Cátedra Lengua y Comunicación para la Enseñanza del Inglés

Sounds of English: This site was designed for ESL students and teachers alike. It includes listening exercises, handouts, tips, sounds and videos to help you with your pronunciation.

Phonetics: The Sounds of Spoken Language: It is a Phonetics Flash Animation Project from the University of Iowa. The “site contains animated libraries of the phonetics sounds of English, German and Spanish.”  The site includes an “articulatory diagram, a step-by-step description, and video-audio of the sound spoken in context” for each consonant and vowel. It also has “an interactive diagram of the articulatory anatomy.” In order to use it, you must have Flash 7 or install the Flash Web Player.

International  Phonetic Association: Lots of links and information, including Phonetic Fonts for Windows and Mac.

Dictionary.com: An excellent dictionary, thesaurus, reference, and translator, with tools to install in your computer.  You can hear the pronunciation of the word and see the translation into the IPA phonetic alphabet.

HyperGrammar: HyperGrammar is an electronic grammar course at the University of Ottawa’s Writing Center and it is available for use free of charge. It is still under construction, so there are sections that might be incomplete. In spite of that, it is a quite useful grammar and writing tool for ESL students.

University of Kansas Writing Center: Here you will find plenty of information on writing strategies. The Center provides students with several guides for writing and many other links to online writing resources.

Purdue Online Writing Lab: The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University is a free service. Anyone can access the site and you can even submit brief questions to OWL real tutors. The site is quite complete as to the number of writing resources and instructional materials it provides. There you can find information on how to write a memo, a business letter, abstracts, resumes; grammar and mechanics, and many other important aspects for academic writing, including the different formatting and style guides available.

Writing Labs & Writing Centers on the Web: This is an exhaustive list of the writing centers online. Most of these centers are projects of American Universities and Colleges’ English Departments. Some of them only provide students with a list of online resources; while others include free handouts, summaries and practices on the topic for everyone to access.

Improving Text Flow in ESL Learner Compositions: “In this article, we provide a way to focus on the progression of information through thematic patterning (Danes, 1974) in the writing classroom. We apply this as a tool to help in the rewriting of a student text, and suggest how it might be of practical use in the ESL classroom.”

Tips for ESL Students on Reviewing and Improving Written Work: “This article covers five practical tips for students to self-review, revise and improve the pre-submission standard of work written in English.”

Writing English: This site provides details on the uses of specific punctuation marks such as the comma, period, exclamation mark, question mark, oblique, semicolon, colon, hyphen, dash, parentheses, brackets, and the apostrophe. The explanations might be too short but the examples given are quite illustrative.

Common Errors in English Language: Paul Brians, a well-known English Professor at Washington State University, prepared this site. He compiled an exhaustive list of the errors commonly made by American English native speakers. You can go through it, and read the explanations for each of the entries. There are also supplementary pages you do not want to miss, and links to other quite good resources worthy to visit.

Merriam Webster Online Dictionary: Although the site offers a series of premium services you have to pay for, there are three free basic services in particular that will definitely be your best friends when writing a paper in English: the English dictionary, the Thesaurus, and the Spanish-English dictionary. You just have to follow an easy three-step process (select a reference, enter a word or a phrase, and click search). There is also a new free feature: a Medical Dictionary (you never know…)

Purdue University On-Line Writing Lab: Brought to you by the Purdue University Writing Lab, this is probably one of the best writing resources available on the Web.

Language Learning Strategies Instruction and Language Use Applied to Foreign Language Reading and Writing: A Simplified "Menu" Approach

This article outlines “one possible way of addressing language learning strategies instruction and language use through what I have called a ´Menu Approach´”: An excellent dictionary, thesaurus, reference, and translator with tools to install in your computer.  You can hear the pronunciation of the word and see the translation into the IPA phonetic alphabet.

GrammarBook.com Your ·# 1 Source for Grammar and Punctuation: Videos about the use of pronouns, verbs, commas, prepositions, apostrophes, hyphens, capitalization and others.

Write Site: APA. Critical thinking, reading and writing, editing, invention, pronouns, research process, revising, structure and organization, verb tenses, the writing occasion, the writing process.

Guide to Writing Basic Essays: Decide on your topic. Prepare an outline. Write your thesis statement. Write the body. Write the introduction. Write the conclusion.

NorthStar: More purposeful integration of critical thinking and an enhanced focus on academic skills such as inferencing, synthesizing, notetaking, and test taking help students develop strategies for success in the classroom and on standardized tests. A culminating productive task integrates content, language and critical thinking skills.

A structured approach gives students opportunities for more extended and creative oral practice, for example, presentations, simulations, debates, speeches, public service announcements and more.

Mouth Workout: Tongue twister exercises to improve problem consonants.

International Phonetic Association:    Lots of links and information, including Phonetic Fonts for Windows and Mac.

Barriers to Acquiring Listening Strategies for EFL Learners and Their Pedagogical Implications: “This study explores the difficulties or barriers confronted by the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners while acquiring listening comprehension strategies during a training program.”

Using Mnemonics in Vocabulary Tests: “This paper introduces the use of mnemonics as a possible method to improve high school vocabulary test scores and finishes with some recommendations for conducting tests in higher education.”

Building Vocabulary Through Prefixes, Roots & Suffixes: By slowly and steadily studying the most prominent prefixes, roots, and suffixes, students can acquire a vocabulary that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Listening In Language Learning: This article examines the “theoretical, empirical, and practical aspects of listening comprehension.”

World Link: In this site you can find dictations for practicing listening.

Dictionary: An excellent dictionary, thesaurus, reference, and translator with tools to install in your computer.  You can hear the pronunciation of the word and see the translation into the IPA phonetic alphabet.

Livemocha: "Una poderosa oportunidad para personas alrededor del mundo para conectarse con amigos en el mismo idioma"

English as a Second Language (ESL) Podcasts: These are the 30 newest podcasts for ESL learners

The Daily English Show: Watch the newest show, followed by older shows.

Grammar FROM Context: Re-thinking the Teaching of Grammar at Various Proficiency Levels: This article analyzes the causes of some problems in teaching and learning grammar

Advanced Level Grammar for ESL Learners: English grammar explanations for advanced forms and structures for ESL / EFL advanced level learners.

Advanced Level Quizzes - English Learning Quizzes for Advanced ESL: Grammar, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension quizzes for advanced level students.

Learning English for the Advanced Level - ESL EFL Advanced English: Learning English for the Advanced level learning materials including grammar, listening, TOEFL and Cambridge Exam preparation materials, vocabulary, reading, listening comprehension, writing, reference, and quizzes, as well as free lesson plans for ESL / EFL English teachers.

ESL Teacher Handouts, Grammar Worksheets & Printables: Free English grammar and vocabulary worksheets and printable handouts, for English language and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and instructors to use in the classroom or other teaching environment.

CT 01 Advanced Grammar - Perfect Tenses (video): This lesson examines the use of perfect tenses in both the simple and continuous aspect - past, present and future forms. In grammatical terms, perfect tenses are used to refer to completed or finished events.

CT 02 Advanced ESL Grammar - Passive Voice (video): In this video, Brian looks at the use of the passive voice. After looking at why we use the passive voice, Brian goes on to explain how the passive voice is formed.

CT 03 Advanced English Grammar - ING Forms and Gerunds (video): In this video, Brian reviews the different -ING forms and gerunds. After looking at the various types of -ING words in English, Brian goes on to explain the use of gerunds.

CT 04 Advanced English Grammar – Conditionals (video): In this lesson, Brian reviews the three basic conditionals: first (probable) conditional, second (improbable) conditional and third (past improbable) conditional. In the second part of the video, Brian looks at some common errors native speakers make with the third conditional.

Dictionary.com: An excellent dictionary, thesaurus, reference, and translator with tools to install in your computer.  You can hear the pronunciation of the word and see the translation into the IPA phonetic alphabet.

Englishpage.com: Free online English lessons & ESL / EFL resources.

Grammar Slammer!: A help file that helps to check grammar, punctuation, style and usage, and mistakes.

GrammarBook.com: Videos about the use of pronouns, verbs, commas, prepositions, apostrophes, hyphens, capitalization and others.

Resumes That Sizzle: You can learn English words, practice grammar, look at some basic rules, prepare for exams, do tests or just have fun playing games. Enjoy yourself with more than 650 exercises online.

Activities for ESL Students: Quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles to help you learn English as a Second Language (ESL). This project of The Internet TESL Journal (iteslj.org) has thousands of contributions by many teachers.

English Grammar Handbook: Basic Grammar. Sentences and Grammar. Punctuation. Manuscript Preparation. Idioms and Pronunciation.