My Life! Teaching in a Korean University

  • ESL Korea
  • Teaching English
  • ESL Activities
  • Learning English

in Life in the Classroom

Teaching Writing to ESL Beginners: How to do it Well

beginners

An activity to teach English writing to beginners

Teaching Writing to ESL Beginners: A Tough Job

Teaching beginners to write in English can be a very difficult job. These students often struggle to put together a sentence, so teaching them to “write” can be quite overwhelming and many teachers instead find themselves just focusing on student’s grammar mistakes. This isn’t a terrible thing, but then it kind of becomes a grammar class instead of one focused on writing.

A Writing Activity for Low-Level Students

Take whatever topic you’re studying in the unit. For example, free time leisure activities Then, make a fill in the blank paragraph on the board or PowerPoint for the students to copy.

I live in ______. In _________, people like to __________, _____________, ______________, and _____________in their free time. Young people think ____________is __________because ______________.

First, I fill in the blanks using the city where my university is (and where I happen to live) and I get the students to help me. Then, I turn the students loose to do their own hometown, which takes about 5 minutes for something as simple as this. My hope it that the students can get the hang of making some interesting, grammatically correct sentences and still use some of their own creativity and thinking power.

Example-1st, Production-2nd for TEFL Writing

For beginners, it really is about examples first and production second so help your students out by giving them something solid to grasp on to when they’re just starting out with writing. When you’re teaching writing to ESL beginners, they need a lot of examples. Give this to them!

teaching-english-writing

How to teach ESL writing to beginners

The Worst Thing to Do with Beginner Students and Writing

If you have beginner students (freshman English in Korea?), don’t make this same mistake that many of my colleagues seem to do. They give a homework assignment that consists of something like, “write a movie review” or “a short essay about XYZ.”

Then, they get back page after page of gibberish that was obviously cut and pasted from a translator program. Or, they get something perfect that was just cut and pasted from Wikipedia. For beginners, think short because students will be far less likely to take the easy way out.

It’s far better to give students an extremely specific question that they won’t be able to copy. For example, “What are 3 things our university administration could change to make it better?” or, “What are 3 things you have learned in this class?”

When you’re teaching writing to ESL beginners, think specific, instead of general. You can read some reviews on Omnipapers, as an example.

ESL Writing Activities, Games & Teaching Tips: Practical Ideas for the Classroom (ESL Activities for...
11 Reviews
ESL Writing Activities, Games & Teaching Tips: Practical Ideas for the Classroom (ESL Activities for...
  • Bolen, Jackie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 72 Pages - 12/09/2019 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)
Check Price on Amazon

My Favorite Beginner Writing Textbook

If you’re teaching an intensive writing class (and not just doing writing as part of a 4-skills class) and are looking for a beginner level ESL writing textbook, my #1 recommendation is Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs. It focuses on the sentence-paragraph level, which will be challenging enough for beginner English students.

Trust me, there are lots of books out there but none are better than this one if you want to focus specifically on writing. It has a nice blend of process and product approaches to teaching writing. Students learn how to do things like editing, use varied vocabulary, etc. They also study the finished product and have to replicate it for themselves.

It’s easy to teach from and your preparation time will hopefully be minimal! There are also some excellent homework suggestions. When you’re teaching writing to ESL beginners, this is the book you need. Otherwise, you can find affordable essay writers who provide paid writing help for ESL students online.

Last update on 2022-06-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 30 books for English teachers and English learners, including Advanced English Conversation Dialogues and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults. She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at:
Facebook
Pinterest

« 101 Frugal Living in Korea Tips | Frugal Living for English Teachers
Travel ESL Conversation Lesson Plan for Teenagers or Adults »
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners (Teaching ESL Speaking...
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners (Teaching ESL Speaking...
Check Price on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
Check Price on Amazon
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
Check Price on Amazon
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults who Want to Start Their English Classes Off...
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults who Want to Start Their English Classes Off...
Check Price on Amazon
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
Check Price on Amazon
39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
Check Price on Amazon

Recent Posts

  • Renewable Energy Lesson Plan for ESL Students: For Intermediate-Advanced
  • Personality Game Powerpoint | ESL Activity Personality
  • University Jobs: Teaching ESL Korea vs Japan
  • Serial Podcast for ESL Students: Happy Times all ’round
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
Check Price on Amazon
Sale 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
Check Price on Amazon

About and Contact

Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL South Korea since 2014. The goal is to bring you the best tips, ideas, and news for everything teaching English in Korea, including university jobs.

Contact Jackie Bolen and My Life! Teaching in a Korean University here.

Email: [email protected]

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

Find the Privacy Policy here.

Facebook

Pinterest

TikTok

YouTube

LinkedIn

Best Seller

101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
Check Price on Amazon

Search

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Advertise on My Life! Teaching in Korean University

Recent Articles

talk-show-esl-introduction-activity

Talk Show ESL Speaking & Listening Activity: Try it Out!

Job Ideas for former ESL teachers

Teaching English as a Second Language in your Home Country

english-expressions

English Expressions, Phrases & Idioms: See Eye to Eye

student-name-tags

Name Tags for Students in the Classroom | Making Nametags

Copyright © 2025 Jackie Bolen + My Life! Teaching in a Korean University. All Rights Reserved.