I was sitting in my graduate program class, getting my M.Ed. in TESL while teaching full-time, when one of my international student classmates got visibly frustrated. “Why does he use so many idioms?” she whispered. “I can’t follow what he’s saying.” I’d never noticed. Our professor seemed pretty straightforward to me. But once she pointed […]
Mariam could explain complex ideas. She understood the concepts in her psychology class. She could write coherent essays that made sense. But her professor kept giving her B’s and C’s with comments like “needs more sophisticated vocabulary” and “language too simplistic for college-level work.” I ran into her in the hallway looking frustrated. “I understand
It’s 10:30 am. Your students have been in class since 8 am. They’ll be here until at least noon, maybe longer. Or maybe you teach night classes, and the nights know exactly how many days it is from the winter solstice. Your students are exhausted. You’re exhausted. Everyone’s energy is gone. You need something that
Teaching academic vocabulary can intimidate new adult ESL teachers. Maybe you don’t know how to teach academic vocabulary. You need ideas, strategies, and resources, and if you are lucky, all that is provided to you in abundance. However, if you are reading this, that’s probably not the case for you. Luckily for you (though not
The first time I announced we were playing SWOOSH!, my student Saleh crossed his arms and said, “I didn’t pay for this class to play children’s games.” Fair point. But you and I know games can have educational value. That’s why this happened… Fifteen minutes later, that same Saleh was on his feet, screaming “NO!
I loved using videos in my vocabulary classes. No, not like during the last few days of school back in the late 80s and early 90s where the teacher would pop in a BETA or VHS tape and nap while you and your friends giggled and talked through an old movie. I loved using short
My co-workers and I used to hash out the same problem over and over: How do you convince students that passing the TOEFL or IELTS isn’t enough to guarantee they can do well in university? So many of my adult and young adult students wanted a quick way to “learn” a lot of academic vocabulary…long enough
“GAME.” When I say “game” in my adult ESL vocabulary classroom, the air crackles. Spines extend, eyes brighten, pulses increase. “GAME” they repeat to each other, and smiles break out. I smile, too, knowing that the next words out of my mouth have already grabbed their complete attention before even being spoken. Here’s the thing
