Research Guides: ESL/TESL: For Teachers

Welcome to ESL

This page is best place to find resources for teachers and learners of English as a Second language. Scroll down to find helpful databases, websites, books and videos.

Grammar Basics

Here are some Grammar Websites which will help your students with their writing.

grammar

This page has some excellent websites which will help your students with their grammar.

http://www.grammar-monster.com/ [BEST CHOICE!] Do you know how to use semicolons, where to put apostrophes and when to use commas? Find out here! Fun and easy to use!

Purdue OWL Purdue's Writing Center site not only provides access to APA and MLA information, but you can us the tabs on the right and look at specific issues you might need help with, like commas.

If you have questions or need help, contact the WKU Writing Center at 270 745-5719.

ESL Grammar Help

A place for students to go to learn about and practice English grammar by specific issue.

https://www.usingenglish.com/ UsingEnglish.com is a general English language site specializing in English as a Second Language (ESL). The site offers a grammar glossary, guides to irregular verbs and phrasal verbs, and tests and quizzes.

http://www.roadtogrammar.com/ Quizzes, games and exercises focused on English grammar and vocabulary.

Databases

Our library subscribes to these databases which index academic journals.

Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature
This is a retrospective citation only (not full-text) database of language and literature journals. Journals not in our Periodicals collection may be requested through Interlibrary Loan.
Cambridge Journals Online
Selected fulltext of articles from Studies in Second Language Acquisition, English Today, Bilingualism, Applied Psycholinguistics, and other TESL-related journals.
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Indexes many linguistics journals, as well as communication in general.
ERIC
Find ERIC documents and articles from education journals on the topic of ESL.
ETS Test Collection
Find descriptions of tests that can be used with ELLs.
Family & Society Studies Worldwide
Search "English as a Second Language" as a keyword to find articles from early child development and family studies journals.
JSTOR
JSTOR provides the full text of the complete archival collections of almost 1,400 core scholarly journals, not including the most recent five years. Includes 294 language and literature titles.
MLA International Bibliography
Find citations to articles from such journals as English Language Teaching, ELT Journal, TESOL Quarterly, International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, to name but a few. Journals not found in our Periodicals collection may be requested via Interlibrary Loan.
Project MUSE
Find books and journal articles on TESL topics.
Testing & Education Reference Center
This database has current practice tests for TOEFL and TOEIC. Click the "International Tools" tab. You will have to set up an account to see test results, but there is no charge.

Websites

Some of the best websites for professional and pedagogical information.

American Factfinder
This statistical database from the U.S. Census Bureau contains tables that give, for example, Place of Birth by Language Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English, Household Language by Household, and Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English.
Center for Applied Linguistics
The Center for Applied Linguistics is dedicated to providing a comprehensive range of research-based information, tools, and resources related to language and culture.
Country Studies
Find basic information about your students' countries of origin in this U.S. Department of the Army database.
Dave's ESL Cafe
This site, for teachers and learners, lists jobs, lesson plans, games, exercises, audio files, quizzes, and student forums.
EL Civics for ESL Students
Ebooks, worksheets, PPTs, and other materials to teach Civics to English Language Learners.
English Literacy and Civics Education Curriculum
Developed by the Jefferson County, KY Public Schools and Continuing Education Program, this curriculum set contains 24 lesson plans to help immigrants learn about America.
ESL Galaxy
Find lesson plans, PPTs, ebooks, games, exercises, video lessons, and much more on this excellent resource for ESL instructors.
ESL Resource Center
Fabulous site with lots of lesson plans and activities.
Internet TESL Journal
The Internet TESL Journal published articles from 1995 through 2010.
This website is now an online resource book for EFL and ESL teachers.
Kentucky TESOL
Kentucky TESOL, Inc. (KYTESOL) is a statewide professional organization for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Our purpose is to distribute information, to discuss current issues, and to improve the teaching of English to speakers of other languages.
Linguist List
The LINGUIST List is dedicated to providing information on language and language analysis, and to providing the discipline of linguistics with the infrastructure necessary to function in the digital world.
Linguistic Resources on the Internet
Lots of links to excellent Linguistics resources.
NALDIC - National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum
Get the UK perspective on EAL - English as an Additional Language. Includes lots of teacher resources.
OWL Purdue - ESL Instructors and Students
Excellent resources for grammar and mechanics, plagiarism, workplace writing, and more.
Resource Center for English Teaching and Learning
Lots of ideas for ESL teachers.
Stanford's Linguistics Meta-Index
A guide to the best linguistic resources on the web.
TESOL
The major professional association for those who teach ESL. They also offer online courses and seminars for continuing education.
U.S. Department of State, Office of English Language Programs
The Office of English Language Programs creates and implements English language programs in specific regions and countries of the world. Activities include the development of English teaching curricula, textbooks, and teacher training workshops.
World Factbook
Learn about the people, society, and government of your students' home countries.

Books

Be sure to check the One Search Catalog often for newer titles. Also, note the LOCATION of each title; we have several libraries in our system. Be sure to try our new Map It! feature; it's like a GPS for our collection.