Tag Archives: adult language learners

Preparing Your Learners for the Unexpected

Kevin Knight
Kevin Knight

Hello, ESPers worldwide! In the training that we do as ESP practitioners, we are often preparing our students to do something that they will be expected to do. For example, we may be preparing students for presentations that they will … Continue reading

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Craigslist and the Art of Asking Questions

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

In a blog post last summer, I described a mnemonic device one of my students invented to help her classmates master the ability to pose grammatically accurate questions in the simple past. Here’s another fun way to practice questioning skills with … Continue reading

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Student-Generated Grammar Rules

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

As ESL instructors, we often learn at least as much from our students as they do from us. But that truism was borne out in an unexpected way recently in my beginners’ evening ESL class as we wrestled, in time-honored … Continue reading

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Learning English With William Shakespeare

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

In honor of U.S. National Poetry Month, I wanted to share with you an activity I did with my Level 6 IEP Speaking & Listening students last semester that drew its inspiration from the words of the most exalted poet … Continue reading

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How to Cook A Camel: Giving Instructions

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

Explaining to someone how to do something is a fundamental communicative skill in any language.  If you are looking for ways to teach this skill to your ESL students, my favorite vehicle is the website Howcast.com, a perennially popular source … Continue reading

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Getting Ahead in English Outside of Class: Next Steps

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

In a recent blog post, I described how—from the very first day of class—I introduce my students to the idea of pushing themselves to speak, read, and listen to substantially more English outside of class.  In that blog post, I … Continue reading

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Classroom Activity: Hiring the New ESL Instructor

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

Adult ESL students often have strong opinions about their current and former ESL teachers.  Why not channel that into a challenging speaking, listening, reading, and writing activity? Here’s what we did in my advanced speaking and listening class earlier this … Continue reading

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Getting Ahead in English Outside of Class – Day 1

Alexandra Lowe
Alexandra Lowe

On college campuses all across the United States, adult ESL classes are getting underway for the fall semester.  Ever since I began teaching, I have devoted a substantial portion of the first day of class to laying the groundwork for … Continue reading

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