Teaching Academic Writing to ESL Students

Teaching Academic Writing to ESL Students I’ve been teaching academic writing to high-intermediate and advanced ESL students at a francophone college in Québec, Canada for the past several years. Using […]
Punctuation in ESL – Why It Matters

Punctuation in ESL – Why It Matters A Quiz Can you match these eight sentences to their writers’ L1s? They were all written by either an Arabic, Chinese, Polish or […]
Icebreaker Activities for EFL Students

Icebreaker Activities for EFL Students It’s advisable to use icebreaker activities or “getting to know you” activities, so that students can become more familiar with each other and get along […]
Composition Writing Skills for the EFL/ESL Classroom

Composition Writing Skills for the EFL/ESL Classroom Nine years ago, I found myself having to rediscover how to teach writing to sophomores and higher level students for the first time […]
The IELTS Is Not Academic Writing

The IELTS is not academic writing The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is the most popular English language proficiency exam in the world. According to their official website, there […]
Understanding IELTS and TOEFL Essay Rubrics

IELTS and TOEFL essay rubrics As teachers, it is helpful to use IELTS and TOEFL essay rubrics to guide our students to get top scores on their independent essays. However, sometimes […]
Self-Publishing and Building a Successful Publishing Company, with Dorothy Zemach

Today’s guest is Dorothy Zemach. Dorothy and I chat about her career, self-publishing, and running a successful publishing company. She also, give tips, advice, and encouragement to those who might […]
Student Confidence in the Classroom – The Secret to Success

Student Confidence in the Classroom – The Secret to Success Teachers can add a cup of grammar and two cups of vocabulary along with a teaspoon of syntax and a […]
ESL Writing Activities – Some Tips for the Teacher

ESL Writing Activities – Some Tips for the Teacher Even with the most imaginative class preparation or the latest technology, teachers and students are often left with a barrage of […]
Prewriting Activities for EFL Academic-Writing Classes

Prewriting Activities for EFL Academic Writing Classes Academic writing is not an easy skill to master, and yet it is the most important skill needed in an academic context (Alexander […]