6 Dynamic English as a Foreign Language Activities That Always Motivate Learners

Are You Still Struggling to Teach English?

Are you still struggling to teach English to unmotivated, reluctant LEP learners? Well don’t blame them entirely just yet. Try making your EFL classes more dynamic using activities, strategies and techniques presented in this brief EFL teacher education article post. From creative uses of music, dynamic ELT games, speaking-practice dramas, CALL and others, these practical, fast-paced activity types always seem to motivate even the most Limited English Proficiency and reluctant EFL learners to greater participation, language practice and skills acquisition.

A Series of Dynamics

These activity types will step participants actively through a series of ELT (English Language Teaching) dynamics of up to six activity types that always seem to motivate EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners who may be reluctant to practice English or be LEP (Limited English Proficiency) learners. First, examine and reflect on some of the possible intrinsic and extrinsic causes of poor EFL learner motivation on the part of your learners. Then, select activity types based on the impact on student learning styles, preferences and abilities of your class groups.

Activities and materials selected primarily include the use, application and theoretical basis of:

1. Music, Songs and Poetry C. Graham (1994) and H. Gardner (1993)

2. Dynamic ELT Games, and Puzzles H. Gardner (1993)
“Theory of Multiple Intelligences”

3. Drama and Story-Telling P. Lazear et al, (2003) and A. Wright (1995)

4. Computer-Aided Language Learning G. Dudeney et al (2004)

5. Movies / Videos “Affective Filter Hypothesis” Krashen - Terrell (1983)

6. TPR Total Physical Response, Asher (1996)

A Simple Sequence

Learners / participants are organized into pairs or small groups, depending on their numbers and their particular interests and levels or EFL profiles.

-Next, a variety of dynamics-based activities and materials types proceeding to participant hands-on activities to practice and internalize themes using each of the main materials types.

Example activities and materials types are demonstrated, created, and adapted using available facilities (i.e., TV – VCR / DVD player, audio cassette or CD player, and OHP-overhead transparency projector) to meet the needs and interests of learner / participants.
Presented activities and materials can be adapted to suit groups of EFL learners from Primary / Secondary school up to language institute or university levels.

In an upcoming series, we’ll consider each of these dynamic EFL activity types in greater detail. Reviewing English or other foreign language teaching and learning specifics for the classroom application of each one regardless of the available resources (or lack thereof) a school, language institute or ESL class room may have.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

How to Get Your EFL Learners to LOVE English Class

How Do Your EFL Learners Feel?
How do your English as a foreign language learners feel about coming to English class? Do they look forward to it because they know, “We’re going to do all kinds of interesting things in English class” or do they arrive late, and then want to leave English classes early?
You can snap them out of their “dread” of foreign language learning with a few simple adjustments to your English or other foreign language classes.

Here are five easily-implemented suggestions to approach doing so.

Use Drama
In any of its many forms, drama can enrich and enliven an English as a foreign language class like almost nothing else. There are a generous number of choices available to accomplish this from skits demonstrating monologues and soliloquy to pair dialogues and beyond. The dramatic forms do not have to be elaborate or lengthy to serve multiple purposes.

Incorporate the Use of Music and Songs
Always a favorite with my learners, using music in a broad spectrum of ways in the English language learning classroom is never a wasted effort. Music, in fact, is highly effective in stimulation of learning and intelligence in several proven ways. You can use music in the background, before a shift in lesson stages, to “time” exercises and activities, among a score of others. Don’t forget to include at least two or three popular songs during the course of a semester with you EFL groups as well.

Play Games
If you’re waiting for your learners to say, “We don’t want to play a game in English class, teacher” you’re in for a very long wait. Language learners of all levels, ages and ability just love to play games. What kinds of games? You name it. From the simplest form of TIC-TAC-TOE to a vast array of puzzles, vocabulary and TPR dynamic activities, your EFL learners will likely respond very well to strategically-placed games during the course of class sessions.

Show Videos and Movie Clips
Now if your English language learners are anything at all like mine, they have quite a visual type of learning style. Great! Because this means that you can use videos and short clips from popular movies to illustrate language, vocabulary and grammar in context. This is not only “painless” for the language learners, but they actually encourage and receive “lessons” from watching a video or movie clip better than a straight forward lecture. There are numerous films and film clusters that you’ll find useful no matter where you teach.

Tell a Story
To garner the rapt attention of virtually any group of English language learners, try telling them a good story. What? You say you don’t know or have any good stories? Are you kidding me? They’re all around you in the form of fables, fairy tales, literature and even the news. Try twisting a commonly-know tale with a different surprise ending. Let your learners shift and shape a familiar fable or folk tale. Use stories to illustrate grammar and vocabulary in context. The possibilities are limited only by the limits of your (and the EFL or other foreign language learners) imagination.

Snap Them Out of Their “Dread”
Snap your EFL learners out of their “dread” of foreign language learning by trying out some of these suggested activities. Include two or three in your English classes during the course of a semester, period or school year and watch as their interest and participation start to mount steadily. Soon your EFL learners will be saying, “We’re doing all kinds of interesting things in English class”. They’ll start arriving in classes early and you’ll have to boot them out the door at the end of classes. Now won’t that be a pleasant change?


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" or "7 Techniques to Motivate Your English Language Learners and Make Your Classes More Dynamic" by requesting the title you want at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Using Songs as Authentic English Language Texts

In English as a foreign or second language teaching (EFL, ESL), if you ever need to come up with an authentic English text of any kind, i.e., newspaper, magazine, movie clip, etc. that you need to present to the class and you’ve been powerfully influenced by music your whole life you might chose to take the song approach. You'll be okay using a popular song as authentic language text - which it certainly is. I'd go with popular songs, like "Imagine" by John Lennon, which have more appeal. You can get some additional mileage out of the song using cultural aspects as well as some others. Profiling, doing a biography of and discussing John Lennon as an example in this case.

Here are some ways to go about it.

Select and Concept Check the Lexis

Be sure to select at least six to eight key lexis (minimum) from the song. To aid in concept checking you should create a series of short exercises such as:

• a True - False exercise
• a short matching exercise and perhaps
• a fill in the blanks exercise

In each of these exercises you’ll be using the lexis (vocabulary) you've chosen. You might also try to find a few pictures or photos to visually - graphically illustrate both the key lexis and themes or phrases from the song. You can also prepare a re-order exercise using the song lyrics by cutting the lyrics into strips, mixing them up and having the learners re-order the lyrics line strips of the song by listening to it.

Re-Ordering Sequences

Play the song again afterwards to have learners check their re-ordered sequence. Try to have a picture or drawing that represents each of your chosen lexis for you to use to help elicit the key lexis from the learners before they hear the song. For a REAL test of this system (which I regularly use, by the way) is to find and use a song that you think the learners don't know!

You'll get kudos for this one for sure. It’s especially effective when the class is multi-cultural; that is, composed of learners from different countries and diverse language backgrounds. (Russia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, and so on) Using a snappy but “unknown” song will help to ensure a ample amount of “learning” on the part of your students, in more ways than one.

Finding Unique Songs

So how would you find such songs – easy; just check out songs from other genres, songs sung in other varieties of English and popular songs from past eras aka “oldies but goodies”.

Some suggestions you might consider include:

• country and western
• oldies from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s
• jazz vocals
• soul or rhythm and blues songs (especially from previous eras)
• comedy songs
• Bluegrass songs
• Folk songs
• Ballads

Process Need Not Be Difficult

If you don’t have the time or inclination to do the extra preparation you can just go with the activities I've mentioned for your presentation. The process needn’t be overly difficult at all.
Let me know if you need any further guidance or some actual exercise examples.

I’ll be happy to send you some.

Good luck.


Larry M. Lynch is an Intellectual Development Specialist, ELT Teacher Trainer, expert author, photographer and experienced world traveler who teaches language at a university in Cali, Colombia. He helps language teachers to improve their skills and develop dynamic language classroom teaching techniques. His writing has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape from America, Mexico News and Brazzil magazines, in addition to hundreds of online websites. He is the author of the astonishing new English language teaching system; “The BREAKTHROUGH! English Language Teaching System: Dynamic Techniques & Strategies for Teaching English to Any Learner Anywhere in the World”.

For no-obligation information, questions or comments send an e-mail to: lynchlarrym@gmail.com After today your language teaching will never be the same.