Adult ESOL Teacher Strategies

Reading:

• Activate prior knowledge before reading.
• Provide opportunities for pre-reading activities such as brainstorming.
• Introduce key vocabulary before reading.
• Clarify word meanings through definitions, examples, restatements, context clues and/or visuals.
• Divide reading passages into segments to facilitate comprehension.
• Check comprehension regularly.
• Paraphrase and summarize to recall ideas.
• Scan for information to answer questions.
• Expose students to a variety of formats and styles (articles, graphs, tables, forms, maps, ads, poems, etc.)
• Encourage students to use picture or bilingual dictionaries.

Writing:

• Engage students in the writing process.
• Build writing skills. Begin with small written language units (words); lead students into longer units (phrases, sentences and paragraphs).
• Use topics familiar to your population.
• Practice writing for a purpose. (Absentee notes, messages, journal entries, etc.)
• Brainstorm and generate ideas about a topic using graphic organizers such as a web or semantic map.
• Teach students to draft, edit, revise and proofread work prior to turning in the final product.
• Provide opportunities to edit the draft with a partner using a checklist.
• Allow students to revise draft using feedback from checklist.
• Provide opportunities for students to share their writing with the class.

Speaking/Listening:

• Provide opportunities for students to listen to various types of recordings at appropriate ESOL level.
• Introduce key words before listening.
• Frame a question related to the listening topic to stimulate students’ interest and background knowledge.
• Link personal experiences to listening topic.
• Practice listening for specific information.
• Provide opportunities for oral retelling to monitor comprehension.
• Provide opportunities for oral presentations and pair-share.
• Accept small units of language as responses (words and phrases) initially and build towards the use of longer units (sentences).
• Use the simpler verb tenses, such as the simple present, simple past and future.
• Provide listening and speaking opportunities (conversations, interviews, discussions, role playing and skits) based on familiar contexts.
• Control vocabulary and grammatical structures used in listening/speaking activities.

Assessment:

• Practice standardized test formats (bubbling, multiple choice).
• Establish consistent classroom routines to facilitate progress.
• Allow students to respond to a percentage of given questions, depending on ESOL level.
• Vary the form of questions allowing for different levels of comprehension and participation.
• Give open-book tests.
• Provide word lists for support during assessment.
• Give extra time for task completion and/or provide alternative assessment when appropriate.
• Maintain academic and intellectual challenges for students at all levels.

More Tips:

• Plan cooperative activities in which advanced students can assist beginners.
• Set realistic goals and clear expectations with students.
• Individualize instruction when possible.