I recently had a reader send me a question asking "What are good topics for esl students"?

My first thought was "What a horribly vague question."  Topics for what?  Reading? Writing? Presentations? Vocabulary study? General discussion? Learning how to ask clear questions?

The reality is that in general there are no bad topics for ESL students - key phrase being "in general".  As a teacher you need to take some time to establish what best suits the likes and needs of your students within the situation that you are teaching.

Age, experiences, existing knowledge are just a few things that can determine if a topic is right for ESL students.  9 year old grade 4 students just won't be able to deal with some topics the same way post-graduate students might.

As a teacher there is real value in using topically based teaching (aka themes) in your teaching.  It gives you a focus and allows your students to gain knowledge and langauge around specific topics.  Of course computers and the internet can help out tremendously with this. There is a never-ending supply of text, audio, and video content on the internet that you can tap into for your classes.

So, in the end, what are good topics for ESL students?  Simple. The ones that you choose and make interesting and educational for your students thereby helping them towards their goal of improving their English ability.  I'm not putting a list here, because it is as long (or short) as your imagination and fear make it.

Cheers,

Eric

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the Teachers Call RSS Feed. When you subscribe you will get updates provided regularly to your RSS reader. It is a great way to stay up to date with the latest in CALL information and ideas. So go ahead and subscribe right now.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!