Listening - Activities

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab four levels of listening materials with and pre- and post-listening questions

CLA listening: audio based listening exercises online

ComAudio on line listening with activities

ESL Radio (Australia)

Listening: Video online

Interactive English Listening Exercises all levels

Arlyn Freed's ESL/EFL Listening Resources links and comments

ESL Cafe Web Guide: Listening

ESL Independent Study Lab: Listening organized by difficulty

English Listening Lounge several good-quality sample activities from a commercial site

English Listening Room fill in the blanks

EnglishStudy.com: Listening & Speaking links and comments

English Study Direct links

CLA Beginners' Dictations

about.com Listening Skills for Beginning Level English Learners

Cutting Edge CALL a small collection of listening activities using Macromedia's Shockwave technology

English Dictation page

Beginners dictations based on silent way

Language Institute Listening Quizzes dictation; click on 'Short Listening Quizzes'

Broadcast and Podcasts

Note to Firefox users...the free Feedview extension helps use some podcasts with your browser

Directories of podcasts

EnglishLingQ

eslpod.com

ESL : Listening : Podcasts

Easy Online RSS Reader for ESL Podcasts organized by difficulty

podfeed.net search: also elt search

Yahoo: esl podcast search

Beginner

ESLpod.com with vocabulary and culture notes and transcripts

VOA/Dyned ten-minute lessons

ELT Podcast: conversations beginner and intermediate

Intermediate

English Through Stories through iTunes or through a feed to podcast software

ESL Business News with script

breakingnewsenglish.com

Advanced

English Pod | Business English intermediate and advanced

Just Vocabulary two words per day

How to Write an Essay: 10 Easy Steps

Purdue University Writing Center handouts including these and many more:

Developing an Outline

Proofreading Strategies

Steps in Editing (Proofreading) Your Papers

Proofreading Strategies for Revision

Proofreading Your Paper

Proofreading - Methods of Eliminating Wordiness

Exercises for Eliminating Wordiness

Transitions

Purdue University Writing Center PowerPoints

Ordering activity: Steps in Process Writing

Garbl's Writing Process Links -- a good collection of links

English Tutoring Lab Handouts: Writing Process

U Vic Writing Center: Writing as a Process a chart describing the process -- also, suggestions on:

Narrowing your topic

Brainstorming

The Statement Of Your Thesis

Audience And Tone

The First Draft

Revising

Proofreading

Princeton University Writing Center handouts for effective writing

Learning Through Writing (Dalhousie University)

Peer Reviews (University of Wisconsin)

Proofreading for Common Surface Errors: Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar (Indiana University)

Revision: From First to Final Draft (Hamilton College)

Revision: editing and proofreading (Purdue University)

Writing Techniques Handbook (University of Illinois)

Writing a College Essay: The Process View (Cal. St. University-LA)

Editing and Proofreading (St. Cloud State University)

Journal Writing Workshop concepts and exercises

Writing - Mechanics

Our Grammar Page

Write about graphs, charts, and tables

Sentence Structure

Sentences (Purdue University)

Capitalisation and punctuation

Punctuation Patterns of the most common sentence patterns (PDF) (Hamilton College) 

Capitalization (Aizu University)

Punctuation (Purdue University)

Five key comma rules (PDF) (Hamilton College)

Review of English Punctuation (Aizu University)

Paragraphing

Paragraphs - paragraph parts; kinds of paragraphs; tips from the Writing Den

What is a paragraph?

Paragraphing (length consistency)

Paragraph punch guided paragraph writing ’

Paragraph Hooks

Transitions

Combining Sentences for Variety and Clarity

Paragraph coherence exercise: a Text on Palmistry

Paragraph Coherence exercise

Paragraph Coherence exercise

Transitions

Transitions (University of North Carolina)

Power Tools: Transitions exercise (David A. McMurrey) (see also UNC's companion handout on Organization)

Transitions Exercise

Transitions & Cohesion Exercise

Spelling

Spelling (Purdue University)

ESL spelling tests: common words

Online spelling activities Internet TESL Journal

Writing - Organisation

Constructing an Argument

Three Ways to Organize Research

Some General Advice on Academic Essay-Writing

Research & Writing: Step by Step

The Five Paragraph Essay

Writing Research Essays In North American Academic Institutions - A Guide For Students Of All Nations

Developing a Research Question and Developing a Research Thesis -- with interactive exercises.

Thesis statements

What is a thesis?

Writing a Thesis

Writing a Thesis Statement

Thesis Statements -- common problems

Support

Developing a thesis and a working outline

Supporting your thesis

Checklist for thesis - support

Writing - Formats

Essay Styles

Academic Essay Writing Checklist

The five-paragraph essay

ESL worksheet: the five-paragraph essay

Writing the five-paragraph Essay tutorial

The five-paragraph essay wizard 

Other formats

Argument and Opinion Essays

Argumentative Essays

Cause and Effect

Compare and Contrast

Comparison/Contrast Essays

Critiques

Descriptive Essay

Expository Essay

Extended Definition; Definitions 2

Description

Informal Essay

Narrative Essays

Persuasive Essays 1; Persuasive Essays 2

Problem and Solution

Process Essays

Reaction Essay

Research Essay

Writing - Introductions

Writing an introduction

Top-down introduction model

Strategies for Writing an Effective Introduction

Things NOT to do in an introductory paragraph

Writing Good Openers

Writing - Conclusions

Conclusions tips: strategies and things to avoid

Strategies for Writing a Conclusion

Strategies for Writing a Conclusion (II)

Conclusions

Quick Ideas for Writing Conclusions

Conclusions - Do's & Don'ts

Effective Conclusions

Writing - Quotes

About Quoting
Using Quotations: General Instructions and Suggestions - introduction for English language learners
Effective Quotations - basic information and examples
Using Quotations in Your Essay When and how to use quotes
Quotation Marks Detailed reference on forming and using direct and Indirect Quotation, Punctuation, etc
Academic Writing: Quoting and Paraphrasing Mechanics - topics include:
• Clarity and Readability Guidelines;
• Patterns for Incorporating Quotations into Sentences• Punctuating and Indenting Quotations
• Documenting Quotations

Quotation Practice
Punctuation and Mechanics practice test Multiple choice
Quotation Marks Exercise Insert Quotes and Italics

Three Types of Summary contrasts 1) Restatement or Precis, 2) Descriptive Summary, and 3) Analytical Summary; includes hints on reading for summarizing and writing steps
Summary writing tips 1
Summary writing tips 2
Writing Report Abstracts a specific kind of summary

Writing - Good Writing

What is good writing?

Ten Rules for good writing - see also:

Five Qualities of Good Writing

Ten Principles of good writing

Principles of clear writing

Nine Tips for Clear Writing

Clear Writing

Clear writing for international English readers

The Elements of Style William Strunk's classic guide to usage

The King's English H. W. Fowler's classic guide to usage

Writing - Research & Writing

Research and Writing a six-step approach

Steps To Writing A Research Paper with a useful checklist and time planner

Writing a Research Paper a step-by-step tutorial from Purdue OWL; click the topics on the left (green) column

Planning and Writing a Research Paper with emphasis on gathering and citing information; from University of Wisconsin

Using Source Material an introductory essay with examples

Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary: explanation and practice our page on information about how and when to use Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary

Citing Information our page on information about Plagiarism and Citation Formats

Documenting Electronic Sources MLA and APA

The Research Paper: Writing and Citing Ithaca College

Writing - Special Purposes

University Application Letters

Writing a college application essay

EssayEdge: college application essays

internationalstudent.com: application essays

Graduate School Applications

Other kinds of writing

Abstracts; Abstracts 2

Business Letters

Business Writing

Cover Letters

Email 1; Email 2

Engineering and Science

Essay Exams 1; Essay Exams 2; Essay Exams 3 ; Essay exams 4

Grant Writing

Job Search Documents

Lab Reports

Memos; Memos 2; Letters and memos

Reaction and Response essays (agree or disagree)

Research and Documenting Sources

Resumes

Sales Letter

Science Writing resource

Tax Professionals - M Tx

Technical Writing; Technical Writing 2

Writing for specific disciplines - Biology, Biology 2, Philosophy, History

Writing - Activities

All levels

Understanding Writing Topics checklist for research paper writers

Analyzing the writing assignment questions to ask while planning your essay

Regents' Essay Topics LiSt over 500 questions for composition from University of Georgia; good preparation for writing tests (all levels)

CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE) practice for a reading/writing exam that tests ability to summarize and respond to a pair of readings (advanced)

Writing Den Topics information on topics of interest to newcomers to North America, especially Canada, including History (e.g., the Klondike Gold Rush); Nature (e.g., Dangers of Pesticides); and Science (e.g., Recycling)

Persuasive Speech/Essay Topic List

Writing Topics collection of topics on current political questions from Passaic County Community College

University Admission Essay topics typical topics for university applicants

GoodEssayTopics.com

e-cards electronic postcards

Eon Foundation -- Make your own home page put an attractive home page, complete with graphics, links, and some personal information about you onto the web (it works very well except that I can't seem to get it to add a graphic). See Eon's guest pages here.

PIZZAZ (People Interested in Zippy and Zany Zcribbling) collection of activities 'dedicated to providing creative writing activities and copyable (yes, copyable!) handouts for use in the class room'

Beginners

Journal Writing Ideas

Beginning Writing - Short Writing Assignments

Common Errors from Student Compositions editing exercises

Computer Assisted Sentence Production

Correct the mistakes editing exercises

Making subjects and verbs agree with exercises

Subjector! identify simple and compound subjects

Subject-verb agreement activities: s-v 1; s-v 2; s-v 3;

Pronoun reference activities: pron 1

Adjective or Adverb: adv 1; adv 2

Terry...the terrible teacher (BASIC, INTERMEDIATE) Proofreading exercises: Apostrophes; Capitalization; Numbers; Confusing Words; Commas; Pronouns; Quotation marks; Subject Verb Agreement; Run-On Sentences; Parallelism; Simple Past

Intermediate

Essay Writing Tutorial (INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED) excellent series of online tutorials on the process of planning and writing university-level essays.

Guide to Grammar and Writing (INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED) grammar information and practice materials for sentence-level and paragraph-level grammar.

Correct the mistakes editing exercise

Identifying Independent Clauses identify the structure of sentences

Arrangement of Independent Clauses

paragraphpunch.com guided writing exercise - paragraph level

essayPunch.com guided writing exercise - paragraph level

Sentence Types identify Simple; Compound; Complex; and Compound-Complex Sentences

Fragments and Run-ons identify

Fragments and Run-ons repair

Sentence combining exercises -- combine to form sentences with only one main clause; increasing difficulty:

First Quiz on Sentence Combining
Second Quiz on Sentence Combining
Third Quiz on Sentence Combining

Terry...the terrible teacher (BASIC, INTERMEDIATE) proofreading exercises

Writing Machine (INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED) information on the writing process and on styles of academic writing, together with examples, links, and student writing assignments

Advanced

Topics to Read, Talk, or Write About our collection of topics to write about, including current political questions, history, culture, science, and technology

Guide to Grammar and Writing (INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED) - note: check their Interactive Quiz Page grammar information and practice materials for sentence-level and paragraph-level grammar.

Summary Street guidelines for writing summaries and ten interactive exercises with technical reading texts to summarize and built-in feedback.

Writing Machine (INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED) information on the writing process and on styles of academic writing, together with examples, links, and student writing assignments.

Writing - Reference

Advanced Composition for Non-Native Speakers of English explanations, professional examples, and student examples of four genres: Giving Instructions; Cause/Effect; Comparison/Contrast; Persuasion

Write about graphs, charts, and tables

OWL Online Writing Lab from Purdue university, includes over 100 handouts on English writing skills

RPI Writing Center handouts on writing style and technique

UVic Writer's Guide practical handouts on writing form and process from University of Victoria

LEO: Literacy Education Online information on citations, style, and the writing process from the writing center at St. Cloud State University

Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center handouts, including an interesting section on writing for particular disciplines, from Hamilton College

Online Resources for Writers good collection of links to many of the major online writing resources.

University of Wisconsin Writer's Handbook notes on grammar and style, academic form, peer reviewing, and a collection of links to other writing centers

Writers' Workshop information on grammar, bibliography, and the writing process from the University of Illinois; try their "Grammar Handbook" and "Writing Tips and Techniques

Writing - Online Writing Centres

OWL: Purdue University Online Writing Center

Writer's Complex Empire State College

U Vic Writing Center

Georgetown University Writing Center

Dartmouth Writing Center: Materials for Students

Writing Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

University of Kansas Writing Center: Writing Guides

Speaking - Public Speaking

Wikibooks: English in use

English Grammar Clinic

Grammar Safari hunt grammar on the web

FAQ of English Grammar FAQ = 'Frequently Asked Questions' from the Usenet newsgroup 'alt.usage.english'

Grammar and Style Guides for Writers

Writing World Grammar Links

The American Heritage® Book of English Usage

Grammar - Reference

Guides to Grammar

Guide to Grammar & Writing interactive activities; digital handouts on grammar and English usage, notes for grammatical rules & explanations, comments on style, and usage suggestions.

The University of Victoria Writer's Guide essay, paragraph, and sentence-level grammar

HyperGrammar grammar reference/course with key concepts linked to other items

Dr. Grammar - Frequently Asked Questions

Internet Grammar of English click HERE for instructions

On-Line English Grammar including notes on form and usage

Concordance

Lextutor a favorite; see Lextutor tools

Sentences from VOA's Special English for lower levels

Cobuild Corpus Concordance Sampler

Web Concordancer (English) a bit slow

Grammar - Activities

Grammar - Special Problems

Wikipedia: Gender in English

Gender-free pronouns FAQ general & Specific Discussion of Gender-Free Alternatives to Gendered Pronouns

Articles using and omitting the indefinite article 'a' / 'an'; using and omitting the definite article 'the' -- Monash University

Articles: 'a' 'an' and 'the' usage notes

Articles: Definite Article or NO Article rules, examples, and exercises

Nouns plural forms, possessive forms, an exercise in recognizing nouns, Count versus non-count nouns, An exercise in categorizing count- and non-count nouns, Compound nouns (and adjectives)

Wikipedia: Compound nouns, adjectives, and verbs

Wikipedia: Phrasal verbs

Purdue OWL: Two-Part (Phrasal) Verbs (Idioms)

Passive voice when/why to use passive; recognizing passives; active/passive contrast; forming passives -- Monash University

Subject/Verb agreement challenge: identify the head (main) noun

Verb Tenses present simple and present continuous; present perfect; past perfect -- Monash University

English-Zone.Com

Guide to Grammar: interactive quizzes

Internet TESL Journal: Activities

Victoria Study Zone

Aardvark's Interactive Activities

Better-English exercises

EnglishLearner.com: Tests

English Exercises Online (Belgium)

English Exercises Online (Switzerland)

Ervin's ESL Net Interactive Exercises

ESL Blue(s)

ESL PartyLand Quiz Center

Half-Baked Interactive Exercises

Hong Kong Virtual Language Centre

INTERLINK ESL Resource Center

Interesting Things for ESL Students

PCCC ESL Writing & Grammar: Interactive Quizzes

TOEFL & TWE

Internet TESOL Journal > ESL: Tests

english-test.net

TOEFL Preparation Links

TOEFL Information on the Internet

TOEFL...schedule, preparation, and research information from the Educational Testing Service (ETS)

• TOEFL Tutorials & Practice questions - requires Authorware plug-in
• TOEFL Practice test & quiz
• TOEFL Practice - requires Shockwave plug-in
• Testwise...includes a TOEFL review page
• Beat the TOEFL...suggestions for test-taking strategies

Computer-Based TOEFL...information, sales of test preparation materials

• Tutorials and Practice Questions from TOEFL - require Authorware plug-in
• Computer-based TOEFL® Preparation Quiz - requires Flash plug-in

Test of Written English (TSE) information

• Writing Tutorial from TOEFL - requires Authorware plug-in
• Practice topics from TOEFL
• more practice topics (in pdf format) from TOEFL
• Regents Test Essay Topics...thousands of general topics similar to TWE topics

Reviews of TOEFL prep Computer programs

Other standardised tests

English-online - Test Prep...practice tests for KET; PET; FCE; CAE; CPE; TOEFL

BEST...Basic English Skills Test

Cambridge EFL Examinations...information on Cambridge tests

• FCE - First Certificate in English practice test
• CAE - Certificate in Advanced English
• BEC - Business English Certificates
• CPE - Certificate of Proficiency in English
• KET - Key English Test
• PET - Preliminary English Test

Flo-Joe commercial test service includes:

• FCE - First Certificate in English with training material and practice tests
• CAE - Certificate in Advanced English with training material and practice tests

CAEL...Canadian Academic English Language Assessment

IELTS 1; IELTS 2...International English Language Testing Services, from the British Council, The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate(UCLES) and IDP Education Australia, IELTS Australia. Check British Council Tests in Your Country for information on availability

TOEIC...Test Of English for International Communication, from Educational Testing Service

• TOEIC Preparation... excellent interactive test preparation modules -- Requires the Shockwave plug-in

Test of Spoken English (TSE) information

• practice questions, Preparing for TSE, ETS practice test, University of Iowa: ABOUT THE SPEAK TEST

English Language Test Practice

5000 SAT Preparation Words word list

Dave's Quiz directory links to several web-based English language quizzes;

Englishjet Free Tests test your level

Interactive English Language Exercises...practice tests for Grammar, Vocabulary and Idioms

Interactive Javascript Quizzes for ESL Students rated 'easy,' 'medium,' or 'diffucult'

Quiz Zone javascript based quizzes

Test Taking Tips TOEFL test taking tips from Oakwood Publishing

Effective reading increasing reading speed

Essay reading A strategy to most effectively read and understand an essay

Exams: remembering what you read gives advice on strategies to remember details

SQ3R (Survey/Question/Read/Recite/Review) a method for improved reading comprehension

Speed Reading Self-Pacing Methods Five simple methods for reading speed improvement

Textbook reading gives tips on how to systemmatically read and study a textbook

How-to-study provides a strategy for reading effectively

Reading - Activities

English-Zone: Reading organized by level

ESL Quiz Zone comprehension quizzes

CLA English interactive reading exercises online organized by level

ESL Independent Study Lab: Reading 1 a links collection (similar to this page) organized by level (level 100, level 200); it's well annotated and includes some user reviews

ESL Independent Study Lab: Reading 2 a links collection (similar to this page) organized by level (level 300, level 400); it's well annotated and includes some user reviews

English Exercises Online reading and vocabulary activities

TOEFL Reading Comprehension example texts and questions

UVic Study Center: Reading - Interactive reading with comprehension, summarizing, and gap-filling activities; by level...

200 (BASIC)

330 (BASIC, INTERMEDIATE)

410 (INTERMEDIATE)

490 (INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED)

570 (ADVANCED)

Beginners

Intermediate

Pulp Friction pre-reading, reading, and grammar exercises

English Exercises Online: Reading a small collection of advanced texts.

Self-study Reading Comprehension collected by Internet TESL Journal

Online Reading Club a group or 30 readers from around the world who read classics in English every 2 weeks and send reviews to each other via e-mail

Study

English Idioms, sayings and slang (sorted by first word of idiom, all words in idiom, and by words in explanations; includes a good list of Idioms by topic)

ESL Cafe Idioms page (sorted alphabetically)

The origin of cliches Ever wonder where expressions like 'acid test' or 'baker's dozen' come from? Here's an extensive list, complete with a review quiz.

The Idiom Connection (study and quiz)

GoEnglish.com Idiom Dictionary searchable; scroll down for a list of words used in idioms

Activities

About.com: Idiom and Phrasal Verb Quizzes

Dave's ESL Quiz Page: idioms

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, and Slang Quizzes

Vocabulary - Activities

General

Vocabulary Quizzes (sorted by level...also, check their Easy Vocabulary Quizzes with Pictures; Scrambled Words; Idioms, Phrasal Verbs & Slang; Homonyms; Quizzes Using Images; Troublesome Words; V0A Special English Basic Vocabulary)

Interesting Things for ESL Students: Quizzes, Word Puzzles, Word Games, Sentence Quizzes and Puzzles, Grammar Fun, Pages with Sound, Vocabulary Study, etc. (from Charles I. Kelly and Lawrnece E. Kelly)

DMOZ: Word Games a directory of resources

About.com: vocabulary quizzes (unsorted)

English Exercises Online (sorted by level) all kinds of exercises, many for vocabulary

Synonyms & Antonyms (sorted by level)

Beginner

English Vocabulary Games with Pictures (games...match picture with word)

Internet Picture Dictionary (flash cards, word games)

English 200 vocabulary exercises (common objects; food; animals)

EnglishCLUB: Quizzes > Elementary > Vocabulary

Funbrain: Words (Basic, Intermediate)

Intermediate

English Vocabulary Quizzes (mostly based on Voice of America's list of 'Special English')

Business English Hangman (see also their crosswords and quiz pages)

Better English: Vocablary with a business orientation

Everyday Vocabulary: Anagrams

EnglishCLUB.net Quizzes > Intermediate > Vocabulary

Funbrain: Words (BASIC, INTERMEDIATE)

Homonym Quizzes

Vocabulary University puzzles (INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED)

ADVANCED

Business English: Vocabulary

EnglishCLUB.net Quizzes > Advanced > Vocabulary

Reader's Digest WordPower A quiz that changes everyday

100 most common SAT words; SAT Vocabulary

Vocabulary University (puzzles - INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED)

Word Safari (the study of VERY advanced vocabulary through the use of a 'safari' exploring instances of use throughout the web)

A Year's Worth Of Words (365 words that appear regularly on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests and the Graduate Record exams (GREs); includes interactive quizzes)

Longman's Word Games: Advanced Word games for for adults and business

Word Play A directory of links to online word games

Vocabulary - Reference

Onelook Dictionary links to many dictionaries

Cambridge International Dictionaries good for learners - choose from 5 dictionaries

Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus hear the word

Lextutor Online Concordancer shows the way a word or phrase is used from real-life examples; use it to see how a word or phrase is used. (see also HK Concordancer or Cobuild concordancer)

Yahoo Dictionary Page has manybilingual and special purpose dictionaries

BritSpeak British and American English

Links

ESL Independent Study Lab

Internet TESOL Journal Links for Students & Teachers

British Council - LearnEnglish includes Magazine; Stories; Word Games; Grammar questions; Songs

BBC World service: Learning English

Academic Info: ESL

Dave's ESL Cafe

English as Another Language: Links

EnglishClub.com: Web guide

English NetLinks : General English

TheEnglishProfessor.com: Links

Librarian's Index: English language

NCBE ESL Directory

Rong-Chang Li's ESL Site

TESOL-EJ links

Tower of English

Volterre (France) Web Links for Learners

Web English Teacher: resources

Yamada ESL