These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<p>There are many different varieties of English all over the world. Around 75 countries use it as an official language.</p>

<p>Then there are regional differences. For example, in the UK, there isn&#39;t just one form of English. People speak English differently in different parts of the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I am from Scotland, so I speak Scottish English (or West Central&nbsp;Scots). In this post, I&#39;ll share some common words and phrases that will help you understand and be understood in Scotland, or around Scottish people.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What languages do people speak in Scotland?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The main language in Scotland is English. <a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/census-results/at-a-glance/languages/" target="_blank">Government records show that 98.6% of people in Scotland speak it</a>.</p>

<p>Historically, Gaelic is&nbsp;the traditional language. It&nbsp;used to be spoken all over the country. Now only 0.5% of the population speak it at home&mdash;mostly in the Western Isles and North West Highlands.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Then there&#39;s Scots. Government information shows that 1.1% of people said that they spoke this at home. Though, in my opinion, this number should be much higher. There are many English speakers in Scotland who don&#39;t realize they are speaking Scots.&nbsp;I was one&mdash;until I taught my first &quot;English&quot;&nbsp;class!</p>

<p>The reason for this is that there is a lot of confusion over what&nbsp;Scots language is, what a dialect is (a local version of the language), and what Scottish English is (English with some Scots words and sounds).&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to Scotland.org,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/writing-and-authors/what-is-scots" target="_blank">Scots is a language made up of different dialects from across the country</a>:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Dundonian dialect in Dundee</li>
	<li>Doric dialect in Aberdeenshire</li>
	<li>Edinburgh Scots dialect in&nbsp;Edinburgh</li>
	<li>Glaswegian dialect in Glasgow</li>
</ul>

<p>When I first started teaching, I used a lot of Scottish words and sounds. The students, who spoke excellent global English, didn&#39;t understand me. I quickly learned what was English and what was Scots.&nbsp;</p>

<p>From experience, there are lots of Scottish English speakers who are exactly like me when I started teaching. Don&#39;t be afraid to ask them if they are speaking Scottish or English! This will help them to reflect and rephrase what they&#39;ve said into understandable English (hopefully)!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Do I need to learn Scottish English?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>No, not really. It would be impossible to learn every different variety of English.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you plan to live in Scotland for a while, it will probably be helpful to learn some Scottish words. But if you are just staying for a short holiday, it&#39;s best to use these skills for speaking English anywhere:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Ask for the meaning of words that you don&#39;t know</li>
	<li>Ask people to repeat or say things more slowly</li>
	<li>Rephrase what people have said to check that you have understood them</li>
</ul>

<p>Remember there are two people (or more) in each conversation. They can help you by using their communication skills too.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Be confident: Even proficient language users find Scots English hard</h2>

<p>I have many examples of friends who speak absolutely fantastic English, but&nbsp;find&nbsp;Scottish speakers difficult to understand.&nbsp;</p>

<p>One friend is a doctor from South Africa. He grew up speaking English. When he moved to Scotland, he found that there were lots of words he didn&#39;t understand. He started a vocabulary&nbsp;list on his phone so every time he learned a new word, he made a note of it. That list now has hundreds of words!&nbsp;</p>

<p>Another friend is from Portugal. They use English for work every day. When they met some people I&nbsp;know from Dundee, they were so confused. I&nbsp;had to translate the Dundonian Scottish into general English for them. My Dundonian friends didn&#39;t even realize&nbsp;that they weren&#39;t speaking globally understood English.&nbsp;</p>

<p>So, you are not alone, and it&#39;s not that you don&#39;t understand&mdash;the other speaker might just be unclear!</p>

<h2>Some common differences in Scottish English to help you understand!</h2>

<h3>There&#39;s no &quot;t&quot;&nbsp;in Sco&#39;land!</h3>

<p>Sco&#39;ish people often don&#39;t pronounce the &quot;t&quot;&nbsp;sound. Words like <em>butter</em>, <em>wetter</em>, and&nbsp;<em>better</em> become &quot;bu&#39;er,&quot;&nbsp;&quot;we&#39;er,&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;be&#39;er.&quot;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5484/scoish.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>To speak clearly and be easily understood, it&#39;s best to pronounce your consonant sounds. However, it&#39;s good to know you might hear this in Sco&#39;land.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>&quot;How?&quot;&nbsp;can mean &quot;Why?&quot;</h3>

<p>In Scotland, many people will ask you &quot;How?&quot;&nbsp;when they mean &quot;Why?&quot;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>A: I will be&nbsp;late.&nbsp;</p>

<p>B: How?&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>B wants to know the reason<em> why</em> A will be late.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Cannae, isnae, wasnae, gonnae</strong></h3>

<p>Instead of &quot;not,&quot;&nbsp;many people in Scotland use &quot;nae.&quot;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5483/Gonnae.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>can&#39;t &gt; cannae</li>
	<li>isn&#39;t &gt; isnae</li>
	<li>wasn&#39;t &gt; wasnae</li>
	<li>going to&nbsp;&gt; gonnae</li>
	<li>can you &gt; gonnae</li>
</ul>

<p>&quot;Gonnae&quot; can mean two things. It can mean the future tense &quot;going to.&quot;&nbsp;People also use it to ask someone for help or to do something:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Gonnae clean your room?&quot;&nbsp;= &quot;Can you clean your room?&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Wee = small</h3>

<p>In Scotland, we use &quot;wee&quot;&nbsp;instead of &quot;small&quot; or &quot;little.&quot; For example:&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5482/wee.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>Gonnae cut me a wee slice of cake?&nbsp;= Can you cut me a little slice of cake?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I&#39;m a wee bit tired after that class. = I&#39;m a little tired after that class.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>When I&#39;m with speakers of English from other places, I try not to use Scots words. But I can&#39;t stop saying &quot;wee.&quot;</p>

<p>This can sometimes cause confusion. Once, I was helping my Australian friend&#39;s child at a playground. He wanted to reach but was too small. I said, &quot;You&#39;re too wee.&quot; His reply was &quot;I&#39;m not a wee-wee.&quot; (&quot;I&#39;m not a pee.&quot;)&nbsp;The wee man had a good point!&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Aye = yes&nbsp;</h3>

<p>In Scotland, people say &quot;aye&quot; instead of &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;yeah.&quot; It sounds the same as &quot;eye&quot; the body part, but has a different meaning.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5476/aye.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<blockquote>
<p>A: Would you like a wee cup of tea?</p>

<p>B: Aye!&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>Yous for plural &quot;you&quot;</h3>

<p>In English, &quot;you&quot; can be one person or many people. In my humble Scottish opinion, this can be quite confusing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Scotland, we use &#39;you&#39; for one person and &#39;yous&#39; for many. This might sound strange if you haven&#39;t heard it before, but it makes it much clearer who we are talking about. For example:&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5477/yous.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>Are you coming to the party? &nbsp;(asking one person if they are coming)</li>
	<li>Are yous coming to the party? (asking two or more people if they are coming)&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h3>But = though</h3>

<p>You might hear a lot of sentences ending with &quot;but.&quot; It is commonly used to contrast meaning.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5478/but.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>She said she didnae want to come but.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>He&#39;s friendly, but.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>You might think that the person speaking has forgotten to finish their sentence! They havnae&nbsp;but!</p>

<h3>Bairns vs. weans</h3>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5485/weans.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>In West Coast Scots, people use &quot;weans&quot; (pronounced like&nbsp;&quot;wane&quot; or the same sound as&nbsp;&quot;rain&quot;) to talk about children. In the East Coast, people tend to say &quot;bairns&quot; (pronounced like &quot;bear&quot;). You can use this to tell which Scots people speak.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Who&#39;s Ken?&nbsp;</h3>

<p>In some parts of Scotland, you&#39;ll hear the word &quot;ken&quot; a lot. &quot;Ken&quot; means &quot;know&quot; in Eastern Scotland. This can be confusing as it is also a man&#39;s name.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5481/ken.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Do you ken whit I mean?&quot; = &quot;Do you know what I mean?&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;I dinnae ken.&quot; = &quot;I don&#39;t know.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Cheers = thanks</h3>

<p>One of my students once asked me &quot;Why does everyone say &#39;cheese&#39;&nbsp;when I hold a door open for them or do something nice for them?&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>I was confused. &quot;Cheese?&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;Yeah,&quot; the student replied. Then they acted it out.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Aaaah! Cheers! &#39;Cheers&#39; means &#39;thanks&#39;!&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;Aaaah!&quot; said my student. &quot;Cheers! I ken now!&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;Nae bother,&quot; I replied. Because in Scotland that means &quot;no problem&quot; or &quot;no bother.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rain</h3>

<p>It rains a lot in Scotland. That&#39;s why we have hunners (hundreds) of words for rain. Here are some:&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5479/rain.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>drizzle, smirr, mizzle,&nbsp;Scotch mist =&nbsp;light rain&nbsp;</li>
	<li>pouring doon, tipping it doon, chucking it doon&nbsp;=&nbsp;&nbsp;heavy rain (doon = down)</li>
	<li>dreich = not raining, but the sky is dark, gray, and miserable</li>
	<li>drookit = a great adjective to describe when you are soaking wet (probably because it&#39;s pouring doon)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Taps aff or taps oan</h3>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5480/taps-aff.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>People in Scotland like to laugh at themselves and the weather. They also get excited when the sun comes out. When the temperature rises over 20&deg;C, some guys like to sit in the park with their tops off&mdash;until their skin burns.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This is why we use the terms&nbsp;&quot;taps aff&quot; and &quot;taps oan&quot;&nbsp;to describe the weather.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>A &quot;taps aff&quot; (tops off) day is when it is hot enough to enjoy the sunshine with light summer clothing.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>A &quot;taps oan&quot; (tops on) day is a day when it is chucking it doon, drizzly, dreich, or cold enough to wear all your clothes.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>If you would like to get your weather this way, check out <a href="https://www.taps-aff.co.uk/" target="_blank">Taps-Aff.co.uk</a>!</p>

<h2>More on Scottish English</h2>

<p>To learn more about Scottish English, search online for films and TV from Scotland. I&#39;d recommend:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Film:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1924394/" target="_blank">The Angel&#39;s Share</a></li>
	<li>Film:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380366/?ref_=fn_t_1" target="_blank">Aye Fond Kiss</a></li>
	<li>Film:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3823098/" target="_blank">Edie</a></li>
	<li>TV: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3006802/" target="_blank">Outlander</a></li>
	<li>TV: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108803/?ref_=fn_i_2" target="_blank">The High Life&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li>TV: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155450/?ref_=fn_i_1" target="_blank">Para Handy</a></li>
</ul>

<p>I&#39;d also recommend <a href="https://thescottishsoundschool.com/watch-and-listen" target="_blank">The Scottish Sound School</a>. You&#39;ll find a lot of videos and other content by language expert Gemma Archer there.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Have you been to Scotland? Do you have favorite Scots words? What experience do you have of speaking to Scots English speakers? We&#39;d love to know.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


Essential Scottish for English Language Learners: Common Phrases & Expressions

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2820/Emily_Essential-Scottish-for-English-Language-Learners_Banner.png

Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

<p>For me, the theme of TESOL this year was finding a balance between the old and new, incorporating both the familiar and the novel into our lessons and lives. Tucked in between and within sessions about AI and technology were many inspiring messages about human creativity and connection.</p>

<p>Ellii is an old hand at TESOL, attending it&nbsp;for over 20 years. But this year, we sent three completely new members, including myself. It was the first time we had&nbsp;met each other&nbsp;in person, and we hit it off. I couldn&rsquo;t ask for better teammates&nbsp;to spend TESOL with.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii group picture" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5329/content_Team-picture.jpg" /></p>

<p>But not everything about this conference was completely new&mdash;I was born and grew up in Utah, so for me, it was coming home. Whether it was the sight of mountains peeking from behind the downtown&nbsp;buildings, the warm, dry air, or the &ldquo;dirty&nbsp;soda&quot;&nbsp;bar in the expo hall, I constantly felt a sense of familiarity at this conference.</p>

<p>As TESOL celebrated its 60th anniversary, the Wednesday night keynote by the president of TESOL highlighted many of the members who have made a difference in&nbsp;teaching over the years. It made me reflect on how the field of teaching always has to deal with this balance of building on tradition and embracing the new. I saw many examples of this balance in the sessions that I attended. I&rsquo;d like to highlight a few of these sessions.</p>

<h2>Thinking about the future of learning</h2>

<p>The Wednesday morning keynote,&nbsp;<strong>The Interplay between Technology and Humanity: Shaping the Future of Education</strong>,&nbsp;by Enilda Romero-Hall, prompted us to think about what education will&nbsp;look like in the future and where learners will go to find&nbsp;an education. She emphasized the importance of having conversations about accessibility and equity, and of&nbsp;developing communities for learners.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When the presenter gave us the prompt to think about one word we would use to describe the future of learning, the word that came to mind was &ldquo;flexibility.&rdquo; Learners come in all levels and with unique background experiences. As teachers, being flexible is how we can adapt to help our students succeed in a world where change is constant.</p>

<h2>Creating spaces for learning</h2>

<p>I also noticed a theme of creating learning environments at TESOL. As teachers, we want to make the environment of our classrooms conducive to learning, no matter what level our students are at. We want them to feel comfortable&nbsp;by incorporating things that are familiar to them along with the new language.</p>

<p><img alt="Image of packed session" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5330/content_Nat-Geo-Full-Session.jpg" /></p>

<p>In the packed Thursday session&nbsp;<strong>Welcome Elementary Newcomers With Language, Literacy, and Content</strong>, Deborah Short from National Geographic Learning/Cengage gave us some key principles for teaching newcomers:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Know your newcomers and the resources they bring into the classroom</li>
	<li>Create conditions for language learning</li>
	<li>Design high-quality language lessons</li>
</ul>

<p>The learning environment not only includes the physical space where you teach, but also involves giving students ways to get help, express how they&nbsp;feel, and find comfort in routines. If you know your learners, you can utilize their background knowledge and skills to help them develop challenging new skills in English.</p>

<p>We also need to consider the learning space in conjunction with new technologies such as AI. In the session on&nbsp;<strong>The Future Academic English Textbook: AI Changes Everything</strong>&nbsp;by <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elliicon2022-dr-ken-beatty" target="_blank">Dr. Ken Beatty,</a> we explored the challenges of AI in the classroom and how to work with it. If we&nbsp;assign a task to students that isn&rsquo;t meaningful or useful to them, then they will be tempted to just use AI to complete it. Instead, we can encourage students to get different perspectives and learn about representation bias in AI-generated materials.</p>

<p>One suggestion he had for lesson planning&nbsp;is to create activities&nbsp;that are AI-proof by having students&nbsp;give opinions and personal examples from their own experiences. Have them show drafts of their work and focus on the process over the outcome.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These points reminded me of Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a>, which&nbsp;feature speaking activities that focus on opinions and personal experiences. They are my favorite lessons to share with my own&nbsp;students to get them both thinking and talking, and it looks like they can be effective for AI-proof teaching.</p>

<p>Along with all these great tips for creating materials, my main takeaway from this session is that <a href="https://ellii.com/ai" target="_blank">ethical use of AI</a> is a skill we should be teaching our students rather than avoiding AI. We must address new and pervasive technology with critical thinking.</p>

<h2>Improving conversations outside of the classroom</h2>

<p>Two of the&nbsp;most enjoyable sessions&nbsp;were interactive workshops focusing on discussions and soft skills.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Rewarding Small-Group Speaking with Semisynchronous Discussion Circles</strong>, led by Mark Makino of Southern Utah University, introduced the idea of creating discussion circles where students can hold discussions in class or meet up and record themselves outside of the classroom.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the spirit of presenting on discussion circles, the presenter put us in groups of 4 or 5, gave us each a role, and had us hold our own discussion on&nbsp;teaching strategies. Our&nbsp;roles included the leader, the stubborn one, the generous one, the shy one, and the attentive one. It was fun to experience the activity from the students&#39; point of view and also reflect on our roles at the end.</p>

<p>Eamon McGowan and Haley Boone led a delightful session on&nbsp;<strong>Soft Skills in Action: Practical Strategies for EL Classrooms.</strong>&nbsp;This session focused on teaching the students not only how to use <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects/social-emotional-learning">soft skills</a>, but also how to talk about soft skills outside of class, such as in a job interview, and apply them to their own experiences. The steps in this teaching process include&hellip;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Teach specific&nbsp;soft skills&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Practice the skills in a low-stakes activity with roles assigned to each student</li>
	<li>Practice in a higher-stakes activity that demonstrates skills beyond the classroom</li>
	<li>Describe the soft skills and how to respond to questions about them</li>
</ul>

<p>Both of these sessions taught me ways to incorporate routines and familiarity alongside learning&nbsp;new skills, and I&rsquo;m excited to apply them in my own lessons and in creating materials at Ellii.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Embracing both the old and new at Ellii</h2>

<p><img alt="Image of Ellii session" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5331/content_Ellii-session.jpg" /></p>

<p>The pre-keynote speech and our own Ellii sessions led by Christine and Kylie highlighted Ellii&rsquo;s newer gamified features,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Ellii&nbsp;Polls</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/announcing-ellii-dilemmas" target="_blank">Dilemmas</a>, our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/first-five" target="_blank">First Five</a> section for adult literacy, and how to organize materials and share them with students using Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/try-class-prepping-with-elliis-lesson-planner" target="_blank">Lesson Planner</a>.<br />
<br />
<img alt="Ellii booth at TESOL 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5332/content_Booth-picture.jpg" /></p>

<p>As a member of the publishing team at Ellii, I enjoyed asking teachers who stopped by our booth what resources they use at Ellii. Our new <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1&amp;level=&amp;material=&amp;category=45" target="_blank">civics</a> materials are a big hit, along with the many <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1&amp;level=&amp;material=&amp;category=6" target="_blank">workplace courses</a> we&rsquo;ve put out in the past few months. Teachers also enjoy our classic <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events" target="_blank">holiday</a> lessons and <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/pronunciation" target="_blank">pronunciation videos</a>. And of course, they love to visit our booth at conferences&nbsp;and get some pens, chocolates, and T-shirts! Being able to share Ellii with teachers who had never used our lessons before was also a great experience.<br />
<br />
<img alt="image of chocolate and pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5333/content_pens-and-chocolate.jpg" /></p>

<p>At Ellii, we want to continue offering teachers flexible options for teaching, whether they need print materials and flashcards or are incorporating digital lessons and videos into their classrooms. We continue to embrace the future of language education and the ever-changing needs of our teachers and students.<br />
<br />
Thank you, Salt Lake City! We look forward to the next meet-up&nbsp;at TESOL 2027 in&nbsp;Houston, Texas.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Celebrating 60 Years of TESOL in Salt Lake City, Utah

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2810/Kate_Celebrating-60-Years-of-TESOL-in-Salt-Lake-City-Utah_Banner.png

Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<p><em>Just like the Publishing team constantly puts out new content, our Product team continuously rolls out new features. Some builds are requests and needs shared by school districts, admins, or teachers, and others are updates we decide on internally to complete during a six-week cycle. In addition to building and designing new features, our&nbsp;engineers and designers are constantly cleaning things up to make the platform as user-friendly as possible for learners and teachers. </em></p>

<p><em>We don&#39;t always get a chance to make formal announcements about all of our new releases, so if you&#39;re a subscriber, we hope you&#39;ll take a minute to review what&#39;s new!</em></p>

<h2>No more password headaches: Key codes arrive</h2>

<p>Logging in just got easier for students. When creating student accounts, teachers can now choose between traditional username + password or our new simpler option: key codes made up of six digits.</p>

<p>Students can log in using their key code + last name, making access quicker and more classroom-friendly.</p>

<p>And for even more efficiency, teachers can bulk create students via CSV upload.</p>

<p><img alt="Keycodes on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5305/content_image__8_.png" /></p>

<h2>Time reports reveal student effort</h2>

<p>Curious how much time students are actually spending on tasks?</p>

<p>The new Time Reports feature gives teachers clear visibility into:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Time spent by students within a specific class</li>
	<li>Total time spent across Ellii and Ellii Solo</li>
</ul>

<h2><img alt="time reports on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5306/content_image__9_.png" /></h2>

<h2>Assessments get a major upgrade</h2>

<p>Assessments just leveled up. We&rsquo;ve brought more task types into the Assessment Player, including:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Image Match</li>
	<li>Listen &amp; Type</li>
	<li>Writing&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Speaking</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="Ellii Placement Test with speaking and writing" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5308/content_Screenshot_2026-03-18_at_8.58.47_AM.png" /></p>

<p>This unlocks more robust assessments, including true 4-skills placement tests and Ellii Bot assistance to grade them. Because of this, students will now see a message at the end of an assessment letting them know their score is being processed and will be available shortly.</p>

<p><img alt="Assessment Player gets new tasks on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5307/content_image__10_.png" /></p>

<h2>Round buttons roll into town</h2>

<p>The interface just got smoother.&nbsp;Round buttons have officially arrived, and some of them are now sporting fresh color gradients for a more modern look.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It might look like a small visual tweak, but a lot of work went into it behind the scenes.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="round buttons on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5296/content_image__1_.png" /></p>

<h2>Teacher hack inspires new emoji class feature</h2>

<p>We noticed a teacher manually adding emoji&nbsp;to their class names and thought,&nbsp;<em>That&rsquo;s actually pretty cool...why not make it a feature?</em></p>

<p>Now teachers can pick an emoji for their class name directly from a selector, adding a bit of personality (and easier visual scanning) to the class list.</p>

<p><img alt="emoji in class name on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5297/content_image__2_.png" /></p>

<h2>Ellii Bot now takes scoring requests</h2>

<p>Ever had your class set to manual grading and then realized you suddenly had a mountain of responses to score?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Ellii Bot autoscoring can now be run on demand as a one-off job!</p>

<p>So even if your class settings are set to manual grading (or you forgot to change them), you now have the option to let the bot step in and help.</p>

<p><img alt="Need Ellii Bot's help " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5298/content_image__3_.png" /></p>

<h2>Bot declares: English-only for speaking tasks</h2>

<p>Ellii Bot is tightening the rules on speaking activities. Responses must now be in English, ensuring more accurate feedback and scoring for speaking practice.</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii Bot allows English only" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5299/content_image__4_.png" /></p>

<h2>Homework confusion avoided with&nbsp;in-class tasks skipped</h2>

<p>Some lesson tasks are really meant to be done live in the classroom, not assigned for homework.</p>

<p>Now pair or group tasks like warm-ups, discussions,&nbsp;and role-plays are skipped by default when assigning lessons. Teachers can still add them back into the assignment if they want.</p>

<p><img alt="Homework-only tasks" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5300/content_image__5_.png" /></p>

<h2>Students get &ldquo;already started&rdquo; assignment tracker</h2>

<p>Students will now see which assignments they&#39;ve already started but not finished.</p>

<p>This makes it easier to jump back in and finish the job...hopefully. 😅</p>

<p><img alt="Already started homework label on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5301/content_image__6_.png" /></p>

<h2>Classes can be easily transferred</h2>

<p>Teachers now have a new option when managing their classes&mdash;transfer a class to another teacher. When handing off a class to a coworker or dealing with schedule changes, teachers can now move a class without losing its structure or student list.</p>

<p><img alt="Transfer homework to another teacher on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5302/content_image__7_.png" /></p>

<h2>More platform updates</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Universal Roster</strong>&nbsp;now includes students without a class</li>
	<li><strong>Old notifications cleaned up</strong>&nbsp;to reduce clutter and improve performance</li>
	<li>Platform performance benefits from <strong>smarter notification management</strong></li>
	<li>Performance boost for students&#39; lists, <strong>now loading 4X faster</strong>!</li>
</ul>

<p>A big thank-you to the entire Product team and everyone involved in the discussions that helped shape these updates, including teachers!&nbsp;Your ideas, feedback, and collaboration make improvements like these possible.</p>


2026 Feature Updates at Ellii (Q1)

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2809/Nico_Ellii-Bot-Just-Got-Smarter_Banner.png

<p>When it comes to language learning, confidence is everything. Some&nbsp;learners may have varied&nbsp;vocabularies, understand complex grammar, and know what they want to say.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But when it comes to speaking&nbsp;in front of others, they may stumble. They may question themselves, get overwhelmed, and put too much pressure on perfection.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In this blog post, we&#39;ll explore ways to encourage student participation in full-class discussions while providing support&nbsp;so they gain confidence using their English.</p>

<h2>1. Create an encouraging classroom atmosphere</h2>

<p>For learners to feel confident, the classroom has to feel like a safe space. This means building trust and fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and support.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On the first day of class, do some activities to help students get to know each other. For example, have them share an interesting fact about themselves or their main reason for learning English. Start simple, based on the level of the class, so that learners can feel confident using the language that they have.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You could also have them collaborate to create posters on positive classroom behaviors, such as switching off mobile phones and being kind and respectful.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For more ideas for icebreakers and building a positive classroom atmosphere, check out&nbsp;this blog post by Tanya Trusler on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-students-feel-comfortable-in-your-class">Ways&nbsp;to Make Students Feel Comfortable in Class</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>2.&nbsp;Allow thinking &amp; planning time</h2>

<p>Students are more likely to feel confident&nbsp;speaking up if they have had time to think, plan, and prepare. Make sure to give a sufficient pause after&nbsp;asking questions. You could even set a prescribed amount of thinking time.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Teacher:</strong> What did you do over the weekend? Think about this for one minute. Then answer.&nbsp;</p>

<p>[pause]</p>

<p><strong>Student 1:</strong> I went to the mall and met my friends.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Before speaking activities, give students time to write down what they want to say. Encourage&nbsp;them to think of useful words and phrases, or perhaps even write their own script. This will make them more accurate and fluent when it comes to using their voice in larger groups.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>3. Try the think-pair-share method</h2>

<p>The think-pair-share<em> </em>method is one common way to give students thinking time and increase their&nbsp;confidence. First, set the question or task and give students time to think about their answers. Allow them to take notes as required.</p>

<p>Then have students discuss their ideas with a partner. This gives&nbsp;students&nbsp;a chance to check that their ideas are correct or relevant and supports them with their language choices.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Finally, have students share their ideas with the whole class. The previous step will have reassured them that their ideas are valid and, therefore, they will be more likely to share.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>4. Implement the 2, 4, 6, 8+ presentation method</h2>

<p>Speaking in public can be scary&nbsp;in any language. Some learners will find this challenging even in their first language.&nbsp;</p>

<p>One way I&#39;ve always found helpful in building confidence is to allow students to&nbsp;practice with peers while&nbsp;slowly increasing the size of their audience.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This 2, 4, 6, 8+ method lets students say the same one-minute presentation multiple times to a gradually larger audience. Students benefit through repetition and reflection. By the time they deliver&nbsp;the same presentation in front of the whole class, they&#39;ve nailed it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>First, give them the topic for a one-minute presentation&nbsp;and let them make notes by themselves.&nbsp;Then have them present their ideas in pairs. Encourage learners to give each other feedback and make tweaks. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Once they are ready to present again, have students work in groups of four, delivering their one-minute presentation to three people. Again, have them give feedback to each other and review and revise their mini talk.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Then&nbsp;increase the group size to six so they are delivering the same presentation for the third time, but to five people.</p>

<p>Continue by increasing the group size until they are confident with their content and delivery. Hopefully, all the practice will give them a huge boost in confidence to speak in front of the whole class.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>5. Give positive feedback</h2>

<p>Finally, increase learners&#39; confidence by giving them encouraging and supportive feedback. Praise and a warm smile can go a long way.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When learners&nbsp;make mistakes, use the mistakes as learning opportunities and celebrate students&#39; attempts. Each time students use English, they can learn something from it. (You may find this post useful:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/low-prep-high-impact-feedback-strategies">High-Impact Feedback Strategies</a>.)&nbsp;</p>

<p>You may also want to do this fun activity to help them become more aware of their self-talk. It helps them identify&nbsp;negative thoughts and reframe them as positive:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being">Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel</a>.</p>

<p>Michelle Worgan has done a lot of work on supporting introverted learners. I highly recommend this blog post too:&nbsp;<a href="https://michelleworgan.com/introverted-students/ " target="_blank">How to Make Your Classroom Introvert Ready</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>How do you encourage quiet learners to speak in class? What are your top tips? Have you tried any of these methods? We&#39;d love to know your thoughts and ideas.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


Taking the Fear out of Full-Class Discussions: Boosting Quiet Learners' Confidence to Speak

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2808/Emily_Taking-the-Fear-out-of-Full-Class-Discussions_Banner.png

Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>We&rsquo;ve all been there: it&rsquo;s quiet enough to hear the heater humming or that pesky fly buzzing near the window. Your students&rsquo; eyes glaze over, and you fight the urge to once more repeat, &ldquo;Anyone? Anyone?&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>An uninterested class is much more entertaining onscreen than it is in your classroom.</p>

<p>Here&#39;s an activity that can help your students reset while also increasing overall student talk time in the classroom. I call it the &ldquo;Line Up Game,&quot; and it can be done at almost any point in class.</p>

<h2>How it&nbsp;works</h2>

<p>You can get as creative as you want with your topic and how you ask your students to line up, but here&rsquo;s an example:</p>

<p><em>Line up in alphabetical order based on your first language.</em></p>

<p>Display the directions on the projector&nbsp;or write them on the board, and provide a written example of how you would like your students to communicate with one another.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Hiyab: Hi. What&#39;s your first language?<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p>Yusuf: My first language is Arabic. What&#39;s your first language?<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p>Hiyab: My first language is Amharic.<br />
&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>From here, students can work together to figure out which language comes first alphabetically and where they fit into the line with the rest of the class. More conversation may naturally unfold from their initial questions, depending on their English level and comfort with speaking.</p>

<p>Students will move around the room talking to each other in English, trying to figure out where everyone needs to line up.</p>

<h2>After students line up</h2>

<p>After the entire class has lined up, you (the teacher) can have each student say something like: &ldquo;Hi, my name is ____ ,&nbsp;and ____ is my first language.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The amount of time you have, the language level of your class, the size of your class, etc., will determine how quickly you move on to the next student or how many follow-up questions you ask. You could also give other students the opportunity to ask follow-up questions.</p>

<h2>Variations to try</h2>

<p>There are so many ways you can do this activity. You can line students up alphabetically or numerically (e.g., How many siblings do you have?), or even in reverse alphabetical or numerical order if you are looking for even more of a challenge for your class.</p>

<h2>Teacher tip: Use it for new groupings</h2>

<p>This activity gets your students up out of their chairs and&nbsp;gives them an opportunity to put their English skills into action.</p>

<p>Additionally, this kind of activity can help build your classroom community by helping students learn more about each other and encouraging them to work together.</p>

<p>As an added bonus, you can use this as a&nbsp;chance to assign students to new groups. If students always sit in the same spot in class and work with the same people, you can put them into new groups for the next activity when they are in line at the end of this activity.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What ideas do you have for boosting student talk time?</p>
</blockquote>


Boost Student Talk Time with the Line Up Game

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2807/Christine_Boost-Student-Talk-Time-with-the-Line-Up-Game_Banner.png

Find quick links to each episode of the Teacher Think-Aloud podcast, hosted by Shélynn Riel and Anna Ciriani-Dean and sponsored by Ellii.  

Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast

<section>
<p>The latest episode of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>&nbsp;explores the pervasive issue of monolingual bias in education with Dr. Lillian Ardell, founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.languagematters.org/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Language Matters</a>. Hosts Anna and Sh&eacute; join Dr. Ardell in examining how the belief that one language&mdash;often English&mdash;should dominate schooling continues to shape policies, classroom practices, and student identities.</p>

<p>Dr. Ardell unpacks how monolingual bias shows up across educational contexts, even in spaces that claim to support multilingualism, and explains the long-term harm these assumptions cause for multilingual learners. She introduces her framework for recognizing and addressing linguistic inequities, along with insights from her book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.corwin.com/books/disrupting-monolingual-bias-294185" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Disrupting the Monolingual Bias</em></a>, which outlines advocacy archetypes educators can embody to challenge English-only norms.</p>

<blockquote>&ldquo; The monolingual bias is a set of deficit beliefs and attitudes about language and about the learners themselves that promote a story of urgent academic English proficiency that must come at all costs. It comes at costs to their heritage language. It come at costs to access to their culture. I argue that it comes at costs to their full identity development.&rdquo;<br />
&nbsp;&mdash; Dr. Lillian Ardell</blockquote>

<p>Through powerful metaphors, lived experiences, and reflective dialogue, the episode emphasizes advocacy as a sustained practice&mdash;one rooted in community, self-care, and the belief that honoring students&rsquo; full linguistic repertoires is essential to equitable language education.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U5dWZWp7JQQ?si=xapZTL0pvxrX_pu6" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

<p>🎙️&nbsp;<strong>Listen now on your favorite platform:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-teacher-think-aloud-podcast/id1629819608" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>🔗&nbsp;<strong>Follow The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast on social media for more updates:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teacherthinkaloud" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thinkaloud_pod/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thinkaloudpod.bsky.social" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-think-aloud/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>
</section>


Challenging the Monolingual Mindset: Advocacy for Multilingual Learners

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2806/Tara_New-Year-New-Reflections-and-a-Partnership-with-The-Teacher-Think-Aloud-Podcast_Banner.png

<p>When you take notes in class, you listen more carefully and think about what you learn. Your notes can help you study, revise, and remember information after class. That&#39;s why it is a good idea to spend some time re-writing your notes and making them clearer. When you do this, you think about the most important parts of the lesson. This helps you understand and remember more.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2024/7/18-1" target="_blank">Research shows</a> that taking notes by hand is better for learning than typing notes on a laptop. This is because your body uses more of its senses to write with a pen&mdash;your arm and fingers move, your eyes see the marks on the paper, you might even hear or smell the pen. Handwriting also lets you add lines, drawings, colors, or highlights to add meaning.</p>

<p>Another thing you can do with stationery is create little drawings to help you remember. For example, lots of people find it difficult to remember the difference between <em>stationary</em> (not moving) and <em>stationery</em> (pens, pencils, paper, etc).</p>

<p>Here&#39;s a little drawing I did to help me remember. Parked cars are stationAry and pens are stationEry!</p>

<p><img alt="drawing of stationery/ary" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5185/content_stationary-stationery.png" /></p>

<p>In this blog post, I&#39;ll share some of my favorite stationery for note-taking.</p>

<h2>1. Pencils</h2>

<p>Pencils are so simple and so useful. You can erase them easily and they come in lots of different colors. Some of them don&#39;t even need a pencil sharpener&mdash;like these mechanical pencils:</p>

<p><img alt="mechanical pencils" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5186/content_Rotating-Mechanical-Pencil.png" /></p>

<h2>2. Erasable Pens</h2>

<p>Taking notes with a pen can end in messy mistakes. While errors are one of the best ways to learn, I still prefer to review notes that are tidy and look good. Erasable pens let you change&nbsp;examples and other important parts of your notes.</p>

<p>I love Pilot Frixion pens because they come in lots of different colors. You can also buy refills for them, so they can last forever and you can use less plastic!</p>

<p><img alt="pilot frixon pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5187/content_Pilot-Frixion-Colored-Pens.png" /></p>

<p>They even have highlighters so you can color code your notes easily.</p>

<p><img alt="pilot frixon highlighters" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5188/content_Pilot-Frixon-Pen-Highlighter.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Neuland Refillable Pens</h2>

<p>Neuland makes lots of cool pens. I love them because they are very high quality and you can refill them. Their FineOne Sketch has a lovely fineliner-style tip, which is perfect for handwriting. The FineOne Flex is wider and more like a felt-tip style pen, so it&#39;s great for thicker lines. The FineOne Art&nbsp;has a brush tip, which is great for highlighting or making more creative marks.</p>

<p><img alt="Neuland photo" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5189/content_Neuland-Pens.png" /></p>

<p>Neuland also makes refillable flip-chart and whiteboard markers in lots of different colors.</p>

<h2>4. Fineliners</h2>

<p>Fineliners are a style of pen that has a very fine&nbsp;(or thin) tip. They make your handwriting clear and sharp. I love these Bic ones because they come in lots of colors.</p>

<p><img alt="bic fineliner pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5190/content_Bic-Fineliner.png" /></p>

<h2>5. Multicolored pens</h2>

<p>I like to have lots of color choices in my pencil case, but I don&#39;t always have enough space. These pens let you choose. I prefer small pens like this because I can write better with them. The larger ones with more color choices can be harder to write.</p>

<p><img alt="multi-choice color pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5191/content_Bic-MultiColor.png" /></p>

<p>What is your stationery of choice? Do you have any favorites? How do you like to take notes? We&#39;d love to know.</p>

<p>You may also like these blog posts:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">Sketchnoting 101</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/six-ways-to-use-journaling-to-learn-english-fast">6 Ways to Use Journaling to Learn English Fast</a></li>
</ul>


The Best Stationery for Learning English & Taking Notes

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2805/Emily_The-Best-Stationery-for-Learning-English-and-Taking-Notes_Banner.png

<p>In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes/episode/1c25d156/e80-algorithms-echo-chambers-and-critical-thinking-in-the-english-language-classroom-with-andrea-collados" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 80</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>, co-hosts Sh&eacute; and Anna sit down with global educator and ESL teacher Andrea Collados to unpack how algorithms, echo chambers, and digital media environments are shaping the way students encounter information&mdash;and why critical thinking has become an essential responsibility in the English language classroom.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As algorithm-driven platforms increasingly curate what learners see, believe, and share, Andrea argues that ELT classrooms may be one of the last spaces where students can slow down, question sources, and engage meaningfully with perspectives beyond their digital bubbles. Rather than positioning technology as something to avoid, this episode encourages teachers to interrogate it thoughtfully and intentionally.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo; Our <a href="https://ellii.com/lesson/5868-algorithms" target="_blank">algorithm</a> is tailored according to what we do and what we search. And there is this false sense that this is for our benefit and it&#39;s quite the opposite because then you are trapped in a bubble and you cannot see other perspectives. And then you are just in that loop of thinking the same and doing the same thing over and over again.&rdquo;</p>

<p>&mdash;&nbsp;<em>Andrea Collados</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Together, the conversation explores media literacy, confirmation bias, and the emotional dimensions of critical thinking, highlighting empathy and perspective-taking as core analytical skills. Andrea shares low-prep, classroom-ready strategies for embedding critical questioning into everyday lessons without overhauling existing curricula. From analyzing social media posts to designing speaking and writing tasks that challenge students to shift viewpoints, this episode offers practical inspiration for helping learners navigate information critically and ethically.</p>

<p>This episode is a must-listen for educators seeking to support students as discerning language users and engaged global citizens, especially in an era of misinformation, polarization, and algorithmic influence.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dG0-htU9m0c?si=U1Io_TtFOyqU8zfw" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>🎙️&nbsp;<strong>Listen now on your favorite platform:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-teacher-think-aloud-podcast/id1629819608" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>🔗&nbsp;<strong>Follow The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast on social media for more updates:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teacherthinkaloud" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thinkaloud_pod/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thinkaloudpod.bsky.social" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-think-aloud/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>


Algorithms, Echo Chambers & Critical Thinking in the English Language Classroom

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2804/Tara_New-Year-New-Reflections-and-a-Partnership-with-The-Teacher-Think-Aloud-Podcast_Banner.png

<p>Every year, major dictionaries and language organizations announce their <b>Word of the Year (WOTY)</b> in December or January. The winning word is often a term that captures something essential about how we used language over the past 12 months. Sometimes the choice is obvious (e.g., <i>pandemic</i> in 2020), while other choices reflect deeper cultural and linguistic shifts.</p>

<p>And every January, editor Mark Allen hosts a discussion about the WOTY in his webinar called <em><a href="https://www.thatwordchat.com/" target="_blank">That Word Chat</a></em>,&nbsp;where he invites experts from dictionaries and other major publishers to explain their choices.</p>

<p>What made 2025&nbsp;especially interesting is that many dictionaries and language experts gravitated toward the same idea (and even the same word in some cases). The&nbsp;recurring theme that emerged in 2025 was <strong>our growing discomfort with low-quality information, online manipulation, and questions of authenticity in the age of AI</strong>.</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s a breakdown of the most talked-about WOTY contenders and winners this year&nbsp;and what they can teach us (and our students) about modern English.</p>

<h2>Slop</h2>

<p>The word <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year" target="_blank"><strong>slop</strong></a>&nbsp;was chosen as the 2025 WOTY by no fewer than four publications (<em>Merriam-Webster</em>, the <em>American Dialect Society</em>, the&nbsp;<em>Economist</em> magazine, and Australia&rsquo;s <em>Macquarie Dictionary</em>). According to Peter Sokolowski (<i>Merriam-Webster</i>), <strong>slop</strong> saw a huge increase in lookups&mdash;not for its traditional meaning (waste or animal feed), but for its new sense:</p>

<blockquote><strong>slop: </strong>low-quality, mass-produced content flooding the internet, often generated by AI</blockquote>

<p><b>Reasons why it was chosen:</b></p>

<ul>
	<li>It reflects distrust of online information.</li>
	<li>It joins words like <i>gaslighting</i>, <i>catfishing</i>, <i>trolling</i>, and <i>deepfake</i>.</li>
	<li>It highlights how much we value authenticity&mdash;perhaps more than ever.</li>
</ul>

<p>As Ben Zimmer (<i>American Dialect Society</i>) pointed out, <strong>slop</strong> has become so prominent that people no longer need to say the original, longer version, which was&nbsp;<strong>AI slop.</strong><i>&nbsp;</i>We even hear <strong>slop</strong> expanding to other areas, such as&nbsp;<i>work slop </i>and<i>&nbsp;friend slop.</i></p>

<h2>Rage bait</h2>

<p><em>Oxford Languages</em>&rsquo; WOTY for 2025&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a href="https://corp.oup.com/word-of-the-year/" target="_blank"><b>rage bait</b></a>.&nbsp;Unlike most other dictionaries, which choose their WOTY based on the number of lookups, <em>Oxford</em> chooses theirs based on the corpus data (i.e., tracking which words show the biggest year-over-year growth in real usage).</p>

<blockquote><strong>rage bait: </strong>content deliberately designed to provoke anger or outrage, especially online, in order to drive engagement, clicks, or shares</blockquote>

<p>According to Fiona McPherson (<i>Oxford English Dictionary</i>), <strong>rage bait</strong> has narrowed to describe online manipulation&mdash;not real-life situations such as&nbsp;<em>road rage</em>.&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Reasons why it was chosen:</b></p>

<ul>
	<li>It reflects increased awareness that our emotions are being exploited online.</li>
	<li>It follows a productive pattern (<i>clickbait, love bait, Oscar bait</i>).</li>
	<li>It also won Oxford&rsquo;s public vote by a wide margin.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Other notable Words of the Year</h2>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.dictionary.com/articles/word-of-the-year-2025" target="_blank"><b>67</b></a>&nbsp;(<em>Dictonary.com</em>; also spelled 6-7 or 6 7):&nbsp;so-so, this or that, maybe (though some people argue it has no meaning at all and is simply a phrase that youth use to confuse and frustrate adults)</li>
	<li><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/editorial/word-of-the-year" target="_blank"><b>parasocial</b></a>&nbsp;(<em>Cambridge</em>): a one-sided relationship in which a person feels emotionally connected to a public figure or&nbsp;influencer who does not know them personally</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty" target="_blank"><b>vibe coding</b></a>&nbsp;(<em>Collins</em>): an informal approach to programming where developers describe&nbsp;desired outcomes instead of writing detailed instructions, and then rely on AI to generate the code</li>
	<li><a href="https://corp.oup.com/news/brain-rot-named-oxford-word-of-the-year-2024/" target="_blank"><b>brain rot</b></a>&nbsp;(<em>Oxford</em>&#39;s WOTY in 2024; <em>American Dialect Society</em>&#39;s runner-up in 2025):&nbsp;the mental fatigue, reduced attention, or sense of cognitive decline caused by prolonged exposure to low-quality, repetitive, or overwhelming digital content</li>
</ul>

<h2>Words as time capsules</h2>

<p>As Ben Zimmer (<i>American Dialect Society</i>) reminded us in his closing remarks, Words of the Year act as linguistic time capsules. Sometimes they capture a single global event (e.g.,&nbsp;<i>COVID</i>). Other times, they reveal subtler shifts, such as changing attitudes toward truth, trust, and technology.</p>

<p>Several speakers noted a relative lack of political WOTY choices for 2025, which itself says something about how cultural anxiety is being expressed more through technology and media language than traditional politics.</p>

<h2>WOTY in the classroom</h2>

<p>For English teachers, WOTY discussions are a powerful classroom tool in the following ways:</p>

<ul>
	<li>They show students that English is alive and evolving.</li>
	<li>They encourage critical thinking about media literacy.</li>
	<li>They open conversations about tone, connotation, and register.</li>
	<li>They highlight how culture shapes vocabulary.</li>
</ul>

<p>Whether you explore <i>slop</i>, <i>rage bait</i>, or another contender with your students, one thing is clear: <b>the language of 2025 reflected a world questioning what&mdash;and who&mdash;to trust online</b>.</p>


Words of the Year 2025

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2803/Tanya_Word-of-the-Year-2025_Banner.png

<p>In the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_in6I3pXNw">latest episode</a> of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>, co-hosts Anna and Sh&eacute; take a nostalgic journey &ldquo;back to basics,&rdquo; zooming in on the foundational aspects of teaching and the importance of reflection in educational practice. As we embrace the year 2026, the episode &quot;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_in6I3pXNw">2026 Friends of the Podcast: Back to Basics</a>&quot; features voices of educators around the world who share their personal reflections and goals for the new year. From the K&ndash;12 classrooms worldwide to one-on-one adult ESL and EFL classes, these educators explore themes of needs assessment, AI integration, student motivation, lesson planning, trauma-informed teaching, and more, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of language education.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>&ldquo;The deeper you go [in the field of English language teaching], the more you realize there is to learn.&rdquo;&nbsp; &mdash; Anna Ciriani-Dean</blockquote>

<p>The friends of the podcast featured in this episode reveal the everyday adjustments and aspirations they hold, tying into the broader theme: &quot;The human side of teaching.&quot; Each contributor offers a unique insight, making this episode a treasure trove of practical advice and inspiration for educators seeking to enhance their teaching practice in 2026.</p>

<p>Happy teaching and happy reflecting in 2026!</p>

<p><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q_in6I3pXNw?si=KGuaZ4eF3kHayFsd" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>🎙️&nbsp;<strong>Listen now on your favorite platform:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-teacher-think-aloud-podcast/id1629819608" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>🔗&nbsp;<strong>Follow The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast on social media for more updates:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teacherthinkaloud" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thinkaloud_pod/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thinkaloudpod.bsky.social" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-think-aloud/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>


Back to Basics: Reflect on Your 2026 Teaching Goals

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2802/Tara_New-Year-New-Reflections-and-a-Partnership-with-The-Teacher-Think-Aloud-Podcast_Banner.png

Starter courses for each level with a suggested teaching order from the ESL Library publishing team.

Courses

Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

<p>Are you teaching US history and government and&nbsp;preparing students for the NEW Naturalization Civics Test (2025 version)? You are changing lives, and Ellii wants to help!</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Yes! Ellii has&nbsp;test prep materials for the new Naturalization Civics Test.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>We began working on new content as soon as the notice went out about the new test (Sep&nbsp;18, 2025). If your students are preparing for the naturalization test, you&nbsp;can expect plenty of new content on Ellii in the next few months.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>What has changed with the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test?&nbsp;</h3>

<ul>
	<li>If applicants applied before or within 30 days of the notice (Sep&nbsp;18, 2025), they take the 2008 test.</li>
	<li>If applicants&nbsp;applied 30 days or more after this notice (Sep&nbsp;18, 2025), they take the 2025 test.</li>
	<li>On the new (2025) test, the&nbsp;USCIS officer will ask applicants to answer up to 20 out of&nbsp;128 civics test questions&nbsp;to prove their&nbsp;knowledge of&nbsp;US&nbsp;history and government.</li>
	<li>USCIS officers will&nbsp;stop&nbsp;after the&nbsp;applicant answers&nbsp;12 questions correctly OR misses 9 questions.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Note:</strong> Scroll down for useful external links to resources regarding these updates.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Media Gallery</h2>

<p>Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;new <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep" target="_blank">US Civics &amp; Test Prep</a> videos build history and government knowledge while offering practical test-taking tips. Choose from short, digestible clips or full-length video lessons with chapter divisions.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep/colonial-period-independence" target="_blank"><img alt="US Civics Test Prep videos" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5010/content_Civics-Video-Colonial-Period-and-Independence_OG-play.png" /></a></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep/the-1800s" target="_blank"><img alt="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep/the-1800s" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5011/content_Civics-Video-1800s_OG-play.png" /></a></p>

<p>Videos include a real teacher from Ellii, real&nbsp;photographs, useful drawings, and real questions and possible answers from the test.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/video/recent-american-history" target="_blank"><img alt="Recent US History video " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5055/content_Screen_Shot_2025-11-19_at_3.11.32_PM.png" /></a></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Study Packs</h2>

<p>Ellii Study Packs allow you to assign your students bundled content easily with one click. Visit our <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=45&amp;page=1" target="_blank">US Civics</a> category in Courses &amp; Packs&nbsp;and watch this content&nbsp;grow.<br />
<br />
If you and your students like Ellii&#39;s test prep videos, you&#39;ll love the NEW study packs. Each video lesson comes with practice tasks, including vocabulary review, comprehension, and speaking practice.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In our first release, <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/colonial-period-independence/materials" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Colonial Period &amp; Independence</a></strong>, students practice questions <strong>73&ndash;89 </strong>of the civics test.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/colonial-period-independence/materials" target="_blank"><img alt="Colonial Period &amp; Independence Study Pack on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5012/content_US-Civics-Test-Prep-Colonial-Period-and-Independence_OG.png" /></a></p>

<p>This follow-up pack on <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/the-1800s/materials" target="_blank"><b>The 1800s</b></a><b>&nbsp;</b>features video lessons and practice about western expansion and the Civil War. Students practice questions <strong>90&ndash;99 </strong>of the civics test. Expand your students&#39;&nbsp;knowledge with related lessons from our library, such as lessons on historic figures from this period, including <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3185-harriet-tubman" target="_blank">Harriet Tubman</a>, <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3473-frederick-douglass" target="_blank">Frederick Douglass</a>, and <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2881-susan-b-anthony" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/the-1800s/materials" target="_blank"><img alt="The 1800s US Civics Test Prep Study Pack on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5013/content_US-Civics-1800s_OG.png" /></a></p>

<p>The third&nbsp;pack features video lessons and practice about conflict and change in <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/recent-american-history/materials" target="_blank">Recent US History</a> (the 1900s and early 2000s). Students practice questions <strong>100&ndash;118&nbsp;</strong>of the civics test. Expand your students&#39;&nbsp;knowledge with related lessons from our library, such as lessons on historic figures from this period, including <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1535-franklin-d-roosevelt" target="_blank">Franklin Roosevelt</a>, the <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2856-the-vietnam-war" target="_blank">Vietnam War,</a> and <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1466-september-11th" target="_blank">September 11th</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/recent-american-history/materials" target="_blank"><img alt="Recent US History US Civics Test Prep Study Pack: The 1900s and early 2000s" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5054/content_US-Civics-Recent-US-History_OG.png" /></a></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/principles-of-us-government" target="_blank">Principles of American Government</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/system-of-government-1" target="_blank">System of Government 1</a>&nbsp;cover the first 30 possible questions on the civics&nbsp;test.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Update as of February 27, 2026</h2>

<p>All 9 <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1&amp;level=&amp;material=&amp;category=45" target="_blank">US Civics Test Prep Study Packs </a>have now been released, with practice for all possible civics questions on the test. Includes question practice and speaking assessments.&nbsp;The full set of videos are available in the Media Gallery in the <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep" target="_blank">US Civics Test Prep</a> section.</p>

<p><br />
Did you know? You can also send content individually to just the students who are studying for the test&nbsp;(NEW feature).</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-individual-student-assignments" target="_blank"><img alt="individual assignments on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5014/content_Screen_Shot_2025-11-14_at_11.12.24_AM.png" /></a></p>

<h2>N-400 Interview Practice</h2>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/n-400-interview-parts-1-4" target="_blank">N-400 Parts 1&ndash;4</a></p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/n-400-interview-parts-5-8" target="_blank">N-400 Parts 5&ndash;8</a></p>
	</li>
</ul>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Collections</h2>

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics" target="_blank">US Citizenship &amp; Naturalization</a></h3>

<p>This<strong> </strong>collection category<strong> </strong>offers six ready-made collections of EL Civics content focusing on US law, government, history, and culture. This content will help prepare ELLs for life and citizenship in the United States.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lessons/american-presidents" target="_blank">American Presidents&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/american-institutions" target="_blank">American Institutions</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/american-trailblazers" target="_blank">American Trailblazers</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/american-holidays" target="_blank">American Holidays</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/us-history" target="_blank">American History</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/us-landmarks" target="_blank">American Landmarks</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/el-civics" target="_blank">EL Civics</a></h3>

<p>This collection category features curated content for pre-approved civics objectives <strong>(COAAPs)</strong> selected by California agencies supporting adult ed. Search for content that is specifically related to the needs assessment of your students and use this content toward&nbsp;the 30 hours of instruction your learners need before doing related assessments.</p>

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/nations-regions/americana" target="_blank">The United States</a></h3>

<p>Our content library is full of lessons about American facts, figures, and firsts. This collection highlights some of our most popular lesson content related to the US, including presidents, famous people, and holidays.</p>

<h2>Popular Ellii Lessons</h2>

<p>Use the <strong>Search</strong> field on Ellii to find lessons on topics you are covering, and reach out to us if you can&#39;t find what you&#39;re looking for. Here are some popular US civics lessons:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5757-us-immigration-rights" target="_blank">US Immigration Rights</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2277-american-citizenship" target="_blank">American Citizenship</a> (in editing)</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3836-n-400-vocabulary" target="_blank">N-400 Vocabulary</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2676-the-united-states" target="_blank">The United States </a>(Listening in English)</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2263-map-of-the-us" target="_blank">Map of the US</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1505-george-washington" target="_blank">George Washington</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2779-trail-of-tears" target="_blank">The Trail of Tears</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3172-the-us-constitution" target="_blank">The US Constitution</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5636-the-bill-of-rights" target="_blank">The Bill of Rights</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4037-the-declaration-of-independence" target="_blank">The Declaration of Independence</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2764-the-supreme-court-us" target="_blank">The Supreme Court</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3381-election-day-us" target="_blank">Election Day</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/video/republicans-democrats" target="_blank">Republicans Vs. Democrats</a> (explainer video)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Useful External Resources for 2025 Updates</h3>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/18/2025-18050/notice-of-implementation-of-2025-naturalization-civics-test" target="_blank">Notice of Implementation of 2025 Naturalization Civics Test </a>(09.18.2025)</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/brochures/USCIS-2025-Civics-Test-Study-Guide.pdf" target="_blank">One Nation, One People Study Guide (2025)</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025-Civics-Test-128-Questions-and-Answers-09.15.2025.pdf" target="_blank">128 Civics Questions (2025)</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/find-study-materials-and-resources/check-for-test-updates" target="_blank">USCIS Comparison of 2008 / 2025 Test</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5n2h5rdfojhykxegok15a/Natz_Test_Comparison_A_2008-2025.pdf?rlkey=47rpmtohvcrqazh1uf17h8o7k&amp;e=1&amp;st=r1lxr88r&amp;dl=0" target="_blank">Bill Bliss&#39;s Comparison chart of 2008 / 2025 Test</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship" target="_blank">USCIS Citizenship Resource Center</a></li>
</ul>


US Naturalization Civics Test Prep Now on Ellii

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2726/US-Civics-Test-Prep_Banner(2).png

<p>The end of the year is the perfect time to stop and think about life. We can look back at the things we have done and what we have learned. This helps us to decide what we enjoyed and what we want to do next year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sometimes people make &quot;resolutions&quot; at the beginning of the year. These are promises that you make to yourself. For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>I will exercise for 20 minutes every day.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I am going to study on Ellii for one hour a day.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I plan to speak B2 English by the end of the year.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>These resolutions can be difficult to keep, so I&#39;d like to share an activity to help you plan next year in a kinder way.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>1. Choose your paper</strong></p>

<p>This activity is best on BIG paper. I think A3 (or bigger) is best, but A4 will also work well. If you prefer digital, you can use a drawing tool like Procreate (only for Apple users), Adobe Fresco, Concepts, or Canva Whiteboard.&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>2. Draw out last year&nbsp;</b></p>

<p>First, draw a line and then divide it into 12 months. The easiest way to do this is to start with a line and then divide it into six parts:&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 1" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5148/content_Timeline_1.png" /></p>

<p>Then, add more lines to divide it into 12 parts.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 2" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5149/content_Timeline_2.png" /></p>

<p>After that, you can write the months of the year. You can shorten them by writing the first three letters of each month or even just the first letter!</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 3" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5150/content_Timelin_3.png" /></p>

<p>You can divide the top and bottom parts of the page into different parts of your life&mdash;for example, family, home, health, work, study, money, and fun.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 4" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5151/content_Timeline_4.png" /></p>

<p>In this example,&nbsp;the top part of the page is for &quot;professional&quot; things. For example, things you did at work or that you studied. The bottom part of the page is for &quot;fun&quot;&nbsp;things&nbsp;like travel, seeing friends, and visiting family.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can add&nbsp;little drawings to help you think. I chose a rocket to show moving forward quickly&nbsp;and a star to express fun.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>3. Add what you did&nbsp;last year</strong></p>

<p>Now, add all your important memories from last year.</p>

<p>Think about:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>things you learned</li>
	<li>courses you took</li>
	<li>people you met</li>
	<li>your work</li>
	<li>places you visited</li>
</ul>

<p>If you find it difficult to remember, look back at photos on your phone or your calendars and diaries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Don&#39;t worry about getting the&nbsp;dates correct or having something for each month. The main idea is to write down the most important things that happened.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here&#39;s an example:</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 5" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5152/content_Timeline_5.png" /></p>

<p>You can add quick drawings or just write down your ideas. Using drawings gives you the chance to play and think more&nbsp;about how things felt. It also&nbsp;helps you to really<strong> see</strong> your year. The drawings don&#39;t need to be artistic. Simple and messy is perfect!</p>

<p>At this point, you could also highlight the best bits in different colors, cross out the worst bits, or draw little emoji.</p>

<p><strong>4. Decide your &quot;more&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;less&quot;</strong></p>

<p>New Year&#39;s resolutions are promises&nbsp;that you might break. But in this activity, we choose what you want &quot;more&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;less&quot;&nbsp;of in your life. Look at your last year and choose the things that made you smile. Write down one or two things that you want more of this year. Then do the same for things you want less.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here&#39;s an example:&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 6" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5153/content_Timeline_6.png" /></p>

<p>As an extra, write all the things that you want more of on another piece of paper. Put it somewhere safe. At the end of the year, look back and see if you really got more of what you were looking for.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I hope this activity helps you to think about your year ahead and make a plan that works for you.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some other blog posts that we think you might enjoy:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/six-ways-to-use-journaling-to-learn-english-fast">6 Ways to Use Journaling to Learn English Fast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-belongs-to-everyone-here-s-how-to-own-your-english">English Belongs to Everyone: Here&#39;s How to Own Your English</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/what-is-cockney-rhyming-slang">What is Cockney Rhyming Slang?</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Looking Back to Look Forward: A Classroom Activity

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2801/Emily_Looking-Back-to-Look-Forward-A-Classroom-Activity_Banner.png

<h2>What will 2026 have in store for the world of English Language Teaching?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>For the last few years, Ellii has tasked me with making predictions for the ELT trends of the coming year. Sadly, my mystic powers remain undeveloped, so I seek the assistance of esteemed&nbsp;experts online.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This year, I was astounded by the response. It has taken me some messy mind mapping and some AI assistance to pull together the top trends and wishes for the year ahead.</p>

<p><img alt="Emily Bryson's mind map about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5135/content_Emily_Bryson_Messy_MindMap.jpeg" /></p>

<p>Here goes! Let&#39;s start with the trends.</p>

<h2><b>What&#39;s hot in ELT in 2026</b></h2>

<h3><strong>1. Human connections</strong></h3>

<p>Overwhelmingly, human connections wins the gold medal. This could be a push back&nbsp;against the increasing prevalance of artificial intelligence. Many practitioners shared their concerns over the growing isolation learners and teachers experience and how to recapture the social connections within&nbsp;the language classroom.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Katherine Bilsborough quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5136/content_Katherine_Bilsborough_Human_Connection.png" /></p>

<p>There was a lot of discussion around &quot;back-to-basics&quot; approaches such as dogme, projects, games, picture books, visuals thinking, and graphic novels.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>2. Artificial intelligence</strong></h3>

<p>Unsurprisingly, AI is still riding high. Perhaps human connection wouldn&#39;t be at the forefront of so many practitioners&#39; minds without it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sue Leather shared her worrying reflections that ELT materials developers are finding it more difficult to find projects, as more publishers move towards AI-generated content.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Sue Leather quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5137/content_Sue_Leather_Agile_Writers_and_AI.png" /></p>

<p>From a classroom perspective, particular concerns were raised around safeguarding, responsible use, and the erosion of <em>need</em> to learn English.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Dr. Steve Brown quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5138/content_Dr_Steve_Brown_Learning_Avoidance_AI.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Jen Dobson quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5139/content_Jen_Dobson_AI_safeguarding.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Stephen Farren quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5140/content_Stephen_Farren_AI_Soft_Skills.png" /></p>

<p>If you&#39;d like some ideas to support your learners to use AI responsibly, check out these blog posts:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-prevent-students-cheating-with-ai">How to Prevent Students Cheating with AI</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><strong>3. Teacherpreneurship</strong></h3>

<p>As technology becomes more affordable and accessible, more teachers are finding ways to boost their income, diversify their skills, and set themselves up as entrepreneurs.</p>

<p>Business coaches such as Rachael Roberts and Ola Kowalska are noticing more confidence with marketing and more individualized offers.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Ola Kowalska quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5141/content_Ola_Kowalska.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Rachael Roberts" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5142/content_Rachael_Roberts__1_.png" /></p>

<p>This is good news for students, who can benefit from learning experiences that are truly tailored to their needs.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you&#39;d like to know about teacherpreneurship, you may like these posts:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-passive-income-as-a-teacher">5 Ways to Earn &quot;Passive&quot; Income as a Teacher</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teacherpreneur">How to Be a Teacherpreneur</a></li>
</ul>

<p>You may also want to check out <a href="https://ellii.com/indieteacher">Ellii for Independent Teachers</a>, which is the perfect platform to use with private classes.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>4. Trauma awareness &amp; social emotional learning</strong></h3>

<p>Multiple ELTers mentioned the need for language teaching to be well-being&nbsp;focused and trauma aware. As Stephen Farren said, we have to have an &quot;understanding that &#39;trauma&#39;&nbsp;doesn&#39;t come from a specific part of the world.&quot;</p>

<p>Social justice, advocacy, and the ESOL classroom as an opportunity to support learner emancipation were key themes under this umbrella.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Penelope Roux had this to add about self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-esteem:</p>

<p><img alt="Penelope Roux quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5143/content_Penelope_Roux_Self_Reflection_awarenes_esteem.png" /></p>

<p>Here are a couple of posts on this theme:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/support-english-learners-from-refugee-backgrounds">6 Ways to Support Learners from Refugee Backgrounds</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/social-emotional-learning">A Quick Guide to Social Emotional Learning</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><strong>5. Soft skills (aka life skills)</strong></h3>

<p>&quot;Future Ready&quot; is likely to remain popular this year. These are skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and digital skills. They are skills that are essential in order to be successful in the classroom and workplace.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Check out these posts on the topic:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/top-tips-for-incorporating-life-skills-into-your-classroom">6 Tips for Incorporating Life Skills into Your Classroom</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-teach-workplace-english">How to Teach Workplace English</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><strong>Wishes</strong></h2>

<p>As the discussions developed, people started to notice distinctions between trends that they could see happening vs. things they wished would happen.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are things that we would like to ask the ELT fairy godmother to bring in 2026.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>1. Global issues</strong></h3>

<p>In many coursebooks and language, PARSNIPs&nbsp;are erased. These are:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Politics</li>
	<li>Alcohol</li>
	<li>Religion</li>
	<li>Sex</li>
	<li>Narcotics</li>
	<li>Isms (e.g., racism, sexim, feminism)</li>
	<li>Pork</li>
</ul>

<p>The reasons from this often stem from trying to create &quot;one-size-fits-all&quot; courses as well as avoiding arguments or triggering topics in class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, many students and practitioners feel strongly that these topics should be a key part of the classroom. Teachers and students have the power to be changemakers.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Huma Hasna Riaz Ahmed" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5144/content_Huma_Riaz_Global_Issues.png" /></p>

<p>The Ellii resource&nbsp;bank is full of lessons with global topics. This blog post will get you started:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-power-of-teachers-and-learners-as-changemakers">Teachers &amp; Learners as Changemakers</a></p>

<h3><strong>2. Sustainable ELT</strong></h3>

<p>The English language classroom can be a vehicle for direct action when it comes to environmental topics. Practitioners hope to see more of this in the coming here.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Christopher Graham quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5145/content_Christopher_Graham_Sustainability.png" /></p>

<p>Here is a post with ideas on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/46-greening-the-elt-classroom-tips-teaching-ideas">Greening the ELT Classroom</a>.</p>

<h3><strong>3. Slow learning</strong></h3>

<p>Jane Carvell shared a wonderful idea inspired by the Slow Food Movement. It captured my imagination, especially with the growing&nbsp;desire for human connection. The &quot;slow&quot; approach focuses on removing the pressure from learning and going at a pace that allows learners to make connections, ask questions, and prioritize deep learning.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Jane Carvell quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5146/content_Jane_Carvell.png" /></p>

<h3><strong>4. Extensive reading</strong></h3>

<p>Perhaps another&nbsp;throwback to the &quot;back to basics&quot; and &quot;human connections&quot;&nbsp;that underpin this year&#39;s predictions relates to the essential skill of reading. Lots of practioners mentioned the joy of storybooks, picture books, graphic novels, and extensive reading in class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can read Sue Leather&#39;s post about it here:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sueleather_reading-extensivereading-activity-7403905458849144832-HQe6/">Sue Leather: The Benefits of Reading for Pleasure</a></p>

<p>Here are some reading recommendations for your learners:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-advanced-students">Advanced</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-high-intermediate-students">High Intermediate</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-your-low-int-students">Low Intermediate</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><strong>5. Visual thinking</strong></h3>

<p>Graphic organizers, visual tools, infographics,&nbsp;images, and doodles&nbsp;are a great way to simplify complex information and aid understanding. In recent years, graphic facilitation techniques&nbsp;have&nbsp;become&nbsp;more popular. Perhaps because they&nbsp;are a great &quot;back-to-basics&quot; approach that boosts human connections.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Fernanda Freytes quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5147/content_Fernanda_Freytes.png" /></p>

<p>This year, the&nbsp;<a href="https://sketchnote.school/wsw26/">World Sketchnote Week Conference</a>&nbsp;that takes place from&nbsp;&nbsp;January&nbsp;12 to January 16 has&nbsp;two whole days devoted to education, with many language-teaching-focused sessions. Check it out, and come see me share some of my ideas to add sparkle to your lessons with sketchnotes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can find more on this topic here:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">Sketchnoting 101</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-facilitation-101">Graphic Facilitation 101</a></li>
</ul>

<p>So, what do you reckon?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What will 2026 have in store for English language classrooms around the world? What are your wishes for the year ahead? We&#39;d love to know your thoughts.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If you&#39;d like to read the comments on my LinkedIn&nbsp;post, or add your own, here is the original post:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brysonemily_elt-trends-to-watch-in-2025-activity-7402626392011722752-32iJ?utm_source=social_share_send&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop_web&amp;rcm=ACoAAAi7ip0BCqZAlTHCFG8wTwULtYB8nWVFeUM">Emily Bryson&#39;s 2026 Trends in ELT LinkedIn post</a></p>

<p>Here are links to my trends posts from previous years:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elt-trends-to-watch-in-2025">ELT Trends 2025</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elt-trends-to-watch-in-2024">ELT Trends 2024</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-english-language-teaching-trends-in-2023">ELT Trends 2023</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Wishing you all the best for 2026!</p>


Recent Posts