Esl Teaching Methods, Materials and Techniques
Esl Teaching Methods, Materials and Techniques
English teaching methods make teaching process considerably easy, promote students being active during the class.ESL teaching methods develop students communicative, listening skills, enrich their word stock etc .
But in many countries it is still difficult to perform English as a second language (ESL) teaching as :
So the task of ESL teachers is to try to develop students speaking, writing, reading and listening skills taking into consideration their personal characteristics, abilities. Here below we present some ESL teaching methods using hand made cards, posters, audio and video listening, watching cartoons and short movies, discussing them and using another ESL teaching materials.
According to their meaning ,morphological and syntectic features words in English fall into classes called parts of speech.
These are :
Parts of Speech are divided into 2 main types: notional and structural. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals verbs and adverbs belong to notional parts of speech, as they have independent meaning and function in the sentence. Prepositions, conjunctions, articles and particles are considered structural parts of speech. They have no independent function in the sentence. They serve to connect words or clauses or to specify the meaning of words. Interjections are used to express various kinds of emotions, but they do not enter the structure of the sentence as a part of sentence.
According to morphological composition nouns can be divided into simple, derived and compound. Simple ones consist of one root -morpheme : rat, nose, book, hat, hand pen, man, chalk, milk, bread etc. Derived nouns consist of one root morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes (prefixes and suffixes ): modesty , unemployment, freedom etc .
Compound nouns consist of two or more stems : girlfriend, blackboard, classwork, classroom, timetable, bookcase etc .
Semantically, nouns fall into: proper nouns and common nouns.
The Category of Number
If the noun ends in -s ,-ss,-sh,
-ch,-tch,-x plural is formed by adding -es to the singular form: actress-
actresses,match-matches , brush-
brushes,box-boxes.
If the noun ends in -y preceded
by a consonant, y is changed into -i before -es .ex lady-ladies,candy-candies.
But the letter y remains unchanged in :
1) proper names : the Abrahamyans, the Kennedy
2) compounds: stand-byes,lay-byes
If the final -y is preceded by a vowel,it remains unchanged before -s:
day-days,key-keys,play-plays etc.
Words of foreign origin or abbreviated words ending in –o add only -s:
dynamo-dynamos, piano-pianos, kimono-kimonos, kilo-kilos.
Nouns ending in-o form their plural by adding -es:
tomato-tomatoes,hero-heroes
The article is a form word whose basic role is to mark nouns or noun phrases as either definite or indefinite.
There are 2 articles in English: definite and indefinite. The definite article usually points to something which is already known while the indefinite article presents something new ,strange . The choice of the definite or indefinite article is determined by the speaker’s and hearer’s mutual perception of objects.
The indefinite article has 2 forms : 1) a
before words beginning with a consonant ( a lady , a a book , a note, a stone ) 2) an before words beginning with a vowel ( an orange ,an apple , an envelope, an address).
Ther indefinite article is used :
with countable nouns in the
singular. There was a stranger at camp this summer .
The definite article is used to specify people or things, both singular and plural.
Unlike the indefinite article the definite article has specifying and generic functions in the utterance .
This is a notebook. The notebook is green.
Here is a mistake in a test .The mistake is about tenses in English.
The definite article is used with:
1) astronomical names :
the East, the West ,the South, the North ,the Great Bear, the North Pole , the Arctic
2) the names of rivers, lakes, seas, oceans:
the Hrazdan ,the Pacific ,the Indian Ocean
3) with names of mountains , ranges:
the Alps,the Pennines;
4) the names of canals and gulfs:
the English Channel, the Gulf of Mexico
5) the names of some countries and cities :
the UK ,the USA, the Congo , the Lebanon ,the Vatican
6) the names of deserts
the Gobi, the Sahara
7) the names of groups of islands :
the Philippines
8) the names of vessels :
the Titanic , the Queen Elizabeth
9) the names of public buildings,museums , institutions ,organisations , hotels ,theatres :
the National Gallery ,the white house ,the Hermitage , the Saryan Museum ,the NATO
10) the names of most newspapers and journals :
the Times ,the Washington post, the Independent
11)the definite article is used with personal names and names of pop groups :
the Beatles ,the Rolling Stones
12) the definite article is used in a number of set expressions:
The pronoun is a part of speech which indicates objects and their properties without naming them.
Ann is a schoolgirl. She is 10.
Rob and David are teens. They are
the fallowing groups:
friends.
Pronouns fall into
The adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns .They do not modify verbs , adverbs or other adjectives .
Ex. Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime .
According to morphological compositions adjectives are classifies into 3 groups :
Adjectives do not have the categories of number or case. The only form of morphological change is the degrees of comparison.
There are 3 degrees of comparison of adjectives : Positive, comparative and superlative .
Comparative and superlative adjectives are used to make comparisons between people and things .
Robert is the tallest boy in their classroom.
This is the hardest work I have ever done .
Ann had a cold last week .Now she looks healthier.
Yesterday Mike was late for the class .Today he has arrived earlier.
short- shorter -(the) shortest
clean- cleaner-(the ) cleanest
strong- stronger -(the) strongest
nice -nicer -nicest
brave -bravest 
large -larger -largest
noisy- noisier-noisiest
silly -sillier-silliest
happy-happier- happiest
big -bigger -biggest
hot -hotter-hottest
harmful-more harmful-most harmful
interesting -more interesting – most interesting
fun -more fun -most fun
real-more real- most real
right-more right-most right
wrong -more wrong -most wrong
Irregular adjective don’t follow the standard rules for their comparative and superlative forms. Irregular adjectives can be both regualar and irregular .
A small number of adjectives are irregular .The most important irregular adjectives are listed below :
English numerals are used to count people , things or are used to put things in order .
There are simple (1-12), derivative (13-19) and composite numerals(43, 65, 24).
There are 2 common types of English numbers:
Cardinal numerals show number ( one, two,three).
Four students missed the graduate exam.
For example :
There were 6 mistakes in the test .
Vivaldi composed 4 seasons .
Ordinal numerals describe the order , position or rank in sequential order ( first,second, third )
0-zero 0-zero
1-one 1st-first
2-two 2nd-second
3-three 3rd-third
4-four 4th-fourth
5-five 5th-fifth
6-six 6th-sixth
7-seven 7th-seventh
8-eight 8th-eighth
9-nine 9th-ninth
10-ten 10th-tenth
11-eleven 11th-eleventh
12-twelve 12th-twelfth
13-thirteen 13th-thirteenth
14-fourteen 14th-fourteenth
15-fifteen 15th-fifteenth
16-sixteen 16th-sixteenth
17-seventeen 17th-seventeenth
18-eighteen 18-eighteenth
19-nineteen 19th-nineteenth
20-twenty 20-twentieth
21-twenty-one 21-twenty-first
22-twenty-two 22-twenty-second
23-twenty-three 23-twenty-third
Modal verbs are used to express, obligation, give advice, talk about possibility, ask for permission etc.
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs. It means we can add ”not ” to the end of the auxiliary verb. For example:
Modal verbs can’t be used in different times or tenses .
There are 12 main modal verbs in English . They are :
A verb describes what the subject of a sentence is doing . Verbs are “doing ” words .They can indicate actions ,occurrence etc .
verbs can change form depending on subject ,tense, mood and voice .This is called conjugation .
Verbs and subjects must agree in number .If the subject is plural the verb must be plural .This is called subject -verb agreement .
V Ann talks a lot .
X Ann talk a lot .
V We talk a lot .
X We talks a lot .
Verbs have 3 moods :
Indicative mood is used in most statements, questions .
He works every day .
Does he work every day ?
Imperative mood is used in requests and commands .
It is used to express ,wishes , hopes desires and other imagined situations you might describe in speech and writing.
Subjunctive verbs usually appear with 2 clauses :in one clause is ther is a subjunctive verb, and in the other is an indicative verb .
There are 2 types of subjunctive verb forms :
Verbs in the present subjunctive take the indicative form .
My parents suggested that I entered technical college.
An adverb is a word that describes a verb, adjective, another adverb or entire sentence .
Adverbs are usually formed by adding“-ly “ to the end of an adjective ( hard-hardly, quick-quickly). Depending on the ending adverbs can be formed from adjectives in another way .
-y-ily happy – happily
-le-ly able-ably
-ic- ally energetic -energetically
Some adverbs have the same form as their corresponding adjectives .These are known as flat or simple adverbs (early, fast, slow, smart, bright, clean, close, deep, far, fast, flat, hard, kind, quick etc).
Time adverbs tell us about when something happens .They are typically placed at the end of a sentence (soon, already, lately, still, tomorrow, early, now, yesterday, finally, recently, today, yet etc).
Place adverbs tell us about where something happens ,or where it is.They mainly occur after the main verb of a sentence (nearby, there, upstairs etc.)
Manner adverbs tell us how something happens or is done. In most cases they occur after the main verb (sadly, slowly, happily, bravely , unexpectedly, suddenly, anxiously, nervously, rapidly, carefully, loudly, unfortunately etc).
Prepositions are words that show a relation between a noun, a pronoun and other parts of the sentence.
There are 3 main types of prepositions:
1) Prepositions of time usually indicate something happening in the present, in the future or in the past.
There are 3 main prepositions of time: in, on, at. They can be both prepositions of place and time.
• At is used for specific time.
Ex. at seven ,at noon ,at bedtime, at midnight etc .
• On is used for days, dates, particular days .
Ex. on Sunday, on my birthday, on the 8th of March etc.
•In is used for period like a month, season, years .
in summer, in autumn, in 1986
2) Preposition of place is used to refer to a place where something ,somebody is located .
There are 3 main prepositions of place : in, on, at.
• In is used for a closed space .
in the car, in the box , in the shop , in the room
Examples.
• On is mostly used for a surface .
on the table , on the
of movement from one place to another .
grass, on the wall, on the road, on the map
Examples.
• At is usually used for a specific place , for a point .
at the bottom ,at th
e corner
3) These preposition
s indicate the direction of
something. They show some type
The most common direction prepositions are :
to, toward(s), through, across, from etc.
TO
The preposition to is used to indicate direction, destination .
Examples
to go to school, to travel to France, to to drive to the bus
TOWARD(S)
Towards and to both show direction .
Examples:
The toy is rolling towards the wall.
THROUGH
Through is used to talk about movement from one side to another.
Examples:
Make your way through the crowd .
Run your hands through the hair .
She is walking through the flowers .
ACROSS
Across is used to talk about movement from one side of something to the other which has sides, limits .
Example :
across the lake, across the town, across the road
FROM
From is used to show the place where something starts.
Example :
from Armenia ,from the center of the city ,from Yerevan airport .
Interjections are used to express emotions, feelings .They
are often used in everyday speech , but not in formal writing and speech .
Example:
Oh no,oh well , ow, yay,
ugh, whoops, gosh, ouch, hi, hey, goodness, bye, cheers, wow, hmmm, hurray etc.
Interjections are used as part of speech.
You can use interjections before
, after a sentence . Examples:
Wow , Ann looks amazing.
Ouch, he broke the window by mistake .
Mike was unable to walk , but he made a full physical recovery. Hurray!
It is possible to use an interject
ion in a sentence .
The program is, uh, finishing
at last .
Exclamation points and commas are most commonly used.The period and the question marks can also be used for punctuating interjections.
Examples :
Delhi is,er, the capital of India .
Shh,baby Adam is sleeping .
Hmm?
Wow !
Ann,delivered a girl,yey .
Oh gosh ,she has cut her hair .
Oh no, I lost my golden ring last day .
Hmm, I think I’ll watch my favorite movie and then I’ll go for a walk with my friends.
Conjunctions are words that connect other words, phrases, clauses together .
There are 3 types of conjunctions :
1. Coordinating conjunctions are used to connect items that are grammatically equal : There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English : for, and, nor, or, yet, but, so .
2. Subordinate conjunction defines the relationship between the clauses . They are used to show a dependent clause.
A dependent clause does not express a complete idea ,so it must be used with an independent clause . Subordinating conjunctions include words like : because, if, although, since, while, till, until, as soon as, as long as, as much as, when, after, before, where, wherever etc .
3. Correlative conjunction always comes in a pair and is used to join grammatically equal elements in a sentence.
These pairs include : either … or ,neither … nor , not only … but also, both … and etc .
ESL specialists often come across with teaching problems ,they try to make teaching material as interesting as possible, easy and not standard . Many of them use interesting ESL teaching methods, materials and many of them look for these materials intensively.
This website aims to help ESL teachers, students to make teaching process, practice more interesting , effective, equipped.
We’ll present most teaching methods practically such as KWL, Writing Circle, Grouping, Brainstorming, T- shaped table, M-shaped table, Prism, Venn Diagram, Popcorn etc, using cards, posters .
These methods are used at Armenian Republic and at Artsax secondary schools, but they are also intrduced at the Smiley Club of Armenian Red Cross Society.
The aim of this website is to give brief information about parts of speech in English , using them practically, doing exercises in the classroom in oral or written form . In this website are also presented:
So we invite you to this website .