Highway To E.S.L.: A User-Friendly Guide to Teaching English As A Second Language

Evidently written to help novice ESL teachers understand the diverse and challenging skill sets required to teach English overseas, this ambitious book provides a plethora of practical tips for success in the classroom.

The 21 chapters range from overseas preparations, classroom management, and language needs and placement tests to verb tenses, teaching vocabulary, and teaching vowels. An informal, friendly tone pervades - and more than a few odd sentences and editing errors have survived in this 359-page tome. Each chapter includes concise subheadings, clear examples, and many needlessly long sentences. Numerous teaching suggestions, strong statements, and bullet point lists help transmit an impressive amount of information.

From my perspective as an experienced ESL instructor who has taught academic ESL for over a decade, this book remains a hidden gem. Two very strong chapters alone - Teaching Writing (chapter 10) and Teaching Speaking (chapter 17) - make this a smart choice. Both cover the predictable ground, include worksheets, and offer innovative assignments to motivate students.

I haven't read the entire book, but I'm impressed with the depth and range of concepts in the chapters I have read. Further, the resource lists allow one to conduct further research. The book attempts to convey academic research in an accessible, practical manner. Overall, it succeeds in providing a single teaching resource for English teachers wanting to help their students master a difficult language.

Two other final comments. I recognize how the book might have benefited from an university press editor, but the book would also have been far thinner, more academic, less engaging - and far less practical for ESL teachers working overseas. "Highway to ESL" succeeds far better in explaining the field and guiding teachers through a complicated maze of information than most professional titles.

For instances, "Highway to ESL" compares quite favorably to the disappointing, almost unreadable "Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching" published by Cambridge University Press. Why? A non-specialist can actually enjoy reading the book, learn some effective techniques, gain a big picture understanding of the field, and zoom in on actual classroom practices that work. As an experienced English instructor, I also learned from this under-rated book.You might too.

I strongly recommend this book for teachers entering the field, students considering teaching abroad, and experienced teachers looking for new ideas.

I've found this book easy to navigate and plan to use it right away in my ESL classes. I appreciate this useful book.

I can't believe the book I just read is the same one so glowingly described by the other reviewers. The authors might be good teachers. They certainly seem friendly, encouraging, and good-humored. But this book is poorly written and poorly edited. There are unwitting occurrences of bad grammar and awkward style on just about every page. A few examples:
- "...my canopy stretched to nearly the same width of the hallway." (p.6)
- "...seminars for the ex-patriot community..." (p.7)
- "To live in a foreign country is an experience that will...open your mind, if you go with an open mind." (p.11)
- "The more research you do, the less surprises...you'll meet." (p.13)
- "Refer to your community business association to...investigate on the reputations of them before you deal with agents." (p.13)
- "What performance expectations and reactions is made of a teacher?" (p.26)
In addition to the constant barrage of grammatical lapses shaking my confidence in the authors' qualifications, I was bothered by the book's strained comparison between learning to teach E.S.L. and learning to drive a car. According to this analogy (which gives the book its title), teaching vocabulary is like parallel parking, teaching writing is like hill parking, teaching vowels and consonants is like driving in rush hour, etc.
I could forgive all the above if the book had sufficient meat on its bones, but the useful information contained in this 359-page book could have been delivered in 100 pages or less. My advice is to skip this book altogether or look for it in a bookstore and jot down some of the references in the Recommended Reading list that concludes each chapter.

I have gained CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) but I sometimes forget some techniques I've learned from CELTA. It is this book that helps me recall those skills and ways to improve my teaching. I often read it for some brilliant ideas as well as some background info behind the methodology. Great book and great content~

Hi guys, I don't know if you are like me but I can tell you that I was not enticed at the thought of going to teach in Northern China with one of my suitcases crammed with different books on how to do lesson plans, deal with pronunciation issues (tongue placement, etc.). I collected many good books that covered these topics over time but the bottom line is that there was often no more than 10% of the content that was really practical, the rest was too heavy on theory. This book is pretty complete. I covers a whole gammut of essential topics such as designing placement tests, teaching grammar, pronunciation exercises, class activities, etc. I liked the lesson plan examples. It is one of the only books I have that gives you the specifics on making good lesson plans.
I got a contract to teach in China and I feel comfortable to leave my good ol' books at home. This book is more than enough for my needs.