students in an ESL classroom during a Community Language Learning lesson
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Community Language Learning: 7 ESL Techniques

Community Language Learning (CLL) is a 1970s teaching method, created by psychologist Charles Curran, that puts students in a circle and has the teacher act as a “knower” who translates what students want to say into English. Students record their own sentences, transcribe them, then analyze the grammar together — turning their own conversation into…

Station rotation model in an ESL classroom with three groups of students
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Station Rotation: 7 ESL Techniques That Work

Station rotation ESL teaching splits a class into small groups that cycle through three or more activity stations — typically a teacher-led station, a digital or independent practice station, and a collaborative task station — on a fixed timer. Each group gets focused, level-appropriate work instead of sitting through one whole-class lesson pitched at the…

Teacher leading an international ESL classroom using CLIL content and language integrated learning techniques
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CLIL: 7 ESL Techniques That Work

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) means teaching a non-language subject — science, geography, history — through English, so students pick up content and language in the same lesson instead of two separate ones. It only works if the teacher scaffolds the language load; the seven techniques below (vocabulary tiering, silent-video prediction, hot-seating, pyramid discussion,…

Reciprocal teaching ESL classroom small group reading strategy
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Reciprocal Teaching: 7 ESL Techniques That Work

Reciprocal teaching hands four reading roles — predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing — to students themselves, who rotate through them in small groups while the teacher steps back and listens. Annemarie Palincsar and Ann Brown developed the method in 1984 and moved struggling readers from the 20th to the 50th percentile in comprehension after just…