![\"esl](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/1\/kindergarten-story-time-1-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA picture is worth a thousand words, and nowhere is this truer than in the ESL classroom.<\/p>\n
Suppose a student wants to know the difference between \u201cHe danced at the party\u201d and \u201cHe was dancing at the party.\u201d Instead of launching into a long explanation, you could draw a picture of two timelines, one representing each sentence, and have the students describe them.<\/p>\n
Visual aids make English so much more approachable for students, so let’s go over seven important types of visual aids that you should be adding to your class.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Pictures<\/a> are great for presenting many nouns, adjectives and simple sentence patterns. If you are using a textbook in class, make use of the pictures in it. With younger students, I ask “What do you see?” then call on many students and meet all of their suggestions with positive feedback. With older students, I have them predict what a chapter will be about based on the pictures from the opening page.<\/p>\n If a textbook doesn’t have good pictures, I also use realia, such as pictures from newspapers or magazines. (We’ll touch a little more on realia later in the post.) If your school has them, flashcards or picture dictionaries work well.<\/p>\n Here are a few ideas of how to incorporate pictures into your teaching:<\/p>\n The site ESL Flow<\/a> has many more ideas about using pictures to teach English.<\/p>\n One thing that pictures aren\u2019t very helpful for is introducing grammatical structures, particularly anything beyond the present simple or present continuous.<\/p>\n For this, we have timelines.<\/p>\n Timelines are a great way to illustrate tenses and time expressions<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n When I was trying to teach the difference between “by” and “until,” I drew simple timelines to illustrate the following sentences:<\/p>\n Sun-Hee has to finish her thesis\u00a0by<\/strong> March 12.<\/em><\/p>\n Sun-Hee will work on her thesis until<\/strong> 10:00 tonight.<\/em><\/p>\n Maximize your Student Talking Time by presenting timelines interactively and leading your students to the answer.<\/p>\n For instance, if you’re using timelines for the above sentences, ask questions like:<\/p>\n These work beautifully for introducing and practicing a variety of structures. I’ve used pie charts or bar graphs to illustrate comparatives and superlatives, such as:<\/p>\n ABC has a larger market share than XYZ.<\/em><\/p>\n LMN has the largest market share in the industry.<\/em><\/p>\n Because line graphs indicate change, they also work like a charm for verbs of\u00a0change, like \u201cincrease,\u201d \u201cdecrease,\u201d \u201cdip\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n When you are working on vocabulary building in class, use a chart. I personally like to use charts to teach word families. I have columns for \u201cnoun,\u201d \u201cverb,\u201d \u201cadjective\u201d and \u201cadverb.\u201d<\/p>\n So let’s say the word \u201ctired\u201d comes up in class. I\u2019ll expand on it by eliciting \u201ctiredness,\u201d \u201ctire\u201d and \u201ctiredly.\u201d Get the words in the chart, and refer back to them throughout the lesson.<\/p>\n Showing a word\u2019s antonym or opposite is a sure-fire way to teach its meaning without a word of explanation. Suppose your student doesn\u2019t know the word \u201cleast.\u201d Just jot down something like this on the whiteboard:<\/p>\n Least\u00a0 <——–>\u00a0Most<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Alternatively, you could use hand gestures: Spread out your arms for “most” and bring them in for “least.” Hand gestures are also good for opposites like fast\/slow, cheap\/expensive and big\/small.<\/p>\n And, speaking of opposites, what\u2019s the opposite of an answer? That\u2019s right, a question! Introduce question structures by showing the question\u2019s answer. For example:<\/p>\n Q:\u00a0<\/strong>________________________?<\/em><\/p>\n A:<\/strong> I work for a securities firm.<\/em><\/p>\n Like opposites, gap fills help you introduce or reinforce grammar by accessing the knowledge your students already have. They\u2019re perfect for things like pronouns, prepositions and articles. Let\u2019s say your lesson today is about \u201cin,\u201d \u201con\u201d and \u201cat.\u201d<\/p>\n Having three sentences on the board like the following is all you\u2019ll need to make their meaning clear:<\/p>\n Mary always goes to the beach ___ the summer.<\/em><\/p>\n Richard has a meeting with his boss ___ October 7. They\u2019re meeting ___ 2:30 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n If you wish, you could expand on this by creating a chart (like in #3) with “in,” “on” and “at” at the top. Then you can have your students come up with time expressions that go under each category.\u00a0<\/p>\n Realia is\u00a0an\u00a0incredibly effective visual aid in the ESL classroom. Realia means real-life, authentic items.<\/strong> For example, when I was teaching a lesson about booking a hotel room, students became much more engaged when I gave them at an actual hotel brochure to look at. I used the brochure to introduce new language items, and even as the basis for a role play.<\/p>\n I highly recommend taking some time to build a realia collection for your ESL classes. Take a walk around town or go online to gather some essential realia.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are some must-have realia for you to start off your collection with.<\/p>\n Visual aids, like those two\u00a0timelines, are so perfect for the ESL classroom. Here’s why:<\/p>\n When you present a concept using a visual aid, you are giving your students something they can associate with that concept. Later, when they try to recall it, all they have to do is bring up the image you used.<\/p>\n Visual aids also help you present clearly and smoothly, without complications or tangents.<\/p>\n As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Visual aids allow you to explain the meaning behind various vocabulary and structures without explanation. In addition, you can ask prompting questions about your visual aids to boost Student Talking Time and lead them to the answer.<\/p>\n When my visual aid was a timeline illustrating someone\u2019s work experience, I asked my students, \u201cHow long did Bob work for ABC Inc.?”\u00a0<\/p>\n Visual aids not only help put the new language out there, they also help remind students of the language they\u2019ve learned as the class goes on.<\/p>\n For example, when my students make an error with the target grammar, or use a different word when they could have used a new word from the lesson, I direct them back to the visual aid as if to say, \u201cTry and say it like we practiced earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n Visual add some pizazz to your lessons and help take the focus off of you or the textbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can even use visual aids that are related to pop culture or your students’ interests. For example, FluentU<\/a> has hundreds of authentic English videos taken from movies, TV series, vlogs and more. You can show these to your students since they’re made learner-friendly through tools like interactive subtitles and transcripts. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p> \r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \n
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2. Timelines<\/h2>\n
![\"timeline](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/1\/esl-visual-aids5.jpg\")
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3. Charts and Graphs<\/h2>\n
![\"esl](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/1\/pexels-rdne-stock-project-7947671.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n5. Opposites<\/h2>\n
![\"tall](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/1\/esl-visual-aids3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n6.\u00a0Gap Fills<\/h2>\n
![\"gap](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/1\/esl-visual-aids.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n7. Realia<\/h2>\n
![\"esl](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/1\/esl-teacher-using-realia-to-teach-english.jpg\")
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Benefits of Using Visual Aids for ESL<\/h2>\n
Helps with understanding concepts<\/h3>\n
Reduces teacher talking time<\/h3>\n
Provides a touchpoint for reference<\/h3>\n
More dynamic and fun<\/h3>\n
![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/SimpleText.jpg\")
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