Before you attempt to ask the question, “How does one teach ESL online?”, you must first make sure that you are qualified to teach English in the first place. If any of the following is true for you, you are in it to win it in the ESL field. English is your mother tongue–meaning you…
Having spent countless hours in the ESL classroom as a teacher, I have learned the importance of modeling for students, especially for those at the beginner level. So, what exactly is “modeling”? Yes, it is most commonly known as the work of a fashion model, but, in the ESL classroom, it is known as a…
In my more than 10 years of studying–even in my current master’s degree program–I have been observing what makes an outstanding teacher. And, so far, I have come to the following conclusion: an outstanding teacher is someone who makes a meaningful impact on his or her students, someone whom I will be able to remember…
While the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 is spreading throughout the world, the need for online English teachers is increasing rapidly. On Facebook alone, several companies are trying to recruit English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers who can work from home, partly because they know that many people around the world are stuck inside…
One of the looming questions an ESL instructor faces is: “When should we correct our students?” To be honest, the answer I will give you is probably the same as many other instructors’: “It depends.” There are a lot of factors when it comes to the idea of “it depends.” As a communication specialist, I…
With the Western world’s growing political, economic, and cultural influence on the rest of society, it should come as no surprise that English is increasing in usage as a global lingua franca. According to Mark Robson (2013), Director of English and Exams at the British Council, 1.75 billion people around the world speak English at a “useful”…
As the future generations are becoming more and more technologically savvy, educators generally are finding it increasingly challenging to cope with the demand for multimedia instruction. These mediums can be quite complicated, but, with a little practice and dedication of time on your part, these platforms can actually be really effective for conducting classes. Why…
Boring teachers are the worst. How can you excite your students to learn if you are boring them to death before they can actually get your point? But more repulsive than boring teachers are teachers who do not seem to know what they are talking about, especially teachers who do not seem to have a…
Whether you are teaching a 1:1 writing class or a group conversation class, you have come to class with a plan, also known as a “lesson plan,” a guide for what you will teach your students and how you will teach them. Although the rigidity of your lesson plan’s structure may depend on a host…
There is no hard-coded rule for an effective intercultural communication practice. There will always be room to improve as an instructor. Cultural sensitivity is one of the core aspects, but is not the entirety of the battle. Teaching ESL would entail you, the instructor, to face students of different nationalities. New teachers find this a…