Month Three of the ESL Educators Blog Carnival focuses on teaching ESL students how to write. Read up on what some of our favorite ESL educators have to say on the subject and don’t forget to check out last month’s carnival, which focused on Classroom Management Techniques.
Teaching Writing Can Be A Lot Easier Than You Think
Most newbie teachers are afraid to teach writing as they often don’t know where to start and the writing problems of most EFL students can get a bit overwhelming . . . But, in fact, writing can be an easy and productive effort when approached from the right direction. This post offers you that guidance and even includes two free EFL writing manuscripts to download.
As an English teacher in Taiwan, I spent the majority of my time teaching basic English to four to six year olds. Besides learning how to write their names, this age group wasn’t ready for more advanced writing exercises. I did, however, teach a group of older students three times a week in the afternoon. Their spoken English was already quite advanced, which allowed me to focus more time on their reading and writing skills.
One of my favorite teaching techniques was to create unique Mad Libs that tied into our classroom material…
Andrew Dunkle studied Chinese and Art History at the University of Colorado, and is now the Senior Editor of GoOverseas.com. He loves to travel, and has so far called Colorado, Australia, Taiwan, and California home. His next adventure? He’s thinking South America. Follow Andrew on Twitter at @AndrewOverseas.
How To Motivate Your Students to Write
Do you have students who don’t like to write? Do your students just sit for the entire class without writing a word? Do they tell you they hate writing?
The fact is, every student is like that. It’s a challenge for students to write in their own language, and writing in a second language? Forget it! None of your students will be excited about the prospect. With a little creativity, you can change all of that though.
Here are some ideas to spark your students’ writing pens!
Selina Ferguson is a former ESL instructor and Director of Recruiting, Taiwan and China for Reach To Teach Recruiting, an American recruiting agency that specializes in placing ESL teachers at fine teaching institutions around the globe.
Tips for ESL Educators – The Great Group Writing Experiment
Using group work to accomplish a writing task can have positive outcomes. Here is an analysis of a group writing assignment I’ve used in my classroom: what worked well, what didn’t, and how to make it stronger for your classroom.
Jenna Makowski currently teaches English as a second language in Wroclaw, Poland. She has previous teaching experience in Moscow and Chicago. She thinks that the best lessons are the ones where the students talk more than the teacher, and that the best students are the ones that teach. Follow her blog at http://jennagmakowski.wordpress.com/
How To Encourage Students to Write
Getting students to write can be hard. Students often feel less inhibited when they are speaking because they can make mistakes without fear of repercussion. When they write, their mistakes are there for everyone to see. Fear of making mistakes (and, even worse, being reprimanded) will suck the joy out of even the funnest lesson. So, in order to encourage students to write I often employ two strategies…
Matt Gibson lived and taught in Taiwan for 7 years before quitting to write full time. His writing can be read on the Huffington Post, Transitions Abroad, and his own website Matt-Gibson.org.
Canadian expat Carrie Kellenberger has kept a home base with her husband in Asia since 2003. A prolific traveler, Carrie has funded her travels primarily as a writer, editor, travel blogger and photographer, but she has also worked as an educator, voice over artist, model and nightclub singer. She draws upon her 15+ years of travel experience to write about travel-related issues and the countries she has visited on her award-winning web site, My Several Worlds.
Her photography and travel articles have appeared in both print and online publications around the world, including Travel and Leisure Asia, Unearthing Asia and Hip Compass Escapes.
