TEFL Site of the Month

ELT-CATION

ELT-CATION is a blog for teachers of English by an experienced English language teacher and teacher-trainer. Svetlana uses her blog to share teaching tips and classroom activities that you won’t find in most course books. Whether you are an experienced teacher who wants to try teaching with authentic materials or a new teacher who wants to keep your teen or (more…)

FCE Pass

Are your students preparing for the Cambridge First Certificate Exam? FCE Pass is a useful site for exam practice materials. This site will also help you learn the structure of the Reading, Speaking, and Writing sections. You can download free ebooks and assign practice tests. Your students can submit their own writing for corrections. You will also find model writing samples and tips for writing that you can share and work through with your students. Print out the FCE infographic and tips to bring to class. (more…)

Sandy Millin’s Blog

Sandy Millin is an English language teacher and teacher trainer who travels the world and blogs about her experiences. She describes herself as a technologically and linguistically adventurous EFL teacher. Her blog is full of teaching tips, activities, and reflections on the English language teaching (more…)

On Writing ELT Materials

This webpage offers a free downloadable ebook for English language teachers and writers who are interested in writing materials for the English language teaching market. The book is full of articles written by authors and teachers who have experience publishing in the field of ELT. You will find tips about the writing process, contrasts, marketing, and more. (more…)

Unique Teaching Resources

This website is full of teaching ideas and materials. If you teach young English learners, you will find plenty of resources that you can adapt and use in class. Each month, new ideas and materials are featured. You’ll find group projects, writing topics, and ideas for classroom displays. (more…)

oTranscribe

If you use videos in the classroom, and you make your own transcripts for listening exercises, you’ll find this free app very convenient. It reduces the need to go back and forth between windows, and also has some handy features for transcribing. Simply navigate to the website and copy a link to your video into the field. Your video will show up to the left of a blank document that you will type your transcript onto. You can reduce or speed up the video as you type. You can also add time stamps with the click of a button. This app is also useful for making quizzes and other exercises based on videos. (more…)

Sprout English

Sprout English is a subscription-based website full of ready-made materials and worksheets for teachers of young English learners. The site is divided into several sections, including the Grammar School, the Phonics Cafe, and the Games Room. The Library includes 100+ digital lessons that young learners can complete online. (more…)

BELTA Belgium

BELTA (The Belgian English Language Teachers Association) is a non-profit organization offering professional development for English language teachers. The organization was founded in 2012 by a small group of English language teachers who were concerned about the lack of a teachers’ association in Belgium. The BELTA site now offers a forum, a newsletter, a blog, and a series of webinars. (more…)

teflequityadvocates

TEFL Equity Advocates is a new site offering support and encouragement for non-native English teachers (NNESTs). One of the main goals of the site is to “acknowledge and expose the discrimination of NNESTs in TEFL”. The site has support from a number of ELT authors and organizations, and is looking for support and participation from all those interested in equal employment opportunities in the TEFL industry. (more…)

Teacher Training Unplugged

Teacher Training Unplugged offers articles and resources related to language teaching and teacher education. The site is developed by Anthony Gaughan, a teacher trainer based in Germany who is interested in teaching “unplugged”. Check out some of the popular articles, such as “40 Things To Do With a Text” and “How to get Learners Talking”. (more…)

Adam Simpson’s Blog

Adam Simpson is an experienced English language teacher in Turkey. His reflective blog “Teach Them English” is full of activity suggestions, teaching tips, and stories from both inside and outside the classroom. The career TEFLer, as he calls (more…)

eltjam

If you’re interested in trends, apps, technology, and changes in ELT publishing, you’ll find up-to-date information on eltjam. This blog is a side project of the eltjamjar team. The UK-based team includes Nick Robinson, Laurie Harrison, and Tim Gifford, an innovative group of English language material developers who recently created their own ELT publishing solutions company. (more…)

Popplet is an easy to use online collaboration tool. Students can use it to brainstorm in small groups or work on group projects at home. Teachers can use it to generate discussion or to check understanding of vocabulary, grammar, etc. Popplet can also be used for visual presentations. Completed popplets can be shared and embedded easily. Since Popplet has very limited text, it is popular with teachers of English learners. (more…)

StoryCorps

StoryCorps is an oral history project of interviews about everyday Americans who have a story to tell. The Listening Page on the website features short, authentic audio recordings and transcripts from the interviews. You can access these excerpts for free, and use them with your students for listening practice. StoryCorps has done several story themes, such as the September 11th initiative and the history of Latinos living in America. (more…)

LingleOnline Ltd

LingleOnline is a subscription-based site that generates lesson materials based on an authentic text. Lingle allows teachers to search for appropriate texts for their students in a database full of thousands of articles based on current events. Readings in the database are categorized by topic, level of difficulty, date, and source. Teachers can also upload their own texts. After choosing a text, teachers can create a quick lesson by filling out a few simple fields. The analysis engine generates learning materials based on choices that the teacher makes. (more…)

Online Etymology Dictionary

If you’re a lover of words, and you enjoy teaching your students the history of words in order to help them retain new vocabulary, check out the Online Etymology Dictionary. As defined by site founder Douglas Harper, “Etymologies are not definitions; they’re explanations of what our words meant 600 or 2,000 years ago.” The history of the project itself is a fascinating read for any teacher who is interested in linguistics. (more…)

Grammar.net

If you have visual learners in your classes, Grammar.net publishes free grammar review infographics that you can use in your teaching. You can share the infographics in your social media communities or school blogs, or email the links to your students. Be sure to give credit to Grammar.net each time you share one of their infographics. You can also download high resolution versions of the posters and print them for your classroom walls, doors, and billboards. Each infographic comes with a detailed explanation that will help refresh your memory about English language rules. If you are uncomfortable with your own grammar, you may also want to experiment with Grammar.net’s Grammar Checker. (more…)

Paul Emmerson

Business English teacher and author Paul Emmerson has a website full of articles, tips, activities and other resources for BE teachers. His Business English Idea Bank provides lots of different topics for teachers to explore with their students, including business writing as well as the “soft business” of travel and entertaining. Paul also explains how to integrate a variety of different skills into a BE course, including grammar and pronunciation. Those who teach business 1:1 will also find useful tips and ideas. (more…)

American TESOL Webinars

Every Friday at 4pm EST on the American TESOL website you can watch free 30-minute webinars about teaching English. The webinar speaker is Shelly Terrell, an English language teacher, consultant, social media expert, and writer who travels around the world inspiring teachers to keep their students motivated. The webinars open in Adobe Connect, a program that allows you to watch, listen, and contribute via chat or voice. All you need to do to join the webinar is go to the American TESOL website and click on the link to the Live webinar. Type your name and enter the room as a guest. (more…)

Best of The Reader

Best of the Reader is a collection of eBooks that are available online for teachers to download, print, and use in class. The readings and exercises are taken from past issues of The Westcoast Reader, a newspaper for adult English learners based out of Vancouver, Canada. This free collection contains fourteen books with related tasks as well as a teacher’s guide. Each book has 8-10 stories and an answer key. The exercises include vocabulary review tasks, comprehension questions, and writing activities. (more…)

Demand High ELT

The concept of “Demand High,” which has been defined as an idea that focuses on moment-by-moment learning, was coined by Adrian Underhill and Jim Scrivener, two experienced teacher trainers in the ELT field. Their blog “Demand High ELT” explores the idea of “deep learning,” and challenges teachers to find new ways to optimize learning in the classroom. Scrivener and Underhill are interested in discovering how teachers can help learners stretch their understanding and use of the English language. By demanding a bit more from learners at key moments, and by reflecting on their own teaching rituals and attitudes, ELTs may be able to help students achieve higher skills and goals. The Demand High site asks teachers to think about questions like this: (more…)

grabandgolessons.com

Classroom Hero is full of “grab-and-go” activities for ESL teachers who need to add some excitement to their classrooms. Teachers who are tired of traditional textbook materials will quickly see why it’s worth a small subscription fee for these high-quality materials made by quirky Josh and his talented team. Each printable PDF comes with quick facts that outline the level, language focus, key vocabulary, and applicable exam skills to be practised. You’ll find role play cards, grammar games, and stories that require students to get up and use the language in ways you hadn’t thought of before. (more…)

Some of the best TEFL sites for professional development these days are actually blogs. Chia Suan Chong, an English language teacher and teacher trainer in London, tackles some of the most interesting topics in the ELT industry. Her recent blog series “The Devil’s Advocate” examines some of the recent controversies. Chia, the DA,  invites conference speakers, textbook writers, and other bloggers to debate topics such as learning styles, technology, and most recently ESP. (more…)

Ted Power

Ted Power’s website is full of teaching resources for English language teachers. You’ll find handouts, readers, games, and teaching ideas to get you thinking about trying new teaching techniques. The Discussion section offers a large list of activities, including dialogues and short dictations for your students to practice. You’ll also find a handy resource about minimal pairs that includes tips on fixing common pronunciation errors.  (more…)

elt-resourceful

ELT materials writer and teacher trainer Rachael Roberts shares her ideas, tips, and thoughts related to teaching and writing on her website and blog. Rachael has specialized in EAP, ESOL, and IELTS, and is the author of a number of coursebooks for teaching English. She also gives webinars for some of the large ELT publishers. In her elt-resourceful blog, Rachael explores several different topics that material writers and teachers are interested in, including exploiting authentic materials for listening and reading practice. She often offers ideas on different ways to use and adapt a textbook, and her blog feels like a good set of teacher’s notes. If you feel stuck in your methods, Rachael’s ideas may help you try a new approach. She also responds to questions in her comment section. (more…)

Frequency Level Checker

The Frequency Level Checker is a free online tool for reviewing the word count and reading level of a piece of text. It was developed to help English language teachers select suitable texts for learners. The developers of the FLC used the General Service List of English Words by Michael West to determine Levels 1 and 2. Level 3 is based on the Academic Word List by Averil Coxhead. To analyze a piece of text, simply click on the “Try it!” link. Then copy and paste the text you have chosen into the text box provided. (more…)

Chia Suan Chong’s Blog

Some of the best TEFL sites for professional development these days are actually blogs. Chia Suan Chong, an English language teacher and teacher trainer in London, tackles some of the most interesting topics in the ELT industry. Her recent blog series “The Devil’s Advocate” examines some of the recent controversies. Chia, the DA,  invites conference speakers, textbook writers, and other bloggers to debate topics such as learning styles, technology, and most recently ESP. (more…)

Teflpedia is a wiki all about teaching English. It was established in 2008 and has been open to the TEFL community ever since. You can view the wiki without creating an account, but if you want to contribute to it, you must create a login name and password. In addition to reading and writing TEFL-related articles, there are spaces to contribute and download lesson plans and (more…)

Difference Between

DifferenceBetween.net is a website full of short articles that you can use for reading practice in your English language classroom. Each article explores the difference between two similar subjects. Teachers may be interested in the articles in the Language category, such as the difference between “myth” and “legend” or the difference between an “idiom” and an “expression”. (more…)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/series/classroom-materials

The Guardian website has a special section for English language teachers offering free classroom materials.  Each month a few new lessons are added to the site. Interesting stories from the Guardian are rewritten for low-intermediate learners or used as authentic materials for advanced learners. The lessons include pre-reading activities, comprehension questions, and vocabulary review. Teacher instructions are included. (more…)

Rolls Off the Tongue

English learners love learning new idioms. They often find that they have similar expressions in their own language.  On his site “Rolls off the Tongue,” Andy Martin challenges learners to guess, learn, and remember idiomatic expressions through cartoons. Combine  images with humour and you have a great recipe for learning! (more…)