Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language

What the page covers

Most of this page is made up of mind maps, and they range widely. Some deal with methods: ESL Approaches & Methods covers CALLA, the Sheltered Method and related approaches, while ESP and the map on methodologies to teach ESP courses look at needs analysis and eclectic teaching. Others look at learners, such as the profile of an eight-year-old newcomer called Ali, or the map on young learners and teenagers.

Where to start

If you want a broad overview first, open ESL Theories or SLA Theories & Processes. Then move to the maps on approaches and methods, which several contributors have made in their own way, so you can compare them.

1. Read an overview map of theories and methods.
2. Pick a skill, for example the maps on teaching listening or pronunciation.
3. Look at a classroom model such as SIOP, which has flashcards, flowcharts and slides.

Exam-focused material

Some resources are clearly written with Spanish oposiciones in mind. The flashcard deck on songs as a poetic vehicle in the English classroom covers types of songs and techniques for phonetic, lexical and cultural learning. Another deck looks at animation, drama and creative group work. The quiz on the eclectic approach is a quick check on how methods can be combined.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then take a quiz to see what stuck. If an answer surprises you, go back to the branch it came from. Flashcards are handy for definitions and short lists, such as the difficulties of teaching listening. Flowcharts help you see the order of a process, like the communicative process in the EFL classroom.

Where it fits

This unit belongs to the strand Language Learning and Teaching Approaches, within Education and pedagogy. Choose one resource that matches what you are revising today, and then make a map or deck of your own to fill any gaps.