Joshua Yardley
Posts by Joshua
Technology in TESOL: The Wiki
It’s widely accepted that student collaboration is an effective tool in the TESOL classroom. Outside of the class, more and more collaboration is done online through the use of wikis. Why not bring wikis into the classroom to create an authentic collaborative environment for your EFL students? Why a wiki: Students collaborate more. Students think […]
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Testing in TESOL Part 3: Authentic Assessment
The first two parts of this series covered a variety of testing types, but I wanted to give this one its own post: authentic assessment. Why do I feel authentic assessment is so important? Perhaps, as I’m sure many other teachers would agree, the word assessment has a pleasant ring to it — even if we can’t […]
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Testing in TESOL Part 4: Assessing your Assessment
TESOL test design and administration is no easy task. Ask anyone who has tried. Tests take practice writing and require constant revision. This part of our series on testing in TESOL focuses on some issues to be aware of when assessing your assessment. Bias Bias can be seen in a variety of ways in testing. […]
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Trouble with Tenses: Teaching the Present Progressive Tense with Current Events
The progressive aspect is not one that is common in all languages. If your students are not familiar with this concept in their native language, it may take some practice before they can grasp it. One idea for teaching the present progressive tense is to talk about the news. This is also a good opportunity to talk […]
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Trouble with Tenses: Teaching EFL Students Simple Past and Past Progressive with Timelines
Timelines are a tried and true way to help EFL students conceptualize tense and aspect. The following is an example of how a timeline can be used to help students in the English classroom talk about the past. Come up with a list of life events. Start with birth, and move into adulthood, e.g. graduating, […]
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Trouble with Tenses: Teaching The Past Tense to EFL Students
As much as some of us try to forget our past, as English teachers we are confronted with it regularly. Teaching the past tense to EFL students can be challenging. Here is a suggestion to keep your lesson plans interesting: think about the last time you were interrogated by the police. Tell your EFL students that a […]
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