These are things that

What are the strategies that ESL learners use?

End of newsletter promotion.Cultivate Relationships and Be Culturally Responsive. ... Teach Language Skills Across the Curriculum. ... Emphasize Productive Language. ... Speak Slowly—and Increase Your Wait Time. ... Differentiate—and Use Multiple Modalities. ... Incorporate Students' Native Languages—and Don't Be Afraid of Technology.

What are the 5 learning strategies?

The 5 Families – Teaching Strategies. Teaching Strategies are used to create learning environments and to assist students in reaching predetermined learning outcomes. ... Experiential Learning. ... Direct Instruction. ... Indirect Instruction. ... Interactive Instruction. ... Independent Study.

What are three effective strategies to use with ELLs?

Here are a few strategies that may help support intermediate ELLs in writing:Help students learn to combine two short sentences into one longer sentence to add sentence variety.Do mini-lessons focused on using precise vocabulary. ... Allow students to use computers for their writing.

What are ESOL strategies?

StrategyPossible TechnologiesAsk a question that the students answer.Presentation software, document camera, interactive whiteboard to display questionsStudents think aloud.Students complete sentences, charts, tables, etc.Word processor, Web-based interactive tools, interactive whiteboard, concept mapping software4 more rows

What are the most effective learning strategies?

Spaced Practice. Space out your studying over time. ... Retrieval Practice. Practice bringing information to mind without the help of materials. ... Elaboration. Explain and describe ideas with many details. ... Interleaving. Switch between ideas while you study. ... Concrete Examples. ... Dual Coding.

What is the most effective teaching strategy?

Encouraging students to ask thought-provoking questions is an effective teaching strategy that not only inspires your students to think practically but also become independent learners. By asking questions and working together to solve the problems, students get to be involved in the learning process.

What are examples of language strategies?

Examples of such strategies include guessing from the context in listening and reading, using synonyms and “talking around” the missing word to aid speaking and writing and strictly for speaking, and using gestures or pause words.

Why are ELL strategies important?

However, at the heart of ELL stands the same goal — to prepare students to speak English as quickly and proficiently as possible. The objective is so students can not only excel in academics, but they can also partake in social activities and have the ability to communicate with their peers and teachers.

How do you engage ESL students in the classroom?

12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream ClassroomMake it Visual. ... Build in more group work. ... Communicate with the ESL teacher. ... Honor the “silent period.” ... Allow some scaffolding with the native language. ... Look out for culturally unique vocabulary.More items...•

What is difference between ESL and ESOL?

ESL is English as a Second Language. ESOL is English to Speakers of Other Languages. Students who did not learn English as their native tongue and/or continue to use other than English as a dominant language would be considered an English language learner.

How can I be a good ESL teacher?

Here are a few things that come together to make a great ESL teacher.Passion for the job. ... The ability to build relationships. ... Commitment. ... Adaptability. ... Cultural Sensitivity. ... Learning a Second Language Yourself. ... Not taking it all too seriously.

Which method or approach is the best when teaching ELLs?

Communicative language teaching is perhaps the most popular approach among the methods of teaching ESL today. CLT emphasizes the students' ability to communicate in real-life contexts, and students learn to make requests, accept offers, explain things, and express their feelings and preferences.

What are learning strategies in education?

A learning strategy is a learner's way to organize and use a specific range of skills to learn curriculum content or complete other tasks more efficiently and effectively in a classroom setting as well as in non-academic settings.

How many learning strategies are there?

Cognitive psychologists have identified six key strategies that promote learning in many situations, and this research can be implemented to promote long-term durable learning.

What are the 4 types of learners?

Perhaps the most simple way of describing 'learning styles' is to say that they are different methods of learning or understanding new information, the way a person takes in, understand, expresses and remembers information. There are 4 predominant learning styles: Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinaesthetic.

What is the main goal of learning strategies?

Learning strategies are steps taken by learners to enhance their learning. An active use of language learning strategies helps learners in control of their own learning by developing language skills, increasing confidence and motivation in learning process.

What are ESL games?

ESL classroom games are an interactive way to allow students to continue learning independently and can be incorporated into a rotation during center time, as an intervention, or during indoor recess. I’ve personally used these as a reward when students finished their work early. There are also printable board games available for both free and for a small cost on TeachersPayTeachers.

How is an ESL Classroom Different from a Non-ESL Classroom?

Since ELD programs can encompass different ESL classroom structures, it is important to understand the differences between a classroom with ELs and one without so that we can best meet their instructional needs. Instruction in an ESL classroom should include as many of the following strategies as possible.

What do English learners learn in class?

English learners acquire vocabulary words and language skills not only in English class, but all academic subjects. Teachers of science, social studies, math, and other subjects need to ensure that their instruction includes explicit vocabulary instruction so that students can comprehend reading and writing within their curricular content.

What is explicit vocabulary?

Explicit vocabulary instruction is a purposeful and concise study of two or three vocabulary words at a time during instruction daily. ELs need to learn vocabulary words at a rate much higher in frequency than their native English-speaking peers. Vocabulary instruction is key for reading and writing comprehension.

Why is vocabulary important in reading?

Vocabulary instruction is key for reading and writing comprehension. In order to understand text in science, math, and social studies , vocabulary instruction in these subjects is imperative. One helpful strategy is to label everything in the classroom, as well. This visual helps support language acquisition and key vocabulary.

What is ELA in school?

Those students are then eligible for ESL (English as a Second Language) or English Language Acquisition (ELA) instruction. Depending on the school and district, students may receive ELD support in a variety of ways. There are two basic models of for ELD programs: the first uses English and another language, the second is English-only.

Why is multimodal learning important?

Multi-modal learning helps students deepen their understanding of topics. Reading, writing, listening, speaking, and drawing are examples of ways that students can learn information in new ways. Interactive notebooks give teachers the opportunity to teach content using these different modalities. Students can draw pictures that go with vocabulary words, complete sentence stems, and practice reading and spelling. It also helps students find a way to structure and outline concepts.

What is ESL in education?

Every teacher strives to make a long-term difference in the lives of children who attend their classrooms. Educators who teach English as a Second Language (ESL) have no doubts about their impact on students.

What is ESL classroom?

ESL classrooms often have students from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and traditions. An article on the Reach to Teach website points out that not only are there language barriers to overcome, but also a wide array of educational backgrounds and culture-specific learning styles.

How to teach ESL students to speak?

Encourage oral communication. Students have different natural ways of learning, but encouraging ESL learners to communicate verbally in class helps them practice the language and detect verbal cues. Talk with students to describe what you are doing, wearing, and planning; this helps them develop language and cultural awareness. By adding verbal response elements to every lesson, teachers can help ESL students become comfortable speaking a new language in front of others.

Why do ESL students pair up?

Besides gaining practical speaking experience, they can also correct one another. Pairs are more effective than larger groups, Liz explains because both students are actively involved. Students who are more eager and skillful sometimes dominate larger groups; struggling learners often fall behind.

What are the challenges of teaching English as a second language?

Every teacher strives to make a long-term difference in the lives of children who attend their classrooms. Educators who teach English as a Second Language (ESL) have no doubts about their impact on students. Teaching English to speakers of other languages present unique challenges: 1 Due to limited vocabulary range or nervousness, students may struggle to communicate or explain their confusion in full detail. 2 Limited literacy in a native language (L1) can create an obstacle for literacy in a second language (L2). 3 Cultural norms or classroom routines, such as raising your hand or brainstorming, are foreign concepts and acclimation requires time.

How do babies learn their language?

When infants start to grasp the language, they are surrounded by learning clues. Their parents talk to them throughout the day, pointing out and naming objects, explaining their actions and even interpreting the child’s moods and feelings. This is how children learn their native language.

Why is learning English important?

Learning English is a crucial priority but concessions are necessary for the whirlwind of changes they are facing.

Why is technology important for ESL learners?

Technology can help locate effective games and activities, but don’t overlook how it can become a central motivation. In a separate chapter of The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, Sara Smith described how ESL learners can view English as necessary for accessing the digital world. In other words, they’re motivated to learn English because they want to use technology generally or engage in specific digital environments. Some ESL learners, such as those limited in geography, are focused on joining a digital English community instead of a physical English linguistic community.

How to encourage outside of the classroom language?

One way to encourage outside-of-the-classroom language experiences is with technology. Engaging digital environments like social media platforms can help students express themselves and browsing the web can enable them to pursue their interests. Gaming is particularly noteworthy. Research in the book International Perspectives on Motivation demonstrated how games have high intrinsic motivation for continued play, given elements like fantasy story lines, challenges, humor, benchmarks of success, and clear rules. As a result, ESL learners can engage in rich, diverse, and meaningful language experiences.

Why are games important for students?

Marina Dodigovic wrote in The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching that “games promote learner centeredness, create the space for genuine communication within a meaningful context, and are often team‐oriented.” She went on to say, “They have been found to stimulate motivation, reduce anxiety, and allow for the integration of all language skills.”

What games are used for short stories?

pedagogical version of a crossword puzzle, and effective socially oriented games include Simon Says, Hangman, and Scrabble. A monologue activity used for short stories can match students’ levels and interests.

How does technology help students?

Using technology can help students find pleasure and even develop a certain identity in learning English. Smith believes that “increased digital environment contact and engagement will heighten general global affiliation and potentially even give rise to a distinct ‘digital affiliation,’” which explains specific environments like online gaming communities.

What topic appealed to Amanda Nehring's general education classroom?

One teacher, Amanda Nehring, engaged ELL students by choosing a topic that appealed to her general education classroom: birds of prey.

Is Lesley University online?

Lesley University’s program is offered in a convenient online format, giving you the flexibility to study when and where you want.

How to teach ESL?

There are many reasons why learning a few basic ESL teaching methods is a must for both new and experienced teachers. Here are some ways that learning the most popular methods of teaching ESL can help you as an English teacher: 1 Demonstrating knowledge of these ESL teaching methods and strategies makes you more marketable. 2 Discussing these strategies for teaching ESL students and using TEFL/TESOL buzzwords during an interview can improve your chances of getting hired. 3 Using a variety of methods in the ESL classroom makes you a more effective and engaging teacher. 4 Understanding pedagogy helps you design better ESL materials and lessons, as you can strategically select activities and use learning objectives that will benefit your students.

What are some popular ESL teaching methods?

For the direct method , all teaching is done in the target language, translations are not allowed in class, and the focus lies heavily on speaking instead of grammar. This makes the direct method a very student-centered strategy that has gained popularity in recent years.

What is the most popular method of teaching ESL?

Communicative language teaching is perhaps the most popular approach among the methods of teaching ESL today. CLT emphasizes the students’ ability to communicate in real-life contexts, and students learn to make requests, accept offers, explain things, and express their feelings and preferences.

What is CLT in teaching?

Since CLT focuses on teaching language through real-world assignments and problem-solving, it’s less concerned with grammar accuracy and instead focuses on fluency.

Why is it important to use pedagogy in ESL?

Understanding pedagogy helps you design better ESL materials and lessons, as you can strategically select activities and use learning objectives that will benefit your students. Teacher Nastassia reads with an ESL student in Portugal.

What is TPR in ESL?

You may have heard of this teaching strategy for ESL before, but what exactly is TPR? Total physical response has become a very popular approach in which students react to the teacher with movement , such as miming, gesturing, or acting out the language.

Why is it important to learn ESL?

Here are some ways that learning the most popular methods of teaching ESL can help you as an English teacher: Demonstrating knowledge of these ESL teaching methods and strategies makes you more marketable.

Why do ESL teachers use peer groups?

Just as content area teachers assign group projects pertaining to their content area, ESL teachers can assign group projects with the goal of increasing the amount of time students spend in meaningful communication outside of class.

How to make a difference in your students' attitudes towards learning English?

1. Get yourself in the right mindset: Classroom learning vs. outside practice.

How many people have misconceptions about learning a second language?

Studies show that over 80% of language learning students have misconceptions about what it takes to actually learn a second language. Unfortunately, those misconceptions usually translate to ineffective learning strategies.

How to make sure students have access to at home reading materials?

Building and maintaining a classroom library is one way to make sure your students have access to an adequate amount of reading materials for at-home reading practice. Accessing virtual libraries like Open Library and Lit2Go is another option to consider, especially if your resources are limited.

How to teach students to talk?

The key to this is pretty simple: build opportunities for your students to talk about things that interest them. This will show them that you’re interested in what they have to say and what they like. Maintain a positive and encouraging atmosphere for these experiences to take place and don’t be afraid to get off track (you can always get back on track later). After all, the overall goal isn’t for the students to learn scripts or how to answer questions correctly. We want them to ultimately be comfortable with spontaneous, authentic communication. The way to get there is to — you guessed it! — practice spontaneous, authentic communication!

Is motivation a factor in learning a second language?

Research clearly indicates that motivation is a huge factor in a student’s ability to learn a second language. I mean, that’s just common sense, right? Some students may come to your class intrinsically motivated and require very little from you to build interest. Others will require a large degree of extrinsic motivation, and you may need to be creative to find out what excites them.

Do ESL teachers stick with their students?

We ESL teachers stick with our students through thick and thin.

How to make sure ESL students are safe?

Make sure that ESL students are given safe opportunities to actually use the new language and that they have structured support where needs be. This could be in the form a of sentence starters on the board or from a supportive buddy, or teaching assistant.

Why do ESL learners need to feel good?

ESL learners need to feel as though they are succeeding and progressing. It helps them build momentum for the challenges ahead and builds their confidence in using English. For this reason , provide numerous activities that they can actually complete on their own, see the result of and feel good about.

What happens if an EAL learner doesn't see what it is expected of them?

If the EAL learners have not actually seen what it is that is expected of them then it is very hard for them to produce it, no matter how clear the instructions are, they simply need examples.

How to recycle vocabulary?

Ask them the same concept checking questions and questions that will trigger use of the new vocabulary frequently and at spaced intervals to aid memory retention. Use homework as another means to ensure repetition as well as starters and plenaries. Simple traditional word games are ideal ways to recycle vocabulary quickly and easily.

Where should I sit in an ESL class?

Personally, I like to have my ESL students sat in a position near the front of the room where I can support them easily myself and where they can see the board clearly. For ESL learners it is important for them to see the facial gestures and shape of the mouth and lips to use as clues as to what is being said. Being sat towards the back of the room can severely limit the chances of being able to pick up on this.

Can you set work for ESL students?

Remember, you can set work for ESL students that is on a completely different topic. If a student is really new to English then it may be really difficult for you to differentiate your lesson for them and it may be more beneficial for them if you have them working on a different topic which they can more easily make progress in. ESL students need to feel progress in order to maintain their confidence levels and continue being up beat in lessons.

Is it hard to teach ESL?

Having ESL students in your class can make it a more difficult and even more stressful class to teach, but imagine how the student is feeling. It can be very overwhelming, and even frightening for younger and very low level ESL students to join a mainstream class so make it fun and interesting wherever possible.

How many students are English language learners in 2019?

April 12, 2019. Over 10 percent of students in the United States—more than 4.8 million kids—are English language learners (ELLs), and the number is on the rise. Though these students do not learn differently than their native-English-speaking peers, they do have particular educational needs. To learn about these needs—and best practices ...

What makes a classroom successful?

A successful classroom, our educators agreed, is one in which students feel known, appreciated, and comfortable taking emotional and intellectual risks . That requires intentional planning and consistent messaging by the teacher.

What sentence frame to use for reluctant speakers?

To support reluctant speakers, Tan Huynh, an educator who blogs at Empowering ELLs, suggests using sentence frames. “For example, when a science teacher wants ELLs to produce a hypothesis, they might offer the sentence, ‘If _____ was added, then _____ because _____.’ This sentence frame provides clues that empower ELLs to sound and think like scientists,” Huynh says.

How many seconds between asking a question and expecting a response?

“Researchers have found that typically most teachers give one to two seconds between asking a question and expecting a student response,” he says.

How do kids learn?

All kids learn better when they engage with material in multiple ways: Lessons that involve writing, speaking, drawing, and listening, for example, give students four opportunities to deepen their understanding of the work. For ELLs, those additional engagements also provide a little breathing room so they can work through the language barrier.

Should English learners learn in isolation?

English language learners should not be learning the fundamentals of English in isolation; they should be applying their developing language skills to rich academic content in all subjects.

Can you record yourself speaking in class?

Still, many of the teachers I spoke to said this simple change is vital. You can record yourself speaking in class to measure your cadence, and adjust.

1. Consider the background knowledge ESL students require

ESL students may need to learn vital background knowledge about a concept or skill before they can engage fully in your lesson plan. Ask yourself,

2. Prepare ESL students to use classroom materials and tools

Some of your ESL students may be unfamiliar with materials and tools which seem basic for students who have grown up using them through school. For example, the format of textbooks, essays, lab reports, and other typical learning tools may be foreign to students new to your school.

3. Incorporate peer learning opportunities

Research suggests that when ESL students communicate regularly with their English-proficient peers, their English skills improve significantly more quickly than those in sheltered programs.

What other strategies can you use to support ESL students?

Over the next few weeks, our blog will highlight more best practices for providing equitable education for the ELLs in your classroom. Bookmark the studentachievementsolutions.com blog page in your toolbar to check back!