ESL Writing Activities for Foreign Students

Learning English grammar can be interesting, and rewarding for both native and foreign students. The natives don’t have to work so, yet the foreigners have to strive too much to be skilled in English as the Second Language.

ESL writing activities for foreign students. Be prepared to face challenges, if you are not a native English and learning English as the Second Language. 

For foreign students writing creative ESL, activities may take some time because a lot of thoughtful planning needs to be put into them. The activity also needs to be light and engaging as well.

While writing ESL activities, the level of English may be one of the most difficult parts. 

The age of the student also counts to do with the level of English because the student may be an older person already having graduated from school.

And at the same time, the person may be a child but standing on an advanced English level. English writing activities are usually separated by level for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. 

There could also be levels in between such as advanced-intermediate and beginner-intermediate. These levels have to decide and look closely to find out where your particular writing activities stand.

Writing as an Essential Skill & the Best Creative Activity

Writing is considered the best and essential skill in the majority of English Learning Institutes. The students are supposed to adopt it to polish their skills and careers.

As being tough, and boring it’s sometimes difficult to convince the students, who are learning ESL that English writing skills are important to be capable to live and survive in the English community. 

Mostly they speed up to focus on developing their speaking and listening capabilities. Though writing creativity in English is a priceless part of the whole learning process, you can start exercising to write with a creative mind and easily be adapted in and out of the classroom.

There are many ways, and mediums to learn English, yet we are discussing some best creative ESL writing activities for foreign students. 

Targeting ESL Grammar & Vocabulary

The following ESL writing activity can be utilized to practice the definitions of target ESL grammar and vocabulary.

Type out about ten phrases and definitions that cover the key vocabulary being practiced in your classroom. Use a larger font so the ESL students can see paragraphs easily.

Keep leaving some space between words and add a couple of irrelevant words that have nothing to do with the current sentence. For example, if one of your sentences was “To get to the park you must turn right. 

You may write “To get to the park, you will take a turn to the right” with a large font and extra space between the words. You may also include words like “straight” or “drive”. Though the words are related to the topic, they don’t fit in the sentence.

Once you write down your ten written, get a print of the page and cut out each individual sentence. Put a circle around the wrong, misspelled, and correct words in each sentence. 

Now, put all of the papers in an envelope. Make groups of students and distribute envelopes among them. Instruct the students to fix the errors with mutual understanding.

It would let you judge your students and also give you an opportunity to judge the students. You will find this ESL activity has proven great for all age groups. 

Targeting ESL Grammar & Vocabulary

The following ESL writing activity can be utilized to practice the definitions of target ESL grammar and vocabulary. Startup with a paragraph or short story that includes the grammar and vocabulary you are working on in your class.

You had better write it yourself, but it shouldn’t have to be lengthy. While writing this story, you may make intentional grammar errors that have to do with what you are teaching that week. 

You don’t need to indicate them, yet let the students find them out where they are. Simply ask your class to find out the errors in the written story.

You may split the students into groups of five and explain that they are supposed to locate and correct the mistakes.

Before this starting this activity, it would probably be smart to review the grammatical concepts on the board for the entire class to refresh their memory. 

Every student may receive a copy of the reading passage, even though they are working in different groups. Help them to write down the corrections of the errors detected above.

Once when it is apparent that most of the groups have finished, get everyone’s attention and start correcting the sentences as a class. 

Overhead Projector

You can use the overhead projector that presents the passage as you originally wrote it. But leaves blank spaces for the mistakes you had purposely made. Select ESL students one by one to come to the projector to write in the corrections their group had agreed upon.

After discussing each mistake, and what the correction should be. Let the groups know that they are to now write their own short story or paragraphs. 

It would then be presented to other student groups in the class. As with the sentences that the teacher originally made.

There could be various other errors spread out intentionally throughout the passage. Ask each group to write one passage out (with errors) and correct one passage from the different groups of classmates.

You can also use this activity with any grammatical concept that is being taught to ESL students. You can collect the passages created by the student for checking and allowing them to grade for their efforts.

There would be a time when it will undoubtedly provide added motivation. In the next session, you may have more advanced ESL students working in the same groups as your lower-level students.

Allow the students to have fun with this activity. And make sure they don’t end up with a fear of ESL grammar lessons so much!

The Summarizing Words 

For those of you who are creating your own ESL activities, consider these few points. If you are having difficulty with it, you have the option to watch video tutorials to understand the task.

There are various websites available with ESL certifications that are qualified to assist you in writing these activities. It would be good to try it at least once to get some ideas of your own.