NEW BOOKS FOR TEACHING ESL
English Writing skills A and B by Jenny Dove
Includes how to write the following: Film & book reviews, feature articles, diaries, cloze tests, formal essays and speeches, opinionative letters etc
Learning English with Literature by Tony Shaw
Includes 3 novels and units of work using Bloom's Taxonomy
Student Speak by Helen McKessar
All of the above books are published by User friendly Resources in Australia, New Zealand and the UK www.userfr.com email; info@userfr.com
Contact details; New Zealand phone; 0508-500399
Australia phone; 1800553891 UK phone; 0845-6880199
E-Journals for teachers
- http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVME/V21-1/Seeler1.html
- http://www1.doshisha.ac.jp/~kkitao/online/www/journal.htm
- http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v1n12004/chamot.htm
SOFTWARE PROGRAMS FOR LEARNING ENGLISH
Italki member Soulman also suggested the following software programs for learning English:
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/englishfile/
You can find different software focusing on different skills, so try this one for improving listening skills:
http://www.esl-lab.com/
Includes ESOL student activities: exercises in vocab, writing,listening,reading comprehension and punctuation.
American and British English pronunciation differences:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_pronunciation_differences
American and British English differences:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences
List of British words not widely used in the United States:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States
List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_Kingdom
List of words having different meanings in British and American English:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_British_and_American_English
Spelling differences between American and British English:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm
Countable and Uncountable nouns in English.
from Italki member Sophiehttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslcount2.html
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-un-countable_2.htm
"Practical English Usage" by Michael Swan, Oxford University Press (entries Nos 148 & 149
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS
contribution from Sophie http://www.englishpage.com/irregularverbs/irregularverbs.html
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/regular-verbs-list.htm
"Teach Yourself (Languages)" or "Colloquial (languages)"?
An Italki member found 2 good websites (see below) by chance, to their surprise, one series of course books (Teach Yourself) actually contains 63 kinds of languages, and it involves much more languages than "Take Off In" that published by Oxford bookshop. I even found some uncommon books such as "Gulf Arabic", "Modern Persian", "Modern Hebrew", "New Testament Greek", & so on. Besides, the other series (Colloquial) also has many kinds of languages. You would have to decide which series is better for your students 【Teach Yourself (Languages): http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/RVEd29f61b1267444b0b231be763d547941,,.aspx
Colloquial (languages): http://www.routledgelanguages.com/books/browse】
www.verbwheel.com is a website recommended by Italki member Munier for learning about verbs and nouns.
Take a Tour of the Italki website and see how this site can help you and your students learn English!
http://www.italki.com/static/tour_italki.htm
My students love my 'Thank God it's Friday'quiz. I run it like a Trivial Pursuit quiz but all the questions are based on what we learnt in class during the week. For a 50 minute lesson I invite the students to submit 2 questions each before Friday's classes, eg What is a proper noun that is the name of the capital city of France? or What is the verb that describes a style of running? I have 30 questions. The class is then divided in groups of 4-5 with a sheet of paper and 1 pencil/biro. When I read out a question, the groups have to quietly figure out the answers and write them down. The group with the highest score after I mark the answers is allowed to leave class 5 minutes early next lesson. Sometimes I have a bag of lollies. The students don't think that they are actually doing any work , but they are revising and consolidating what they have learnt that week.This lesson works with any course or age group that you teach.
STORIES BASED ON PICTURES, CARTOONS OR PHOTOS.
Show the class two or three newspaper photos without the words.Then the students should try to understand them and describe briefly what they think has happened.2-3 sentences Afterwards one of the pictures can be turned into a true or a creative story or maybe a news report. This way, students learn more about the news, such as a new economic policy or world/ local events . If it's a cartoon, it can become a humorous story or poem. I think it's another way to learn English and builds vocabulary and writing skills.
HOW TO TEACH A SECTION OF A GRAMMAR OR VOCAB BOOK eg PART 8
Microsoft PowerPoint is an excellent presentation tool. The approach is to look at the material and pick out the central theme of the chapter. The title of part 8 should be close to the central theme. This will be the theme of your class.
Create a slide for this central theme. You will then tell your audience that you will be explaining this during the presentation.
You will also say that the presentation will take 15 minutes and will finish with a 5 minute question period.
You start by explaining the context of the chapter in relation to the rest of the book (from beginning to this point).
Then you identify the key points in the text that support your central theme. You need a slide listing thee key points (no more than 3-5 points per slide).
You need to give examples (no more than one example per key point). Then you sum up the key points (summary slide) and tell audience what you just explained (use different words to repeat the central theme and how you showed the key points relate to the central theme).
You ask if they have questions. plan it so you ony have time for 12 questions before you run out of time for the presentation.
If a student is giving the presentation, It would be good if he/she works with 1-2 of their closest friends in class and prepares some questions for them to ask. This is good crowd control and prevents people from asking you questions to trip you up.
When the last of your planned questions are answered, tell the class what they need to prepare for your next class.
TIPS FOR MEMORIZING VOCABULARY
Here are some tips for enlarging and remembering vocabulary.
Vocabulary can’t always be understood just from a dictionary definition.
In order to really understand a new vocabulary word, you need to know how to use it in a variety of contexts.
Just knowing a vocabulary word enough to recognize it later on is not sufficient enough to memorize it. Your really need to know what the vocabulary word sounds like and how it is spelled.
You must know the vocabulary word visually and phonetically.
For the visual part of the vocabulary word look at the spelling, close your eyes and say the spelling out loud, then open your eyes and check that you spelled it correctly.
For the phonetic part of the vocabulary word, read the vocabulary word, look away from the page and say it out loud, then check that you have said the vocabulary correctly.
If you can learn the vocabulary word both visually and phonetically, you know the vocabulary word really well. This is most important.
Once you know the vocabulary word really well, you need to connect that vocabulary word to what you already know. Use 'post it' notes to stick the word onto objects in your home.
You need to turn the vocabulary word into a memorable image in your imagination.
Consider what the new vocabulary word reminds you of that can be easily visualized.
Try to pick the first thing that comes into your head because when you re-encounter the vocabulary word you’re likely to think the same way again. Try drawing a picture or symbol next to the words