Speaking Activity Example

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 Sara Stojanovic TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Teaching Language Skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening There are 4 different types of language skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. When teaching, a teacher should make sure that students develop all four language skills. This can be achieved through different teaching techniques as well as through practicing them through exercises. Table of Contents How to teach reading? How to teach writing? How to teach speaking? How to teach listening? Conclusion Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! How to teach reading? Reading is important for students in many different ways and it is...  [Read more]

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas 5 Communicative ESL Speaking Activities Your Students Will Love Speaking activities are essential for English learning as they give a chance to learn new linguistic points, including grammar and real-life listening skills. Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: Speaking Cards Collaborative Discussion Interview Giving Directions Speaking Boardgame Are you ready to teach online or in-class? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! Unfortunately, teachers often omit communicative tasks in the classroom because they feel that it is difficult to manage them. There is also a lack of time to practice speaking; many course books provide ESL...  [Read more]

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How Learning Differs for Young Learners and Adults Young learners and adults have different needs and goals in the classroom. Young learners want to be engaged and have rapidly changing activities while adult learners will enjoy a more serious classroom setting. It is the job of the teacher to ensure that these needs are met for both age groups. Table of Contents Visual Activities Speaking Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Preston M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Visual If a teacher is teaching classes with young learners, visual cues are very important. Many young...  [Read more]

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas A Comprehensive Lesson Plan for Intermediate ESL Students in a 1-Hour Class Effective communication is a crucial skill for ESL learners, and developing strong speaking abilities is a key aspect of language acquisition. In this blog post, we will explore a comprehensive lesson plan designed specifically for intermediate ESL students. This one-hour class aims to equip learners with the necessary tools to enhance their speaking skills, fostering confidence and fluency. Let's dive into the details! Table of Contents Part 1: Warm-Up and Introduction (10 minutes) Part 2: Vocabulary and Language Review and Speaking Practice Task (25 minutes) Part 3: Language Focus and Expansion with Role-Play or Simulation...  [Read more]

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Teacher Who Talks Less is on Their Way to Success The more a teacher speaks the less attention the learners will pay. Decreasing teacher speaking time can be done with a few practical steps and wonderful teaching methods. It all starts with proper planning. When designing a lesson plan be sure to include assignments and activities that will engage your students and do not call for a teacher dominant role. Table of Contents Classroom activities Eliciting Additional materials Revision methods Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Johnelle M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT....  [Read more]

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Playing Games in an ESL Classroom "Play is our brain's favorite way of learning" – Diane Ackerman. Table of Contents Game Rules Adaptability to Age Differences Other Groups Types Are you ready to teach English abroad or online? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Danila E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I could not agree more with the quote above as playing games in the classroom has many advantages:The main thing needed for a successful process of learning is, of course, motivation. And playing games certainly increases...  [Read more]

Fri, 04 Oct 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What Outdoor Activities Can Help When Teaching English While it is true that many students crave consistency in the classroom, it can also be argued that students of all ages and levels tend to lose motivation and interest if lessons become too predictable or repetitive. For this reason, many teachers choose to incorporate outdoor activities into their lessons. In addition to maintaining interest, some possible benefits to taking your students outside the classroom (especially in an English-speaking country) include opportunities to interact with locals, experience culture, and practice in "real life" scenarios, all of which can help build students' confidence. Even if students are learning English in their home countries, there are...  [Read more]

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas TEFL Ice Breakers: What You Need to Know What are ice breakers and when and where do we use them? In this blog post, we will cover these issues and give actual examples of activities you can use with your classes. Table of Contents Watch the video about this topic We are going to consider five different activities. Two Truths and a Lie Word Chain Positive, Negative, Crazy Would You Rather Finish the Sentence Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! Watch the video about this topic Icebreakers are games or activities that are designed to 'break the ice'. Typically you would use these kinds of games or activities at the...  [Read more]

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas 4 Activities for Teaching Future Tenses in the ESL Classroom In a previous post, we looked at various teaching ideas for future simple and here we're going to describe some fun ideas for teaching three other future tenses. There are a wide variety of usages for future tenses and it's always important to make sure your activities focus on the usages that you've taught in your lesson. For example, future continuous can be used to talk about an ongoing action at a point in the future, a fixed future event, polite enquiries or to predict the future or the present. Predicting the present is one that students often have trouble conceptualizing, so we might as well start from there. Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: Predicting the...  [Read more]

Wed, 29 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How can Game-Based Learning be Helpful to EFL Students? Games are a useful tool for teachers of EFL students because they help with motivation, engagement, and graceful failure (Plass 260-261). I will present a successful example of a teacher using games in an adult grammar class from Indonesia. Second, since I plan to teach online EFL students, I will present free digital games online teachers can use in their virtual classrooms. Table of Contents Advantages of the Theory The First Research Popular Games Access to Materials My Choice Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christopher C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas 5 Factors Influencing The Choice of Activities for Students With Shorter Attention Spans First of all, I notice that adults have a bigger focus on what the teacher is saying and doing during the lesson, than the kids or teenagers. It is because, in my opinion, adults realize why they need to study English. For example, they will be able to find a better job or they may get an enhancement. So they know it is one of the important goals for them for a particular period of their life. And speaking about kids, they are too young first of all. They do not have a clue what is a goal and why they need it. The only thing they know is that their parents want them to study well, but it's not enough in a lot of cases. And sometimes the kids...  [Read more]

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Tolerance and Cultural Sensitivity in The Classroom Since one of the essentials of being a good teacher is being respected by your students, it's very important to make sure one does not offend culturally by one's behavior or the content of the lessons. Lessons should be fun and at times feel "free" in the sense that students are laughing and interacting with each other and with the teacher perhaps in a game, but at no point should boundaries be crossed that would make students uncomfortable or put them in a defensive posture. Table of Contents Rapport Special Cultural Aspects Examples of Cultural Misunderstanding Do you want to learn more about other cultures? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: Listen to this blog post This post...  [Read more]

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Use of Games in the Classroom I have been teaching English as an assistant language teacher in Japan for the past 4 years. I have taught all grades from kindergarten through 9th grade, and have worked with many teachers with a variety of teaching styles. In this essay I will look at the use of games in the foreign language classroom, drawing from my experiences to look at several specific games and discuss how they help students learn and use English. Table of Contents 1. Games are a good way to make class fun, increasing student motivation while using English. 2. Creating activities with existing resources 3. A possibility to communicate 4. Examples of games Do you want to teach English abroad or online? Take a TEFL course!...  [Read more]

Tue, 30 Jun 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What are The Ways to Manage and Adapt Teaching and Learning for Mixed-Ability Classes? Teachers of ESL will often find themselves in charge of a class with students at different levels of proficiency. When this happens, the teacher needs to know ways to adapt and manage the class and activities in a way that benefits all the students. The stronger students could become bored if the teacher caters to the weaker ones, and, reversely, the weaker students could become demotivated and feel forgotten and left behind when they cannot keep up with the advanced students. So how can a teacher make sure all the students get what they need from the class? Table of Contents Adapting materials according to the level Grouping Other strategies Do...  [Read more]

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How Using Songs May Be Beneficial for Your Teaching Although all parts of a lesson are equally important, the "engage phase" may be the most important. The "engage phase" is the departing point of the lesson, and where you will focus the attention of the students away from the other occurrences of the day, and make them focus on learning the English language. Choosing the activity in which to grab the students' attention can be a challenge, as it must grab the students' attention within one or two minutes. The best types of activities are those in which students are fully engaged in a cognitive, critical thinking process. Through various studies, music has shown to be an activity which utilizes many parts of the brain at once and...  [Read more]

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences How Japanese as a Native Language Causes Problems for Students Learning English in Japan This essay seeks to explain how the Japanese 'Katakana' and 'Romaji' alphabets cause barriers to the introduction of English education in Japanese elementary schools. It will look at how these alphabets affect the pronunciation, writing, and reading abilities of Japanese students. Table of Contents The Japanese language arguably has four different alphabets. Chart 1: Examples of Katakana and Romaji English word(s)/ English pronunciation/ Katakana/ Katakana pronunciation/ Romaji Engage: Study: Activate: Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ethan M....  [Read more]

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas 5 Great Activities to Accelerate All Four Language Skills I would like to introduce five flashcards activities which I found fun and practical to enhance a student's vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, listening, and speaking. Table of Contents 2.Grab It 3.Circle Pass 4.Hint Game 5. Find the Odd One Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate MOHSEN H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. 1. Show & Tell This activity is designed to teach vocabulary as well as practice listening. It can be used for teaching various categories (animals, food, fruits, …) or a mix of them.The...  [Read more]

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 Ramon Perez Teaching Ideas Top Tips For Creating An EFL Lesson Plan For Young Learners With each passing day, we learn something new. We build upon the previously attained knowledge and expand our understanding of various subjects. As teachers, we have the responsibility of expanding our students' knowledge and abilities. As much as we would like to provide fun and innovative ways to present the information, it can be difficult to keep it fresh on a daily basis. Table of Contents WHAT IS A LESSON PLAN? WHAT WHEN HOW WHERE WHY WHAT DOES A LESSON PLAN CONSIST OF? WARM-UP REVIEW NEW SUBJECT GAME WORKSHEET FINAL TIPS Now you're ready! Remember, be creative and make it your own. Related Articles: There are many factors to take into consideration when teaching a new...  [Read more]

Thu, 07 Jun 2018 Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Top 5 Icebreakers for New TEFL Teachers As you have learned during your TEFL certification course, a good lesson starts with an engage, or warm-up phase. This usually consists of a fun and interesting activity to get your students going and speaking in English. For new teachers, it's often these more casual moments of a class that are a challenge because of their lack of teaching experience. However, these top 5 icebreakers for new TEFL teachers will help you to get your class energized and ready for your lesson. Table of Contents 1. Two Truths and a Lie 2. ABC Word Chain 3. Positive, Negative, Crazy 4. Would You Rather…? 5. Finish the Sentence Listen to this blog post Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles 1....  [Read more]

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Reasons Why Teaching Productive Skills is The Cornerstone of Communication For this Summative Task, I will be discussing the topic of teaching productive skills in the classroom. As opposed to receptive skills learned previously (reading and listening), productive skills focus on speaking and writing. Regarding writing, this function of language education is often the most neglected in the TEFL world, due firstly, to the fact that teachers and students don't want to monopolize class time with quiet individually driven work. Writing skills are mostly practiced in the form of homework which can often be neglected and completed without necessary focus and effort. Concerning speaking, this function requires a higher deal of language...  [Read more]

Lesson Plan TEFL Check out tefl tesol about Lesson Plan TEFL and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: Check out ITTT's Blog Posts C.V. - Australia said: Accuracy and Fluency ActivitiesNowadays, how to communicate successfully in the English language has become more significant than reading and writing. For most people, the importance of producing messages effectively and to negotiate meaning is essential. People communicate for various reasons. They want to listen to something, they are interested in what is being said, they want to say something and/ or they have some communicative purposes. It is the teacher?s...  [Read more]

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Methods of Developing Speaking Skills in Kindergarten Level Children Kindergarten students are those who are typically around the age of five. From birth till five, they would have developed their sensory and speaking abilities in their mother tongue with decent fluency. Children at this age have a strong potential to gain a lot of information. They would know about 1000-2000 words by this time. At this age, they are formally introduced to reading and writing skills, group work, independent thinking, and sharing practice. Teaching children at this age can be quite challenging and fun. Vocabulary is one of the strongest predictors when it comes to speaking capacity. So, by carefully incorporating study into play we can enrich...  [Read more]

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas How to Teach English Knowledge Instead of Teaching Skills What comes to mind when one thinks of an English classroom? Is it organized rows of desks filled with students writing vocabulary and grammar into their notebooks while the teacher talks in the front? This is the classic image of a classroom. A student goes to school to learn what they don't already know. When teaching English, it can be easy to fall into the trap of rote memorization and reliance on grammar and vocabulary. However, is this method effective? Does this way of learning motivate students to become lifelong learners of a foreign language? It is less useful to teach students many things than to teach them the skills needed to...  [Read more]

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas 7 Effective Speaking Activities for a Mixed-Abilities Classroom Speaking is one of the most important skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing). We do not only help students to understand, write and read it, but also speak it fluently. Teaching speaking skills for a mixed-ability classroom is not easy. Table of Contents 1. Pair or group. 2. Say things about a picture. 3. Speaking clocks 4. How many? 5. Disappearing text 6. I went to the shop and I bought 7. Word Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Huyen N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When we are teaching a class...  [Read more]

Sun, 20 Aug 2023 Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas What are some useful ESL teaching resource books? The market for ESL teaching books is very large and all the major publishers have some form of involvement in the production and selling of these resources. There are many different types of books and resources that are used in ESL teaching and we will consider three main categories.1) General teaching theory books2) ESL book series3) Activity resource books Table of Contents General teaching theory books ESL book series Activity Resource books Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! General teaching theory books As an ESL teacher unless you spend your entire career...  [Read more]

Thu, 08 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Songs as a Tool to Teach Grammar To begin with, I have been teaching English for more than 30 years. I teach groups of students and individuals of different ages and abilities. That is why I have always had a problem how to raise my students' motivation, how to make my lessons interesting and exciting so that the bell at the end of the class would be for me, not for my students. I have always wanted them to be upset that the lesson is over. As a result of this research, I concluded that along with having different games, quizzes, puzzles, crosswords and project works, learning and singing songs is as challenging and helpful as doing grammar exercises. The results of learning English songs by heart is stunning. Do not think that I do...  [Read more]

Wed, 15 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Designing a Plan for a Preschool ESL Class Although I have spent many years as an English tutor and teacher of children, I always relied on my own innate skill and have never been formally trained. Within my circle, I was the resident expert on the English language, as I was one of the few native speakers. From my own efforts and studies, I developed my own program for my students. I often felt unsure if I was applying the right methods and longed for some formal training. Now I can say that I have learned a great deal from studying the ESA method, and have a better understanding of what good lesson planning and classroom management involves. From my own intuition and experience, I learned to apply some of the techniques and methods...  [Read more]

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas 5 Unusual Ways to Build Strong English Vocabulary Vocabulary lessons are quite easy to teach and students love them because of the many exciting games teachers usually implement. In this article, we want to share several unusual ideas for building strong English vocabulary that will definitely help you in your classroom. Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: 1. PlayDough Wordbuilding 2. Greek and Latin Word Roots 3. Interactive Word Wall 4. Labelling Real Objects 5. Find a Native-Speaking Pen Pals Do you want to teach English abroad or online? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! Listen to this blog post: 1. PlayDough Wordbuilding You can approach any age...  [Read more]

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 Ramon Perez Teaching Ideas Techniques to Transmit New and Difficult Concepts to Students Every day, we learn something new. It can happen on the street, at work, at school and even in our home. We can attain new skills and knowledge through our interactions with our surroundings. Utilizing our 5 senses and past experiences to make sense of what is going on, we can ascertain new concepts and make proper use of them in our daily lives. However, as a teacher, we are tasked with transmitting abstract concepts that become difficult to fully grasp through traditional methods. Consequently, some teachers rely on literal translations to bring the point across. Table of Contents VISUAL AIDS ACTING/ROLE PLAY ENUNCIATION AND SPEECH MIMING CONCLUSION Related Articles: Since...  [Read more]

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas 3 Stress Relief Strategies to Help Students in the ESL Classroom Like many other subjects, learning a foreign language is a cumulative process. What you learn during one lesson or study session will build upon what you learned previously. Learning a new language especially English is not easy. A lot of students struggle to face the confusion and difficulty of English. English being particularly popular can be hard at times for several reasons. This essay discusses the way teachers should do to help their students get rid of the pressure of learning English. Table of Contents 1. Encouragement 2. Homework Reduction 3. Appealing Materials Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written...  [Read more]