In LINC, we not only need to teach our learners content but also strategies that they can use to help them understand the content. This page offers resources for teaching learners strategies for listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as other general learning strategies.
Listening Strategies
Five Essential Listening Skills for English Learners: An article by an ESL teacher who explains listening skills with helpful analogies
Teaching Listening: Instructors Bulletin: Resource Bulletin from LISTN
How to Teach Listening Skills: Best Practices: tips from Busy Teacher
Listening Strategies: List of strategies from Learning English Online
Lecture Cues: Resource from the EAP Foundation. Much of the strategies and tips given here could be applied to other listening contexts.
Understanding Implied Meaning: Interactive learning activity from Cambridge Assessment English
Context Clues: video by McGraw-Hill
Speaking Strategies
Presentation Skills
Presentation Skills: Covers the basics of giving presentations, including presentation structures, language to use and body language.
Presentations Skills: Tips from the University of British Columbia Career Resources
Resources for Higher Levels (CLB 5-8): Presentation Skills: List of suggested resources and activities by LISTN
Good Presentation vs. Bad Presentation: video showing a bad presentation (and what could be improved) and a good presentation (what was done well).
Discussion Skills
Discussion Skills: EAP Foundation provides examples of useful language to be used in discussions.
Discussions: Lesson and materials from linguahouse.com. This lesson teaches useful expressions for students who need English for business meetings and discussions. Through reading, language practice, and role-play, students learn how to structure an argument with linking words and phrases as well as respond to opinions using a variety of techniques for agreeing and disagreeing.
Four Hats for Discussion Activity
Conversation Skills
Ask Answer Add Speaking Activity: An activity that helps learners maintain a conversation.
3 Expressions to Improve Your Conversations Skills: (CLB 5+) video lesson by EngVid; explains the expressions: “If you ask me…” “Speaking of…” “As I was saying…”
Reading Strategies
Reading Skills: Training on how to teach reading skills by the British Council. Includes videos of teachers teaching reading skills.
Finding Main Ideas and Supporting Details
Finding Main Ideas and Supporting Details Example: short, clear video (suitable for CLB 4+)
Using Context Clues
How to Use Context to Determine Meaning of Words: Video that gives examples of context clues strategies. Suitable for CLB 4+
Guessing Unknown Words: Helpful resource from the EAP Foundation
Guessing Meaning from Context: from IELTS Buddy. Gives examples of ways to guess from context and then provides interactive text. For CLB 6+
Making Inferences
Inferences: A teacher explains how she helps students make inferences when reading
Teaching Inference: a resource from TESOL
Making Inferences: From TESOL Planner. Lesson plan including links to a helpful slideshow and worksheet for teaching inferences.
Making inferences: YouTube video from Teaching Independent Learners
Taking Notes
Note-taking: Provides tips for reading when taking notes.
Writing Strategies
Note Taking
Note Taking: Helpful resource from the EAP Foundation. Best suited for Stage 2 learners.
Summary Writing
Summarizing: Helpful resource from the EAP Foundation. For Stage 2 learners.
How to Write a Formal Letter: An interactive exercise from Cambridge English
Complaining Politely and Appropriately: An interactive exercise from Cambridge English that helps learners distinguish appropriate tone for letters of complaint
Writing Emails
Teaching Email Writing (CLB 5-8 ): Resource page by LISTN providing suggested resources and activities to teach email writing.
Writing Activities
Activities for Correcting Writing in the Language Classroom
Learning Strategies
The Learning Scientists: This website offers a wide selection of content (downloadable materials, articles and content regarding effective learning and study strategies)
LINC Teaching Resources 