Teaching ESOL Skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening

This website offers crosswords and quizzes at different levels for ESL learners. Also has bilingual quizzes for learning vocabulary.

A series of videos about places, people and culture in the Arabic world. There are some resources to go with them. Learners might enjoy watching and discussing these, and then having a go at making their own videos about an aspect of their lives.

The Ascentis website includes free, downloadable ESOL teaching resources linked to the ESOL core curriculum at different levels.

Activities to improve reading, writing, spelling,and grammar. Videos and downloadable worksheets

ENGLISH – Graded Readers for Primary, Secondary School, University and Self Learners. Choose the title that best suits your students and discover a wide choice of free resources.

A set of picture-focused stories for people who may struggle to read words. Every story is co-created with people with lived experience and trialled by people with learning disabilities. Resources are available at a small cost. The format of these materials with a focus on simple language, makes them suitable for pre-Entry ESOL.

This is a US based website aimed at children, but it has some useful information about different ESOL communities, and word lists in 5 different languages. (Pashto, Karen S’Gaw, Spanish, Rohingya and Dari). The word lists are free and there are links to culturally referenced books to buy.

ESOL resources at 7 levels, based on news stories. Uses US English.

A set of ESOL teaching resources to help learners improve their English for the workplace and learn about business topics. Videos, podcasts and articles at a more advanced level.

General resources for teaching adults.

10 podcast programmes including downloadable notes (the climate connection)

A Project of The Internet TESL Journal, this provides conversation prompts for a large variety of different topics.

A creative language toolkit developed for multi-lingual classrooms, using arts-based methods and creative practices.

ESOL resources that were on the Excellence Gateway. Includes Grammar and Skills work for reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Free printable resources for ESOL and ESL. Includes worksheets, books, podcasts, videos, learning material, and other resources for ESOL teaching and learning. Lots of material at different levels on grammar, vocabulary, reading, speaking and listening.

ESL resources, some of which are suitable for ESOL. Includes a useful glossary of English grammar terms.

Support and materials for participatory ESOL. Includes the ESOL Podcast and Love ESOL.

Lesson plans and resources to help support speaking in class, including Listening and Response, Expression and Delivery, and Debate.

Resources to help learners improve their reading and listening in English.

14,180 English Conversation Questions: * 709 discussions. * Ready-to-print handouts. * Everyday & controversial topics.

ESL Video offers free online English listening and grammar activities, free teaching material, the ESL Video quiz maker tool to create video-based listening and gap-fill quizzes.

Course books for groups of ESOL literacy learners – not free, but there is a discount if you buy a class set, and some free downloadable resources and sample chapters.

Free online English lessons, including resources and activities. Some nice resources on Life in the UK and British Culture.

A padlet of free e-books for reading practice at all levels for ESOL learners.

Commercial resource: A selection of readers designed for adults – good quality and well designed with topics appropriate for ESOL learners. Includes What’s Your Story and Walt’s Adventures series.

A wonderful free PDF download of a magazine made by and for ESOL learners. Includes topics such as the NHS, First Aid, Referrals, Mental Health, going to the dentist and more.

Heart and Parcel have created open access homemade English activities based on our cookbook learner’s recipes and stories. These are English cooking class videos, activities, worksheets and lesson plans designed for CEFR A2-B1/ Entry 1 – Entry 3 ESOL learners and cover Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening!

A wide selection of adapted classics and original fiction chosen to appeal to language learners of all ages and levels and to encourage reading for pleasure.

Un/Documented offers a well-needed dose of hope by celebrating all the amazing people working in communities to create an atmosphere of welcome. This podcast would make great content for ESOL teaching about community for higher level learners.

Online activities for adult and young people. ESOL teachers can select downloadable materials by level and topic, including grammar.

A range of resources, some free and some commercial. They include reading books at different levels and resources targeted specifically at refugees and asylum seekers.

Leeds libraries provide collections of learning to read English books for ESOL students both through Borrowbox and in physical form. Books can be borrowed free, reserved free and there are no overdue charges.

Luke’s English Podcast is an award-winning audio show for learners of English as a foreign language. There are over 760 audio episodes, transcripts, videos, a special series on phrasal verbs, an app, and a premium subscription service focusing on vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

A list of magazines aimed at learners of English – some are for use in schools, but the content can be adapted for ESOL learners.

NALA is the National Adult Literacy Agency. This is a guide to technology for adults improving their literacy, numeracy and digital skills.

NATECLA Scotland has created a set of ONLINE Readers designed primarily for ESOL Literacy Learners.

Literacy resources for school age children, but includes some free themed resources that will be useful for ESOL learners ie. International Women’s Day

Would you like to get your learners engaged in topics relating to global justice? More than 150 READY LESSONS HERE for interested, busy, tired, new … all teachers (and learners) to use.

World news stories for learners of English at 3 different levels of difficulty. There is also an app that students can download for self study.

An online encyclopedia of writing systems in a wide range of different languages. Useful for literacy teaching.

This website presents a series of teaching materials for ESOL teachers wanting to explore the theme of ‘languages’, and how they operate in society. It offers a range of suggested participatory tools, activities and texts that can be used and adapted in the classroom.

In Participatory ESOL the wealth of experience that learners bring to the classroom is recognised, lessons are co-constructed and knowledge is explained. Here we have collected together participatory teaching resources and articles which explore this approach.

This series of 5 podcasts accompanies a research paper which looked at the impact of Participatory ESOL on ESOL over the last 15 years.

A selection of interviews with ESOL students, done by Leeds City College. Great for listening practice and sharing experiences with discussion in class.

Includes a useful guide to using newspapers to enhance learning in reading classes. Aimed at school teachers, but the ideas can be adapted to ESOL learners.

Short, engaging and accessible fiction books for adults in English and available in a range of other languages. The backlist is free, but new books on the site will be charged for.

The Skills Builder Hub gives you access to a huge array of resources for building essential skills with learners of all ages and abilities. Some resources are useful for ESOL learners. Sign up required but it’s free.

The Skills for Life Network have made Gatehouse Books for Pre-Entry level literacy available for a fee. There are other free resources on the site, including the Adult Pre-Entry Curriculum Framework for Literacy and Numeracy.

Speak up for Sanctuary is a programme designed by City of Sanctuary UK to support people who may have little or no previous campaigning experience to recognise their power in making change, to speak up for refugee rights and to supercharge efforts to build welcoming and compassionate communities.

Free ESOL worksheets for independent learning in prisons and community settings. If you are delivering ESOL classes or have contact with ESOL learners in prison settings, you can share these resources with your learners. Free printable resources at different ESOL levels, downloadable once you register on the Bell Foundation website.

A great set of resources for ESOL tutors to use with learners with literacy issues. Focused on themes such as family life and festivals, the materials can be used in a mixed-level class as well as pre-Entry/E1 classes. Includes lesson plans and other resources.

Materials developed to help support refugees with the topics they need to know about at a variety of different levels, from A1 with literacy to B1+. (E1 – E3+). Plus grammar and vocabulary resources.

This fortnight’s episode of The ESOL Podcast is from Kirklees College. ESOL students there decided to record an episode about why ESOL is important. It’s great to hear so many ESOL voices talk about how ESOL helps them in their lives.

Following on from last fortnights episode where ESOL students in Yorkshire shared their tips on learning English, in this episode we hear about the experience of learning English in the UK from ESOL students in Thurrock.

For the first ESOL Podcast episode after the Easter break, the important issue of climate change is revisited.

The ESOL Podcast returns for series 3. In the first episode of the new series, ESOL students from Idea Store Learning in Tower Hamlets talk about the Cost of Living Crisis in the UK. They recorded this discussion at the end of 2022.

This episode of The ESOL Podcast ESOL was made by an ESOL group in Liverpool.

The final episode of series 3 of the ESOL Podcast was made by an ESOL students at Idea Store Learning in Tower Hamlets.

In this fortnight’s episode ESOL students from Adult Learning in the East Riding of Yorkshire talk about how technology can help them to improve their English.

How ESOL helps us achieve our goals.

the other side of hope: journeys in refugee and immigrant literature is a UK-based literary magazine edited by immigrants & refugees. Can be used with higher levels as reading texts, great topics for discussion.

An inspiring programme giving students the journalistic tools to think critically and confidently about the news. The programme is aimed at 14-16 years olds, but can be adapted for older ESOL learners. You need to register to access the lessons.

ESOL Resources for adults curated by Twinkl.

The VOICES network is a collective of refugees and people seeking asylum. Together, they speak out about issues that affect them. They have created a podcast series where they share their experience.

Improve writing skills with clear examples and strategies, ideal for IELTS students, teachers, and academic English learners. Argument essays, graphs, other writing, and speaking for IELTS, PET, and TOEFL.