ESL

Can You Have an Effective ESL Ministry Without Using Christian ESL Materials?

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This article by Lonna Dickerson, Ph.D. was first published in 2010 by the Institute of Cross Cultural Training and has been shared here with ICCT’s permission. When planning your ESL curriculum, one of the most important decisions you make will be to choose your textbooks and other teaching materials. Especially if you are teaching in a […]

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Connecting Students to the Community

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If you’ve ever moved to a new city, you know the feeling of starting over. Creating new routines and finding new connections are a normal part of adjusting to a new place. However, for someone learning English, making those connections can take much longer and be much more difficult to access or understand. Your students

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Welcome to Class

Making a Welcoming Classroom Environment for Your Students

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As Christians using English ministry to love our international neighbors, we know that it’s vital to create a classroom environment that feels welcoming and safe. Our students are entering a classroom that mostly or only uses English, is staffed by native speakers, and possibly is even in a church. All of these factors are understandably intimidating for

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Focus on Learner Needs: Key 3

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This 3 part series is an excerpt from the the Institute of Cross Cultural Training’s “Reach Out With English” training and has been shared with ICCT’s permission. When planning a Sunday School curriculum, we often begin by focusing on people’s spiritual needs and then we think about how we can address those needs through our

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Quality Teaching: Key 2

Articles, Church based ESL, Cross-cultural, ESL, Help Someone Learn English, Integrating ELL's into Church / By

This 3 part series is an excerpt from the the Institute of Cross Cultural Training’s “Reach Out With English” training * and has been shared with ICCT’s permission. When the need for ESL teachers in our communities is so great and there is pressure to begin teaching as soon as possible, it’s easy to be

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Cultural Understanding: Key 1

Articles, Church based ESL, Cross-cultural, ESL, Help Someone Learn English, Integrating ELL's into Church, Start an ESL Ministry / By

This 3 part series is an excerpt from the the Institute of Cross Cultural Training’s “Reach Out With English” training and has been shared with ICCT’s permission. In making your decision to become an ESL teacher, you have probably prayed about your desire to minister to those who have a range of needs that go

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International students studying English

Inside the Mind of an International Student

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The Disney Pixar movie “Inside Out” offers viewers a feature-length glimpse inside the emotional life of an 11-year-old Midwestern girl named Riley. When her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, Riley’s world is turned upside-down (and inside out). Her first day in her new school was memorable (and one she would love to forget).

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Man walking in front of a colorful mural with the word “courage” painted on it.

Class Rules

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As classes start up again this fall, it’s a good time to look at classroom rules and the impact they have on student learning. Every “rule” should be necessary to move us toward our end goal and provide each student with a fun, supportive, healthy learning environment.  Fortunately, for most adult ESL classes rules don’t need

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