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The best online resources for EFL teachers

Finding amazing resources as an EFL teacher has never been easier. We’ll show you some of our favourites.

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When you’re an EFL teacher, every minute counts. Whether you’re teaching online, one-to-one, or you’ve got a big class in front of you, having the best lesson plans, the most cutting-edge materials and the finest ideas at your disposal is integral to a positive teaching experience.

EFL teaching, after all, is a massive industry. With approximately 1.5 billion English speakers around the globe at different levels of proficiency, it’s never been more important to have quality resources available to teachers. EFL teachers are incredibly important. For so many people, English proficiency is a ticket to educational and occupational opportunities. With English being the lingua franca of business, there’s a lot of economic incentive for proficiency in the language. The demand for EFL teachers worldwide is considerable. However, EFL teachers can’t be at their best without the best teaching resources.

So, it’s imperative that teachers are suitably equipped to deal with the demands of students. While we bet you have your own ideas for fun lesson plans, from grammar exercises to quizzes and vocabulary worksheets, you’ll have classes to prepare every day. There are lots of great materials out there, both paid and free resources that EFL teachers can easily find, which are ideal for all kinds of learners, from beginners to advanced English speakers.

Where can you find these materials? Can you use your own materials when you teach English? Where can English teachers find the best free resources? Are there really free lesson plans on the Internet? Let’s ensure that English language teachers are suitably equipped with all the teaching resources they need!

EFL resources: an overview 

What are teaching resources? Anyone who’s completed a TEFL course will understand the importance of teaching materials. Everything you could think of using in a classroom situation counts, from the most basic alphabet diagrams to full Shakespearian texts and grammar exercises to interactive games. We’re talking about lesson plans, professional development guides, and classroom management tools - essentially if it’s a resource involving you, your students or both, then it counts.

From a teacher’s perspective, having high-quality resources makes a difference. Not only can it help to organise great lessons, but having access to excellent EFL materials is likely to boost student engagement, inspire confidence and help to foster a more positive learning environment. If you don’t have anything practical to offer your students - no board, no worksheets, no diagrams or anything - they’re liable to get bored and lose focus. That certainly doesn’t help!

Your favourite language lessons growing up - indeed, any lessons you had! - will have almost certainly involved engaging materials. You could’ve been doing a close reading with a teacher who encouraged you to be inquisitive. Perhaps you were translating a newspaper article from another language. Or, you were listening to a news clip, writing down which words and phrases you knew. Nowadays, resources like films, music, podcasts and other forms of new media are great for keeping students focused on language learning. Without these kinds of resources, lessons can become dry and meandering.

So, great resources are all about keeping you organised, keeping your classes interesting, and keeping your students engaged!

Lesson planning 

Lesson planning: it’s a reality every teacher has to face, whether you’re teaching English, science, yoga, aeronautics or anything else. While we’re sure some teachers can “wing it” and improvise a whole class, we’d certainly never recommend a teacher turns up to a classroom and tries that approach. 

Instead, we’d recommend taking a look at all these resources for lesson planning. That way, you can be prepared for almost anything, from teaching young learners to advanced students with a strong level of English comprehension. We’d suggest taking a look at the following:

Or, if you need lessons quickly, here are some fantastic resources where you can pick up lesson plans for a range of different audiences:

  • The TEFL Org - call us biased, but these lesson plans packs from The TEFL Org are well worth having!
  • One Stop English - lesson plans and printable worksheets for children, teenagers and adults.
  • Ellii - Ellii is filled with ready-made lessons for a range of audiences, from kids to adults, at different levels of English comprehension.
  • ESL Authority - if you’re in a pinch but don’t want to compromise on quality, try ESL Authority’s 64 free lesson plans.

Language skills development

In the English language classroom, you must devote certain lessons to particular language skills. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are the four cornerstones of English proficiency, and it is extremely important to dedicate an equal amount of time to each.

So, where are all the fun activities for learners to get to grips with these fundamental skills? Let’s take a look at some of our favourite resources for English teachers in terms of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Reading

One of the core skills in language learning, being able to read in English is utterly fundamental for overall proficiency. Here are some resources to help you and your learners:

  • Reading Winners - via Education.com, Reading Winners is excellent for providing a grounding in pre-reading, establishing the foundation for reading comprehension.
  • Busy Teacher - If you need reading comprehension worksheets, Busy Teacher provides in plentiful supply.
  • One Stop English - reading lesson plans are also widely available through One Stop English.
  • ESOL Courses - if you’re looking for reading quizzes for learners of different levels, ESOL Courses has what you need.
  • ESL Lounge - reading exercises from elementary to advanced level are available through ESL Lounge.
  • 5 Minute English - reading lessons from the ever-useful 5 Minute English.
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Grammar 

A lot of EFL teachers can find the prospect of teaching grammar, in particular, rather daunting. However, it really doesn’t have to be. Nowadays, it’s not about relying on one or two grammar books or on your teaching skills alone. There is a wealth of online resources to help you give amazing grammar lessons!

  • Teach This - Teach This has excellent grammar games, worksheets and quizzes to make grammar come to life!
  • Grammar Monster - hundreds of lessons, tests, games, and word lists covering everything from basic vocabulary to tips for advanced writers. The site has teaching resources, including video lessons, printable word lists, and shareable tests.
  • BBC Learning English - the British Broadcasting Corporation has some outstanding materials for learning about English grammar, as well as some vocabulary exercises and articles.
  • British Council - Once again, the British Council provides. You can find some excellent grammar activities here.
  • Englishgrammar.org - You’d hope a website called English Grammar could help teachers out, and it certainly does that. There’s a comprehensive grammar guide, loads of exercises, and even writing guides. That's a lot of free material to explore!
  • Grammar Girl - More for advanced learners, Grammar Girl has a podcast, books and several articles discussing the finer points of teaching English grammar in an entertaining way.

Classroom management tools 

Having the right classroom activities and learning materials is vital. What about classroom management? Are there online resources that can help EFL teachers negotiate busy classroom scenarios?

The answer is yes! Try some of these:

Assessment resources 

Anyone with experience in English teaching will tell you how important assessment is. While assessments can be stressful, they’re a useful way to gauge the progress of your students and how effective your teaching is.

What tools are available to help with the assessment process?

  • Quizlet - set up fun quizzes for your students on Quizlet!
  • Kahoot! - packed with quizzes, these are a light form of assessment for beginner learners.
  • Literably - Both a speaking tool and an assessment platform, Literably is designed to assess reading fluency and comprehension. 
  • Floop - a great tool for giving quick, accessible feedback.
  • Pear Deck - an “active learning” tool, teachers can instantly see how well students are doing by utilising Pear Deck in classrooms.

Resources for specific learner groups  

If you’re teaching specific learner groups, for example, young learners, people who want to learn Business English, people who want to learn English for academic purposes, or those who want to learn English for law, you’ll want to have resources at hand. Luckily, the internet is full of such things. Here are some to get you started: 

Professional development for EFL teachers 

Continuous professional development (CPD) is necessary for ambitious EFL teachers who want to improve constantly. Anyone interested in boosting their English teaching should add to their skill set, understand different types of English language learners, learn new methodologies, and keep up with the industry.

Here are some courses and resources that we highly recommend:

FutureLearn Courses

Coursera

Other professional development resources

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Q. What are the best free resources for EFL teachers?

    Whether it’s fun games or dense, complicated prose, there are loads of free resources online for EFL teachers. Ultimately, the “best” ones are a teacher’s personal choice, but One Stop English, Linguahouse, British Council and other big names have very popular free resources.

  • Q. How can I choose resources for different proficiency levels?

    It’s very easy to find resources for different proficiency levels. Either search by age, by school level or by CEFR category.

  • Q. Are digital resources better than traditional ones for EFL?

    In terms of teaching English vocabulary, grammar and other English language fundamentals, it’s impossible to say whether digital or traditional resources are “better” than another. It’s about a teacher’s personal approach.

  • Q. How can I find culturally relevant resources for my EFL students?

    English teachers often worry about cultural relevance in a lesson plan. It doesn't have to be difficult: media like YouTube videos, podcasts, cinema and news websites are all culturally relevant for EFL students. They can also be really fun classroom activities for anyone learning English.