Now that we’ve looked at some general advantages and disadvantages of using the students’ native language (L1) in the ESL/EFL classroom, let’s talk about some strategies you can use if you realize that you need more English use and less dependence on L1. Whether you are afraid to use more English because of student limitations, or possibly your own, these are some easy steps to take to start you all moving in the right direction: Learning English for real-life daily communication!
Welcome to the Straight Up English Blog for ESL Teachers!
Straight Up English is an innovative English language learning software-as-a-service company. We are working to solve the most persistent speech challenges for non-native speakers of English, helping them improve comprehension and production in areas such as word stress, intonation, and pronunciation. While we are building our learner products, we also want to reach out to the international English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher community and provide teachers with instructional and inspirational videos, useful tips and tricks, news about our company, and an opportunity for discussion and community.
On this website you can read our blog posts below. And click on 'Videos-teaching demos' on the left to view our videos demonstrating step-by-step teaching techniques for communicative lessons and lesson plans you can simply download and personalize for your own students. We want to hear from you, so please send comments on what you see and what you need.
You can also join our growing online Community and share with other ESL teachers and learners.
Don't go around in circles trying to figure out how to be a more effective ESL teacher- go Straight Up!
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the Straight Up English teachers’ blog. This blog is an exciting opportunity for us all to share some strategies, ideas, questions, suggestions and resources on every imaginable topic related to teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Word stress is absolutely one of the most important features of English pronunciation. That means that having clear and accurate word stress is essential for intelligible speech, i.e. in order to be easily understood. Did you know that it is often harder for native English speakers to understand people who put stress on the wrong syllables in a word, than to understand people who mispronounce some vowels or consonants? It’s true! In part, this is because it influences every word that has more than just one syllable. (Suggestion: watch my “Teaching Syllables” video first, and teach that lesson to your students, then come back and do this one!)
Straight Up English is off and running! New tech team assembled and 2nd week in the DreamIt Ventures program has given us office space, mentors, and a host of contacts and practical help and advice.