Final Resource Catalog

Complete Resource Catalog: Unit 8

Donna DiPreta
EDU653: Second Language Acquisition
Dr. Mary Mills

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Resources for TESOL Professionals

1. Usingenglish.com. This website offers resources such as free ESL handouts and quizzes,
PDF lesson plans, teacher articles and a directory of teaching and reference resources. In
addition, it offers access to questions from ESL students and teaching forum topics. In the
Printable Handouts & Worksheets section, there are 517 free printable grammar and
vocabulary handouts for teachers to employ in the classroom or other teaching settings. Teachers
can use these handouts to teach all aspects of grammar by using gap filling, practicing
pronunciation, phrasal verbs and etc.
2.esl-lounge.com. This website provides access to tons of ESL lesson plans and materials
which teachers can use for teaching communicative lessons in the classroom. This site focuses on
communication. Most of resources are geared towards getting students to speak. Teachers can
use this to improve their students speaking skills.
3. oxfordseminars.com. This website offers lesson activities, lesson plans, and classroom and
teacher resources. Lesson activities consist of games, puzzles, and warm-ups, as well as activities
to teach and practice speaking, listening, writing, reading, grammar, and vocabulary. Teachers
can use these activities as part of a lesson, as homework, or they can be changed and used as a
complete lesson. Complete lesson plans and templates for beginner, intermediate, and advanced,
and mixed-level classes which can be used for any level are available.
4. LearnAlberta.ca. This resource offers benchmarks, strategies and resources for Teachers of
English Language Learners. When using the benchmark search it allows you to get information
based off of language acquisition. There are student writing samples and analysis of writing
samples that is helpful for teachers to experience what it looks like for an ELL student to access
different strategies through their own learning.
5.Using Mind Mapping as a Method to Help ESL Students Connect Vocabulary and Concepts in
Different Context is a journal about how ESL Learners use visuals to help with their language

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development. The research in this journal shows that mind mapping have proven to be effective
for different learning styles. When teaching difficult concepts mind maps adapt and develop
activities that stimulate the brain while using pictures.
6. Enhancing Foreign Language Learning through Listening Strategies Delivered in L1: An
Experimental Study is a another peer reviewed journal that was very useful when studying
listening strategies in L1 learning. This study dove into listening strategies in L1 and how it
related to L2 listening comprehension. Delivery in a students L1 does have an effect on L2
learning. There were five listening strategies implemented to use throughout this study: guessing,
making inferences, identifying topics, repetition, and note-taking. One classroom was taught
with these strategies in their L1 and one classroom was not taught these strategies in their L1
which effected L2 comprehension.
7.Coursecrafters.com is a very useful resource that helped in our last ESL class. This website
provides tons of articles on ELL professional development. This website provides articles and
materials to help ELL learners overcome their challenges. The Best of The ELL Outlook is one
book that is used on the website that has a series of articles that address ELL research and
materials used inside the classroom.
8.The use of the first language in the second language learning reconsidered is a college student
journal that talks about the first language used in the second language classroom. This case study
uses 50 students studying at the University of Jordan. This article concludes results that favor L1
use gives good results in the classroom. It is eye opening to see the results of the use of the
mother tongue in different classroom situations.
9.The Use of First Language in the Second-Language Classroom:
A Support for Second Language Acquisition is a research project that looks into Second
Language Acquisition through the first language. This study was used in an international school
that used two lesson plans to compare and contrast the effects of the mother tongue in teaching
and learning. The first lesson plan used only English when giving instruction and the second

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lesson plan used Spanish and English when giving instruction. Students who used both L1 and
L2 languages saw greater development with the lesson given.
10.How to Reach and Teach English Language Learners by Rachel Syrja is a book that I have
used between both ESL classes. Syrja gives great strategies and resources to use in an ELL
classroom. It provides resources across all content areas and how we can integrate different
models in the classroom. All tools that are suggested are research based proven to be successful
with ESL students. This book is highly recommended to access points that may be challenging
for ESL learners in their classrooms.
11.TedX- Three Secrets You Need to Know About Spoken English. This resource is a Ted Talks
video by Judy Thompson. Judy is an expert in spoken English. Newcomers are embarrassed
about their accents and grammar mistakes and native speakers are unaware that the way they
speak makes it extremely difficult for non-native speakers to understand them. This stood out to
me the most. There are secrets that target native speakers, ELL learners and everyone around us.
12.Dreams Beyond Labels: Case Studies of Four English Language Learners Who are Beating
the Odds. This resource is a case study of four learners and the factors that help them close the
achievement gap for English Language students. This study came across four factors that
influenced their success: parent involvement, like-minded friends, connection with teachers and
self-advocacy. These students are given the opportunity to show their accomplishments through
reflection and determination.
13.Busyteacher.org is a website that includes free activities and lesson plans. Best of all it has
over 1,000 free ESL fundamentals. Some of the ESL essentials include teaching tips, how to
teach grammar, and lesson plan ideas. This website gives all teachers the opportunity to learn
from one another and pick up new ideas to use in your classroom.
14.MakeBeliefsComix.com. This resource offers students to create their own comic strips in
languages consisting of English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Latin. This
resource also offers ESL writing prompts, teacher lesson plans, and tutorial videos that help a

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user to develop their own comic strip. The ESL writing prompts consist of ways the student can
foster thinking in different languages using daily diaries or conversation skills for ESL students.
There are three sections that focus on lesson planning for ESL students and teachers.
15.Language Teaching Methods: Audio-Lingual Method is a video based on English language
teaching. In this video Michael Jerald plays the role of two characters a woman and a man (sales
person role) to demonstrate the English language. He requires learners to repeat some of the lines
that were said in the role playing activity. Michael corrects learners who need extra phrasing with
their sentences. It is interesting to see this approach used with adults.
16.A STUDY OF ELL STUDENTS' WRITING DIFFICULTIES: A CALL FOR CULTURALLY,
LINGUISTICALLY, AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING is a study based on
difficulties that ELL students might face. There were 20 volunteer students enrolled in a
composition class. Word choice and idioms were seen to be the most difficult aspects of writing
for the volunteers. It is hard for ELL students to come up with different meanings of different
words when they might not be familiar. This case study opens up to implications that L2 learners
face when writing.
17.Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis by David Birdsong is a
book that looks at the CPH more closely. Students benefit more from learning earlier in life. Age
matters with learning a new language. The book digs into learners that are given the opportunity
to learn at a young age and learners that are not. There are studies all throughout the book that
provide research based evidence to support the CPH.
18.Teaching English Language Learners is a book that provides 43 Strategies for a successful
ELL classroom. This book offers many aspects of the ELL classroom and gives concrete
examples of how it can be implemented to fit your students needs. From sentence frames to
parent involvement this book has been the most helpful inside and outside the classroom.
19.Hacking Language Learning- TedX Benny Lewis is a video that digs into Second Language
Learners. Benny Lewis decided to try to learn a second language and realized it was not as easy

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as he thought. He decided by changing his motivation and the way he approached the second
language was a big underlying factor in acquiring the language. Motivation is the biggest
problem, we need to realize WHY we are learning the language and the importance of it.
20.Teaching English pronunciation to ESL students is an article that looks at important aspects of
pronunciation in the ESL classroom. The article also mentions role playing and how it is a form
of cultural identity and helps with pronunciation. It is not difficult to develop activities for
pronunciation but it is sometimes overlooked by the teacher. Pronunciation is important when
someone needs to be understood.
Peer Shared Resources
1. Breaking News English (2016, June 15). Retrieved from
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com
The full lessons that are incorporated on this site is something that educators can use every day.
A resource like this is a great fundamental tool for all teachers to learn from one another. The
levels used for each lesson plan allow you to develop lessons that are individualized to meet the
needs of the learner.
2. Dweck, C. (2014). The power of believing that you can improve [video
file]. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can
_improve?language=en#t-15262.
This video is inspiriting. Carol Dweck gives insight on how to cope with challenges and
difficulties. By changing your grading system and how you communicate with students can
really change their perspective on the way they look at their work.
3. Actions Can- Cant. (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2016, from
http://www.freddiesville.com/videos/actions-can-cant/
Freddiesville was a sight that I never knew about. It provides different strategies for teaching
English through animated cartoons. There are fun ways to learn Grammar in each grade level.
This is something that students will like because it is fun and interactive.

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References
Birdsong, D. (1999). Second language acquisition and the critical period hypothesis. Mahwah,
NJ: Erlbaum.

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Bozorgian, H. & Pillay, H. (2013). Enhancing Foreign Language Learning through Listening
BusyTeacher: Free Printable Worksheets For Busy Teachers Like YOU! (n.d.). Retrieved June
15, 2016, from http://busyteacher.org/
Strategies Delivered in L1: An Experimental Study. International Journal of Instruction, (1).
Colombo, M. (2012). Teaching English Language Learners : 43 Strategies for Successful K-8
Classrooms. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Course Crafters, I. (2011). Teaching English Language Learners : Practical Articles by Educators
From The ELL Outlook. [Haverhill, MA]: Course Crafters.
ESL Lesson Plans, Printables, Games, Materials for Teaching English | ESL Lounge. (n.d.).
Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://www.esl-lounge.com/
Gomez, M.I. y King, G. (2014). Using mind mapping as a method to help ESL/EFL students
connect vocabulary and concepts in different contexts. TRILOGIA. Ciencia, Tecnologia
y Sociedad, 10, 69-85.
Halasa, N.H., & Manaseer, M. A. (2012). The use of the first language in the second language
learning reconsidered. College Student Journal, (1), 71.
Israelson, J. (2012). Dreams Beyond Labels. Journal of Educational Research and Innovation,
1(1). Retrieved June 13, 2016.
Jerald, M. (2013, January 25). Language Teaching Methods: Audio-Lingual Method. Retrieved
June 15, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz0TPDUz3FU

LearnAlberta.ca. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2016, from http://learnalberta.ca/

Lewis, B. (2013). Hacking language learning: Benny Lewis at TEDxWarsaw [video]. Retrieved
June 15, 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x2_kWRB8-A
Oxford Seminars Sweepstakes. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2016, from

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https://www.oxfordseminars.com/
Salmona, M. (2014). The Use of First Language in the Second Language Classroom: A Support
for Second Language Acquisition. Gist Education and Learning Research Journal (9)
page 50-66.
Show Mei. "A Study of Ell Students' Writing Difficulties: A Call for Culturally, Linguistically,
and Psychologically Responsive Teaching." College Student Journal 49.2 (2015): 237-50.
Eue. Web. 15 June 2016.
Syrja, R. C. (2011). How to reach & teach English language learners. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.
Thompson, J. (2010, October 26). TEDxOakville - Judy Thompson - Three Secrets You Need to
Know About Spoken English. Retrieved June 14, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcX2AwH3cG8
UsingEnglish.com. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://www.usingenglish.com/
Vernon, S. (n.d.). Teaching English pronunciation to ESL students. Retrieved June 15, 2016
from http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/pronunciation/teaching-english-pronunciation/
Zimmerman, B. (2006). MAKE BELIEFS COMIX! Online Educational Comic Generator for
Kids of All Ages. Retrieved June 15, 2016, from http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/