Articles tagged ‘Speaking Activities’
TEFL Conspiracy Theories
By Katie | June 15th, 2007 |
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From time to time, I like to amuse myself with random conspiracy theory stories. The one about the moon landing being filmed in Vegas is a bit much, even for me, but I like to make guesses about online EFL personalities. The anonymity afforded by the Internet is great for this.
What if Dave [...]
Top 10 TEFL Games And Speaking Activities
By Katie | May 30th, 2007 | Add a Comment »
In no particular order, my personal top ten of TEFL games and speaking activities which I’ve posted about right here:
1. Taboo
2. Crossword puzzles
3. Moving questions
4. Debates
5. Hotseat
6. Jigsaw read & explain from Breaking News English
7. Roleplays
8. Hide a word
9. Alibi
10. Two questions
TEFL Word Game, Courtesy Of Hasbro
By Katie | May 23rd, 2007 | Add a Comment »
Taboo is word game that rivals only crossword puzzles (and perhaps clever roleplays) in my mind. If you’re from an English-speaking country, you’re probably already familiar with the concept via the Hasbro party game of the same name. One player somehow gets the other(s) to guess a certain word; in this case there [...]
TEFL Classroom Games: Hide A Word
By Katie | May 20th, 2007 | Add a Comment »
It can be a challenge to find games which are both useful and fun for higher level learners that involve speaking fluency. I am eternally grateful to the Inside Out series orienting me to “Hide a Word”. It’s very possible this activity originated elsewhere and/or is used widely outside of this particular text [...]
Conversation Classes
By Katie | May 19th, 2007 | Add a Comment »
Carol at ESL Lesson Plan recently posted some great tips for teaching conversation classes, and it got me thinking about the scope and challenges of this type of class.
First of all, what is “conversation”?
I often find myself thinking that “conversation class” is sometimes a misnomer. In everyday language, to me anyway, a conversation [...]
Resource: True Stories In The News
By Katie | May 12th, 2007 | Add a Comment »
True Stories In The News, along with its sidekicks More True Stories In The News, Easy True Stories In The News, and others, is a resource to look out for. Stories are adapted from – as the title implies – true stories in the news, and usually have some unusual, unbelievable or bizarre focus: the [...]
Recording Your Students…
By Katie | May 9th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
…secretly, and in case they are suspicious, why else? Of course I jest, I’m taking about recording your students to help improve their English.
I’ve done it like this: students work in groups to produce a presentation of some kind – I specifically remember using this with Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate’s holiday lesson (Module 6?). [...]
How Much Of Yourself To Share
By Katie | April 29th, 2007 | Add a Comment »
In many education situations, the structure is so formal that there is really very little question of how much a teacher should share about themselves. But in many EFL classrooms, the topics which students are asked to speak about are, perhaps not “personal” per se, but definitely connected to them as individuals. Teachers [...]
TEFL Speaking Activity: Auxiliary Police
By Katie | April 25th, 2007 | Add a Comment »
Even in my higher level classes, the curriculum often includes a revision of auxiliary verbs – though students do tend to need at least some practice to use them naturally, the simplicity of their form means that it can be hard to find an appropriate way for higher levels to practice. Here’s an activity [...]
A Good Picture File
By Katie | April 18th, 2007 | Add a Comment »
How do you spell relief? P-I-C-T-U-R-E F-I-L-E.
I believe access to a good picture file can be a real asset when teaching EFL.
What is a picture file?
A collection of different types of picture, ideally (in my opinion) from magazines, but also including photos, realia like menus, maps, and tourists guides, and perhaps some printed online images. [...]
