20 Tips on How to Teach a Child English as a Second Language

Does learning a second language have lots of benefits for children? Definitely! It helps them develop better critical thinking and problem-solving skills and boosts memory and concentration skills, among many, many more. But how to teach English as a second language? That ones a little more tricky.

It can be a daunting task thinking about how to teach the English language to non-English learners. Regardless of class size or ability level, helping children to learn a new language comes with many challenges. You’ll have to have a lot of patience (just like every teacher out there), especially as every child learns differently and at a different pace, which only increases the challenge.

But helping children develop their confidence in speaking and using another language can also be extremely rewarding. And you can check out our hopefully handy tips on how to teach the English language below to give you a helping hand.

How to teach English as a second language in the classroom

1. Use lots of visuals

Images are great for supporting learning. A child may not understand that the word ‘pencil’ means pencil, but they recognise what a picture of a pencil is. By combining text with images, children will be able to better develop their understanding. And pictures also add some colour to your classroom, making it more interesting and a better learning environment. To do this, you could use these brilliant ESL classroom display resources.

2. Keep it simple

This is especially important when dealing with beginners. Try to keep sentences simple so that learners can develop their knowledge, and then you can build on it. You could, for example, ensure their understanding of simple instructions that you’ll be using in class. These could be things like ‘stop and listen’ or ‘put your pens down’. These short but informative requests are much simpler to understand than ‘can everybody please stop what they’re doing and listen’, or ‘stop your writing and put your pens down onto the table’.

3. Keep it fun

We learn more when we’re having fun. The more engaged we are in a task, the more we’re bound to pick up. And finding fun in the classroom can be really easy, and doesn’t mean slacking off from learning. There are so many fun teaching resources to support ESL learning, with many games and activities that stimulate language development in interesting ways.

4. Use role-play

Role-play is a fantastic way to develop your learners’ speaking skills and their confidence. By giving them various role-play scenarios, learners will be able to develop and practise their different vocabulary in fun ways. And role-play can also be really useful for those just watching. If certain learners don’t feel confident enough to get up in front of their class and pretend to be a customer in a cafe, they can still pick up speaking tips from watching their classmates do it. We have a bunch of ESL role-play resources to help you out with this.

5. Mix it up

Learning in just one way quickly leads to children becoming disinterested, disengaged, and disgusted (just kidding, but I couldn’t think of another ‘dis’ to add). By using different formats for learning, whether that be worksheets, games or PowerPoints, learners will stay stimulated.

We know it can be time-consuming to create all of these resources, but a helping hand from Twinkl and our array of teaching tools could help to make your teaching life easier.

6. Use technology

Technology has quickly become man’s best friend over the recent years, and it should become a teacher’s best friend, too! Technology is a great way to get children engaged in a lesson. With so many apps, interactive games and platforms out there, there’s lots for a teacher to choose from to use in their lessons, just like these brilliant interactive games.

7. Debate, debate, debate

Using debates can be a fantastic way for your children to develop their speaking skills, persuasive language skills, and so much more. They can also be really fun activities to get involved in. Choose a topic that you know children will be able to give their opinion on- food is always a good one for this. Pasta or pizza? Sweet or savoury? Split your class in two and let them fight to the death! Just kidding- but they can argue as persuasively as they can for their point of view.

8. Use stories

Books are a great way for learners to develop their language skills. Stories allow children to use their imagination, picturing impossible places and people, creating a sense of adventure and fun. So using this to help teach language can be brilliantly beneficial for learning.

You can check out this fantastic range of English stories for kids to help get you started.

9. Use verbal and written instructions

If you’re setting a task, don’t just explain it verbally to learners, or just by writing it down on the board either. Use both so that learners can get used to seeing something written down and also hearing it verbally. This is great for helping them learn pronunciation and spelling.

10. Use English holidays

Using English holidays can be a fantastic way to create a fun classroom environment. Whether you look at Christmas, Halloween, or Valentine’s Day, you can find resources to support your teaching on that topic. This can give children a chance to also get creative and explore other cultures.

How to teach a child English at home

Teaching English at home as a parent presents its own unique set of challenges. But encouraging children in their own home is a great way to further develop their language skills- children tend to mirror the behaviour of their parents, so learning English together can be a great way for children to pick up language skills.

Many of the above tips are also great to use at home, too, but if you’re looking for some more advice on how to teach a child English at home, check out these top tips below.

1. Use everyday things

The great thing about learning at home is that you’re not restricted to a classroom and set lessons. That means that learning English can happen at any time in your home, and it can be really beneficial to integrate this into everyday things. As you put your child’s dinner plate in front of them, for example, saying things like ‘here is your dinner’ can help them grasp these every day phrases.

2. Initiating conversation

Just like using everyday things, it can be a good idea to ask everyday questions. This could be things like ‘could you set the table?’ or ‘what are you watching?’ This is a good way to engage your child in conversation, helping their language develop in a natural setting.

3. Include English speaking time

It can be useful to set a certain amount of time aside dedicated to just speaking English. This gives children a chance to really focus on their speaking skills and language. You could do this for ten minutes every day as this motivates children to try and communicate in English. You could use these conversation resources for help with this.

4. Use games

There are so many great educational games out there that it can be easy to make learning not even seem like learning. There are lots of easy games that help develop language skills that children will also thoroughly enjoy. Just try to keep these games simple- if they’re too complex to understand, children aren’t going to enjoy them and they aren’t going to learn from them. Check out these five minutes games for some speedy fun.

5. Make use of resources

Teaching English can be a challenging task, and you don’t have to do it entirely on your own. There are a range of fantastic resources out there to help support educators teaching English, including home educators. These are a great way to support your child’s learning and give you a helping hand.

6. Set a routine

It can be harder to have structured learning at home than it is in a classroom, especially because children expect learning at school, but see home as a place to relax. This doesn’t mean you should be setting out hours upon hours of sessions at home, drilling down vocabulary and grammar. This could just mean setting aside ten minutes before tea to play an English game. Or choosing an English story to read before bed.

7. Keep them talking

If children are only at a beginner level, they’re going to find it difficult to initiate conversations in English. That means that it’s on you to keep them talking and developing their speaking skills. Ask them questions while they work or complete tasks to keep them engaged in the language.

8. Use songs

Are you pitch perfect? No? Never mind then! (Just kidding.) Songs can be a great way to engage children in learning, and they’re also excellent for helping memory recall. Remember that song that played on the radio last week that you just can’t get out of your head? Well this should hopefully work in exactly the same way for your children. Songs can be a great way to help children remember vocabulary. We have some fantastic song resources for you to check out right here.

9. Make use of your setting

You have a unique setting when teaching your child English at home- so use it! This can be particularly useful when covering topics such as food, clothes, or the home, anything where you have items readily available to support learning.

If you want to develop your food vocabulary, take the lesson over to the fridge! See if your child can name its contents. If you want to focus on clothes vocabulary, take a trip to your wardrobe! This kind of interactive learning would be great for children as it’s easier to engage with than out of context teaching.

10. Use their interests

One way to get children interested in their language development is by using topics that they’re interested in. If they really like reading, choose an English book together. If they love art, research some English artists and develop their artistic English vocabulary. Find something that they love and incorporate it.

We hope you’ve found these tips on how to teach English as a second language useful, especially if you were wondering how to teach a child English at home. And if you’re looking for some more tips, you could check out this other fantastic blog all about different ESL games for the classroom. You’ll be an expert on how to teach the English language in no time!