Part 2 Dynamic English as a Foreign Language Activities Your Learners Won't Refuse

More For Those Bored, Uninterested, Reluctant Foreign Language Learners
As we said earlier, once again faced with the necessity of circumventing the problems of having bored, uninterested and reluctant English as a foreign language learners in your EFL or other foreign language learning class room. We noted before that motivation of language learners – especially those who may be in your foreign language class involuntarily, can become a major obstacle to your teaching success if you allow class conditions to degenerate. You can however, win them over using these additional dynamic EFL activity types your foreign language learners simply won’t refuse.

• Using Realia as EFL Learning Aids

If you don’t have a stash of realia in your class room for use with your English or foreign language learners you’re either very inexperienced, pidgeon-holed in traditional methods or are mired in some other conditions I won’t go into here. “What kind of realia”, you ask? Why my dear almost anything and everything can be convertwed into didactic use with some imagination. Cute little stuffed animals, inflatable plastic or rubber balls, board games and pieces, small clothing items which can do double duty as drama props, tableware, throw pillows, along with gizmos and gadgets of all kinds make excellents realia and props for in-class room applications.

• Reciting Poetry, Rhymes and Raps

Did you know that the underlying purpose of many riddles, rhymes, raps and tongue-twisters is to permit extensive practice in the pronunciation of consonants, vowels, diphthongs and tripthongs in English? Even the learners can “excer`pt” passages from raps and popular songs for pronunciation practice. While you’re at it, if you’re not a native speaker of the foreign language you’re teaching, could YOU use a bit of extended pronunciation practice yourself? Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul. It’ll be our secret, okay?

• Surfing the Internet in English

Do your learners – whatever their ages and profile might be – like to play video or computer games? Using the internet as an English or foreign language learning tool is now par for the course with scores of foreign languages. Don’t fight your computer-literate foreign language learners – join them. Let them show you their computer skills while learning and practicing their English, Spanish, French or Arabic. Both you – and they – will be glad you did.

• Telling Short Stories, Fables and Tales

Get yourself a nice, fat book of nursery rhymes, fairy tales and children’s stories, then let your imagination run rampant with ways to apply them for building your English language learners’ communicative skills. Dramatize them, re-write them, tell them with a “modern” twist or two. Practice pronunciation with them or allow them to be set to a rhythm or music. Have fun and watch your English language learners practice and grow their language skills as if by magic. They won’t even have to wear the ruby slippers either.

Start your new scholastic year off right, and continue it in style by using these eight dynamic English as a foreign language activity types your foreign language learners simply won’t refuse to get and keep them motivated and having fun in class. By the way, you’re allowed to enjoy yourself too.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public 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.

Dynamic English as a Foreign Language Activities Your Learners Won`t Refuse

For Bored, Uninterested, Reluctant EFL Learners

As you begin yet another scholastic year or higher education semester, you’re once again faced with the necessity of circumventing the problems of having bored, uninterested and reluctant English as a foreign language learners among the sea of faces in your EFL class room. Motivating foreign language learners – especially those who may not voluntarily want to be in class can become a major obstacle to your success if you allow conditions to degenerate. Don’t let that happen. Fight back and win over those learners using these eight dynamic EFL activity types your learners simply won’t refuse.

• English Language Learning Games

All of your English language learners ju8st love to play games. How do I know? Because that’s true virtually everywhere worldwide, that’s how. Any game you know can be converted and played in English or whatever the target language you’re teaching is. From Tic-Tac-Toe (noughts and crosses) or “Tricky”, to checkers, Monopoly, Sorry and a seemingly unending slew of other TPR and board games, playing them in English can be an almost effortless way to motivate and reach even the most reluctant learners.

• Using Music in the EFL Classroom

English and foreign language learners love music in a wide variety of types and formats. So use music throughout class room activities and as an activity in itself. Time activities with popular songs, lip-sunc, demeonstrate vocabulry and lexical elements in context. Dramatize songs as a TPR activity or discuss cultural elements, even ask your language learners for their ideas and input for related activites. Don’t flounder like a fish out of water, do something. Get recordings and musical selections from your learners too.

• Performing Dramas and Comedy

There’s a little ham in all of us, so use that quality to stimulate your EFL learners while in English or other foreign language classes. Your “dramas” can be as simple as two-party enacted dialogues or as complex as fully-staged productions lasting two or more acts. The key is to elicit the interests of your learners then build on those interests using the media of drama.

• Watching Movies and Videos
If you’re not too keen on using full-length features in your foreign language class room, no problem. Just use selected, dramatic clips from the movies to engage your learners in the scenes and settings. Survey their favorite actors, actresses and entertainers – then use that info to make insider-informed decisions on what to prepare. Movies and scene clips can be great for dialogue practice, illustration vocabulary, grammar and other lexical elements in context.

We’ll continue this theme with even more dynamic EFL or other foreign language learning activities your learners won’t refuse in part two of this article post. So see you then.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public 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.