Tag Archives: speaking activity

7 Steps to Increasing Active Spoken Vocabulary

A. C. Kemp
A. C. Kemp

Most students have a much larger passive than active vocabulary, but increasing active spoken vocabulary can be difficult. Though using new words in writing is lower stakes than in speaking, with only peer review partners and the teacher seeing potential … Continue reading

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The Polar Challenge Game for EL Collaboration

A. C. Kemp
A. C. Kemp

You may have played the “desert island” game before: You’re put in a group and asked to work together to choose a limited number of items you’d want to have with you if you were stuck on a desert island … Continue reading

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Fluency and Accuracy Activities: Striking a Balance

Robert Sheppard
Rob Sheppard

In everyday usage, fluent is often used interchangeably with proficient, as in, He’s pretty fluent in Arabic. But in language teaching, fluency is a bit more technical and just one component of language proficiency, often discussed in tandem with accuracy: … Continue reading

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Critical Thinking About Technology: An ELT Activity

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

Our world is awash in new technology. New electronic gadgets, new smartphone apps, and new forms of social media abound. But which of these will stand the test of time? And how do these dazzling technology innovations compare in significance … Continue reading

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Discussing Global Warming and Climate Change in ELT

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

Several recent posts have explored the theme of how best to broach controversial news topics in ESL classes: “Controversy in Adult Conversation” and  “Discussing Same-Sex Marriage in ELT: A Survey Approach.” Despite warnings from a colleague that ESL students, in his … Continue reading

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Culture Shock: A Mixed-Level Speaking Activity

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

If you are teaching English as a second language (ESL) rather than English as a foreign language (EFL),  it’s likely that a significant portion of your adult students are currently experiencing some degree of culture shock as a result of … Continue reading

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Expressing an Opinion Through Scavenger Hunt

Elena Shvidko
Elena Shvidko

And once again—a scavenger hunt!  From my experience—and perhaps I am just lucky—student tend to enjoy activities based on the scavenger hunt idea.  It gives them a chance to do something different from mundane classroom activities.  While accomplishing a task, … Continue reading

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Getting-to-Know-You Writing Activity: Using Names

Elena Shvidko
Elena Shvidko

In many schools and educational programs around the world, the end of summer is considered to be the beginning of a new academic year.  For us, teachers, this period involves lots of preparation, including designing a course syllabus, developing lessons … Continue reading

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