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13 Entertaining ESL Homework Ideas to Keep Your Students Engaged

Homework may not be many students’ favorite thing, but research says it’s truly an effective learning tool that teachers should use .

The trick is assigning great homework.

To help you do this with ease, we’ve compiled an awesome list of 13 homework assignments that will have your ESL students begging for more.

1. Read a Short Story

2. share a passion, 3. start a chat group, 4. listen to a podcast, 5. write a letter, 6. write an amazon review, 7. do a wikipedia edit, 8. write a short story or poem, 9. share their culture, 10. catch a movie, 11. meet new people, 12. analyze a song, 13. go on a photo scavenger hunt, what makes homework effective.

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Have students read a short story for homework and then ask them to tell the class about the story in the next session.

I would recommend giving students some suggestions on what short stories to read, depending on the level of your students.

Here are some suggestions of short story collections for each level of ESL learner:

• “The Very First Americans” by Cara Ashrose: This collection of short stories features Native American culture and history, written in simple language.
• “Oxford Bookworms Library: Starter Level” This series offers simplified versions of classic stories, such as fairy tales, adventure stories and more.
• “Classic Tales for ESL Students” by L.A. Hill: This collection of classic stories from literature is retold with easier vocabulary and sentence structure.

Intermediate

• “The Best American Short Stories” This series features contemporary short stories from a wide range of American writers, so there’s something for everyone here.
• “Short Stories in English for Intermediate Learners” by Olly Richards: This collection of engaging stories is designed specifically for intermediate ESL students.
• “Roald Dahl: The Collected Short Stories” This delightful collection of quirky and imaginative tales has become a favorite of many of my students.
• “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri: This Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories explores the immigrant experience, something which many ESL students can relate to.
• “Dubliners” by James Joyce: This classic collection of interconnected stories captures the essence of Dublin in 1914. But it still feels modern to many students.
• “Nine Stories” by J.D. Salinger: This classic collection of short stories is a class favorite when I’ve used it.

What do your students really care about? Give them a chance to talk about it in front of the class. 

Have each person choose something they’re passionate about, something they might consider themselves an expert on.

Challenge students to think of a creative way to present five must-know facts about that subject. They might make a movie, create a poster or brochure, write a song or even put on a skit.

Have each person present their creative project to the class, and then give the class five minutes to ask questions of the presenter.

Set certain parameters like students must speak in complete sentences or require that every student ask at least two questions at some point during the presentations.

Students will love sharing about their passions, and they’ll get some great speaking, listening and discourse information in the process, as well as teach the rest of the class some interesting vocabulary.

Ask for class for a volunteer to start a class WhatsApp chat group. They can also decide to use another messaging app like Telegram, Viber, Voxer or any other app that has a group chat function. 

Encourage them to send at least one message and to respond to a couple others for their homework. 

This text group has the added advantage of students being able to make friends with one another, and a place to ask about missed homework assignments on days when they can’t make it to class.

Note that if a student doesn’t want to be included in the chat group, you should have a back up assignment prepared for them.

Listening is one of the ESL student’s most difficult skills to acquire, so listening to a short podcast episode is ideal homework.

You can ask students to write a little about the podcast to turn in to you, or you can ask them to briefly summarize what they heard for the class in the next session.

Here are some suggestions for well done podcasts:

The English We Speak : Produced by the BBC, this podcast focuses on teaching commonly used phrases and idioms in conversational English.

The Moth : A storytelling podcast where real people share their personal experiences and anecdotes in English.

Stuff You Should Know : Though not specifically designed for ESL students, this podcast covers a vast array of interesting topics, providing exposure to diverse vocabulary and subject matters.

Ask your students to write a letter . The letter can be written to a friend or family member (which they could then actually mail or email), or it could be a fan letter to a favorite musician or actor. They could even write a letter to Santa Claus or a historical figure. 

For example, a student might choose to write a letter to Marie Antoinette, asking her what it was like to be the queen of France at such a young age. 

You can also choose to have students write letters to one another. Then the next homework can be writing that letter writer back.

Ask you students to review a product on Amazon (or any other shopping website that has reviews). Ask them to select a product they have really used, so they have a genuine opinion on the quality of the product and whether it lived up to their expectations.

Then, in the next session, show the reviews on the overhead projector to the class and ask a student to read the review.

You can then go over any errors in vocabulary, grammar or sentence structure and revise the review together as a class.

Since anyone can edit a Wikipedia article, it’s a great place for ESL students to hone their writing and editing skills, and they’ll have a built-in readership, too!

Ask students to select a person that they know a lot about—a well-known figure from history, pop culture, music or film would all work. Then ask them to read the Wikipedia entry to see if they can add anything else to the article.

Perhaps the article on Ryan Gosling is missing a key detail about his recent Ken performance. If so, the student will revise and edit the article. They should take notes on what they changed, so they can explain it to you or the class the next day.

Ask your students to get creative. Have them write a short story or a poem . This can get them to use descriptive language that they don’t always have a chance to use.

One good activity to do before you assign this homework is an adjective bubble chart. For this, you start with one adjective. For example, write “moist” on the board, circle it and then draw 4-5 lines coming off of the”moist” bubble.

Ask your students to come up with other adjectives that are related to “moist” and so on. They may come up with “wet,” “watery,” “soaked” or “damp.” Then draw lines from each of those. This can lead to words that you never expected to come up.

Have your students select 3-4 adjectives from this introduction activity that they’ll use in their story or poem.

Ask your students to prepare a short presentation on an aspect of their home culture to tell the class about in the next session. 

For example, a student from China may explain the Lunar New Year, a student from Vietnam may explain Tet or a student from El Salvador may tell the class about their quinceañera .

They can use photos, art, a PowerPoint presentation or they can just explain in their own words.

Then open the class up for questions.

Can you legitimately send students to the movies for homework? You can when you’re teaching ESL.

Your students don’t have to commit to a full-length movie. Instead, you can use the videos on FluentU to screen mini-lessons using clips from TV shows and movies, movie trailers, news segments, vlogs or music videos.

Use these videos in the classroom or assign homework to watch a few and complete the subsequent quizzes. You can also ask students to complete flashcard quizzes based on vocabulary words you want them to pay special attention to. These quizzes are adaptable so every student will have a unique experience catered to his learning level.

There are plenty of ways to use a movie for language development. And whether students watch a new release or catch an old Elvis flick on TV, they can do any of the following activities as homework:

• Summarize the plot.
• Describe a main character.
• Note new or interesting vocabulary (particularly slang) they hear while watching.
• Write an interview with one of the characters in the movie.

I’m sure you also have your favorite movie-related language activities and many work as homework assignments. So get creative with how you have students share about what they watched.

For the most part, people are willing to help someone in need, and that is doubly true for someone who needs to complete an assignment for school.

That’s why sending students out to interview native speakers on campus is such a fun homework assignment.

Start by helping your students write a list of questions they’ll use for their interviews. Students can choose a topic or you can assign one, like leisure activities or celebrity news.

Tell students to list five to ten questions they might ask on that topic that will elicit specific answers. 

As a class, discuss how students might introduce themselves to a potential interviewee. 

Then send students out to their interviews after class. They can share the answers they got in the next session.

Music is great for English learners since it stresses many aspects of language that can otherwise be hard to isolate, like the emotion of language, intonation and stress.

Have students choose their favorite English language song to listen to for homework and then ask them to do the following:

• Practice the lyrics to learn intonation and rhythm.
• Note slang and cultural references in the songs.
• Summarize the theme of the song, or just what it’s about.
• Have students share their favorite lyrics and what a particular song means to them.

Give individual students or groups of up to three students a list of items to find on their homework scavenger hunt. But instead of being specific in your list (for example, including items such as cat), be descriptive in your list.

You might include items such as something frightening, something beautiful, something quiet, something cool.

Students find items they think fit the description. For example, someone who is claustrophobic might choose an elevator for something frightening. They then take a picture of it.

The next day, have each person get with a partner and show them the pictures they took for each item on the list.

If the connection is not obvious, students should ask their partner to explain why they chose a particular item, such as the elevator.

Assigning homework that works isn’t as hard as you might think, especially if you focus on the following points.

• Put your homework in writing. It can be tempting to just announce homework assignments to students at the end of class, but language learners benefit when you reinforce what you say with what they can see. So take a minute to write any homework assignment on the board so students can read it as well as listen to it.
• Let students know what goals you have for a particular assignment. Is it practicing a certain grammar point ? Improving their listening skills ? Pronunciation practice ? When students know why they’re doing something, they’ll be able to tell on their own when they’ve successfully completed their homework assignment.
• Keep your homework practical . Your students may not find themselves planning out a menu for Thanksgiving when they leave your ESL classroom, but odds are they’ll have to order food at a restaurant at some point. Think about realistic ways students will have to use English in the real world and try to make your homework practical.
• Let your students be creative . Give your students choices on how they express themselves or present information. It’s okay for students to make a home movie, put on a one-man play or paint a picture to present to the class. Just because you prefer a particular type of creative expression doesn’t mean your students do, so give them choices and let them express themselves.
• Make homework fun! Every class has its own personality, so what’s fun for one might not be fun for another. Tailor your assignments to the personality of your class. Think about what they would think is fun, and go with that.

No matter what you believed in your student days, homework doesn’t have to be boring. With a little creativity when assigning homework, you might find that the activities you assign for outside of class become the highlights of your students’ days.

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Homework for ESL Students – 10 Ideas for Teachers

Meet  David De’ Ath , founder, editor, and writer at Wonderful World English. With his extensive background as an English teacher, David provides valuable insights and practical tips on ESL for students and teachers alike.

Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) is an enriching venture and offers students the ability to access global opportunities.

Homework in ESL is crucial, serving as a bridge between classroom theory and practical language use.

It’s essential for reinforcing learned concepts and enhancing general language proficiency.

To make this learning journey both effective and enjoyable, it’s important to craft homework tasks that are engaging and tailored to diverse learning styles.

This approach helps to maintain students’ interest and motivation, which are key to successful language acquisition.

These ESL homework ideas are designed to enhance language learning and engage students both in and out of the classroom: Daily journaling, vocabulary flashcards, reading comprehension, listening to podcasts/songs, video diaries, role-play scenarios, grammar worksheets, online games, book club discussions, and a pen pal program.

I am an experienced ESL teacher, and I can attest first-hand to the importance of self-study, homework, and review.

Our carefully selected ten homework ideas aim to transform routine learning into an exciting adventure.

These activities are more than just assignments; they’re interactive experiences designed to deepen students’ understanding of English.

From creative writing to practical exercises, these tasks are intended to make learning English a dynamic and enjoyable process, paving the way for a richer, more confident use of the language.

Homework Ideas for ESL Students

ESL students need more than just traditional classroom lessons.

Homework is a vital part of their language development and serves as a bridge between acquired knowledge and practical application.

The following homework ideas are designed to captivate students’ interest, deepen their understanding, and enhance their fluency in English in the classroom and real-life situations.

Let’s dive into these creative and effective homework strategies that promise a richer, more interactive language learning experience:

1. Daily Journaling

This is a great idea to engage students by embracing the habit of maintaining a daily journal.

Writing about their daily experiences, emotions, thoughts, or selected topics can sharpen their writing skills while learning to articulate their feelings and ideas in English.

This journaling process serves a dual purpose: it strengthens their grasp of the language and provides a personal space for self-expression.

As they regularly engage with this practice, English becomes an integral part of their daily routine and will facilitate a more natural and fluent use of the language in their everyday lives.

This activity bolsters their linguistic abilities and fosters a deeper connection with English as a medium of personal reflection and expression.

Writing is a huge aspect of mastering a language.

For a guide on how to improve writing skills for yourself or your students, click the link below!

Related Article: How to Sharpen Writing Skills – Full Guide

2. Making Flashcards

Students can develop their vocabulary skills through the classic and effective method of creating flashcards.

This exercise involves students writing down new words and their meanings on individual cards.

They can add illustrations or use words in sentences to make the learning process more engaging and impactful.

This visual and contextual approach helps better retain and understand new vocabulary.

By regularly reviewing these flashcards, students can gradually build a robust vocabulary base, which is essential for fluency in English.

This method will reinforce their word knowledge and encourage active engagement with the language, making vocabulary learning a more interactive and enjoyable experience.

Flashcards are suitable for students of all ages and can be fun.

For some great insights on effectively teaching ESL students vocabulary, the guide below is for you!

Related Article: How to Teach Vocabulary to ESL Students – The Guide

3. Reading Comprehension Exercises

Immerse more advanced students in the world of English reading by assigning short stories or articles complemented by comprehension questions.

This exercise is pivotal in enhancing their reading skills and deepening their understanding of various contexts in English.

Students encounter different writing styles, vocabularies, and themes by engaging with diverse texts, enriching their language experience.

The follow-up questions serve to test their understanding and encourage critical thinking about the content.

This approach bolsters their ability to comprehend English texts and stimulates their analytical skills, making them more adept at interpreting and engaging with the language in its written form.

Such reading exercises are fundamental in helping students gain confidence and proficiency in navigating English literature and media.

4. Podcasts and Songs

Teachers can offer listening exercises in their curriculums by using English podcasts and songs.

This method exposes students to a variety of accents, speaking speeds, and vocabulary in a natural context.

After listening, students can engage in activities like writing summaries or answering questions about what they heard.

These post-listening tasks are crucial for enhancing their comprehension and retention.

This approach is great at improving listening skills while making the learning process more enjoyable and relatable.

By regularly interacting with authentic English content, students develop a better ear for the language and learn to appreciate its rhythm and nuances in different forms of media.

This not only aids in language acquisition but also connects them culturally to the English-speaking world.

Check out the guide below for a list of the BEST English podcasts!

Related Article: Best Podcasts to Learn the English Language in 2024 (Top 10)

5. Video Diaries

This one encourages students to create short video diaries as a regular assignment.

This task provides them with a platform to practice speaking about a variety of topics in English.

Whether they choose to talk about their daily life, share opinions on current events, or discuss their hobbies, these video diaries offer a unique opportunity for students to engage actively with the language.

This activity not only improves their spoken English skills but also significantly boosts their confidence in using the language.

It helps them to overcome any hesitation or fear of speaking by providing a safe, personal space to express themselves.

The process of recording and watching their own videos can also be a powerful tool for self-evaluation and progress tracking.

This innovative approach to language learning empowers students to become more fluent and self-assured English speakers.

6. Role-play in Real-world Scenarios

Ask your students to prepare role-plays that mimic real-world scenarios, such as shopping, ordering food, or making appointments.

This practical approach to learning takes them beyond the confines of traditional classroom exercises and immerses them in everyday situations. T

Through role-playing, students get to practice conversational English in a structured yet dynamic context.

It allows them to apply their language skills in practical situations, enhancing their ability to communicate effectively in real-life settings.

This method is particularly effective in familiarizing them with common phrases and vocabulary used in daily interactions.

Additionally, role-playing can be a fun and interactive way to learn, helping to reduce the anxiety often associated with speaking a new language.

By engaging in these simulated experiences, students gain confidence and fluency, which are crucial for their overall language development.

7. Grammar Worksheets

This is a classic form of homework for ESL students, to offer them worksheets that concentrate on specific grammar points, such as verb tenses, sentence structure, or prepositions.

Regular practice with these worksheets is instrumental in solidifying their understanding of English grammar.

This methodical approach allows students to focus on one aspect of grammar at a time, ensuring a thorough grasp of each concept.

Such targeted exercises help correct common mistakes and deepen their comprehension of the language’s structure.

By consistently working through these grammar worksheets, students build a strong grammatical foundation, which is vital for effective English communication.

This foundational knowledge enhances their writing and speaking skills and boosts their confidence in correctly using the language in various contexts.

For some tips on how to teach grammar to ESL students, we’ve put together a guide to help teachers everywhere!

Related Article: How to Teach Grammar to ESL Students – Teacher’s Guide

8. Online Games

Motivate your students to engage with educational language games available online.

These games offer a fun, interactive way to learn and practice English.

Students can improve various language skills through game-based learning, including vocabulary, grammar, reading, and even listening comprehension.

The interactive nature of these games makes the learning process more enjoyable and less intimidating, especially for younger learners or beginners.

As students play, they receive immediate feedback on their performance, which helps reinforce correct usage and understanding.

This approach enhances their language skills and keeps them motivated and engaged in their learning.

Online language games provide a dynamic and enjoyable way to supplement traditional learning methods, making language practice an activity that students can look forward to.

For some ideas of classroom games, both traditional and digital, check out the guide below!

Related Article: Fun Classroom Games to Play – Teacher’s Guide

9. Book Club

Another great idea is to start a book club in your class, where students can read and discuss a common book.

This collaborative activity enhances their reading skills and promotes critical thinking and group discussion skills in English.

Choosing books that are appropriate for their language level, the book club encourages students to dive into stories and themes, expanding their vocabulary and comprehension.

Discussing the book with their peers allows them to share perspectives, articulate their thoughts, and engage in meaningful conversations in English.

This interactive and social approach to learning also builds a sense of community among the students, making English learning a shared and enjoyable experience.

The book club thus becomes a platform for growth, not just in language proficiency but also in cognitive and social skills.

10. Pen Pal Program

The tenth great homework idea for ESL students is to start a pen pal program with English-speaking individuals from different parts of the world.

This initiative provides a unique opportunity for students to engage in regular written communication with native English speakers.

Through exchanging letters or emails, students practice their writing skills in a real-world context, learning to express their thoughts and ideas clearly in English.

This regular interaction not only improves their language proficiency but also offers valuable insights into different cultures and lifestyles, enhancing their cultural understanding and global awareness.

The pen pal program is more than just a language exercise; it’s a bridge that connects students across cultures, promoting international friendships and broadening their perspectives.

This kind of cultural exchange can be a highly rewarding and motivating experience, encouraging students to apply their language skills in meaningful and authentic interactions.

You can reach out to other teachers on platforms like LinkedIn and see if they would be willing to start a pen pal initiative for both them and your students.

The homework ideas presented for ESL students transcend the traditional concept of assignments.

They are designed as interactive learning experiences that not only build language skills but do so in a way that is practical, enjoyable, and highly effective.

Integrating these varied activities into the ESL curriculum allows teachers to cultivate a dynamic and nurturing learning environment.

Such an approach encourages students to actively engage with the English language, not just within the confines of the classroom but in their everyday lives as well.

Promoting this kind of immersive learning experience makes students more likely to develop a lasting proficiency and a genuine appreciation for the language.

These activities, therefore, play a crucial role in shaping confident, competent English speakers who are prepared to navigate the global landscape.

We hope you find value in this article; let us know if you require any assistance.

Have a wonderful day!

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The role of homework

Homework seems to be an accepted part of teachers’ and students’ routines, but there is little mention of it in ELT literature.

The role of homework is hardly mentioned in the majority of general ELT texts or training courses, suggesting that there is little question as to its value even if the resulting workload is time-consuming. However, there is clearly room for discussion of homework policies and practices particularly now that technology has made so many more resources available to learners outside the classroom.

Reasons for homework

• Attitudes to homework
• Effective homework
• Types of homework
• Homework is expected by students, teachers, parents and institutions.
• Homework reinforces and helps learners to retain information taught in the classroom as well as increasing their general understanding of the language.
• Homework develops study habits and independent learning. It also encourages learners to acquire resources such as dictionaries and grammar reference books. Research shows that homework also benefits factual knowledge, self-discipline, attitudes to learning and problem-solving skills.
• Homework offers opportunities for extensive activities in the receptive skills which there may not be time for in the classroom. It may also be an integral part of ongoing learning such as project work and the use of a graded reader.
• Homework provides continuity between lessons. It may be used to consolidate classwork, but also for preparation for the next lesson.
• Homework may be used to shift repetitive, mechanical, time-consuming tasks out of the classroom.
• Homework bridges the gap between school and home. Students, teachers and parents can monitor progress. The institution can involve parents in the learning process.
• Homework can be a useful assessment tool, as part of continual or portfolio assessment.

Attitudes to homework Teachers tend to have mixed feelings about homework. While recognising the advantages, they observe negative attitudes and poor performance from students. Marking and giving useful feedback on homework can take up a large proportion of a teacher’s time, often after school hours.

• Students themselves complain that the homework they are given is boring or pointless, referring to homework tasks that consist of studying for tests, doing workbook exercises, finishing incomplete classwork, memorising lists of vocabulary and writing compositions. Where this is actually the case, the negative effects of homework can be observed, typified by loss of interest and a view of homework as a form of punishment.
• Other negative effects of poorly managed homework include lack of necessary leisure time and an increased differential between high and low achievers. These problems are often the cause of avoidance techniques such as completing homework tasks in class, collaborating and copying or simply not doing the required tasks. In turn, conflict may arise between learners, teachers, parents and the institution.

Effective homework In order for homework to be effective, certain principles should be observed.

• Students should see the usefulness of homework. Teachers should explain the purpose both of homework in general and of individual tasks.
• Tasks should be relevant, interesting and varied.
• Good classroom practice also applies to homework. Tasks should be manageable but achievable.
• Different tasks may be assigned to different ability groups. Individual learning styles should be taken into account.
• Homework should be manageable in terms of time as well as level of difficulty. Teachers should remember that students are often given homework in other subjects and that there is a need for coordination to avoid overload. A homework diary, kept by the learner but checked by teachers and parents is a useful tool in this respect.
• Homework is rarely co-ordinated within the curriculum as a whole, but should at least be incorporated into an overall scheme of work and be considered in lesson planning.
• Homework tends to focus on a written product. There is no reason why this should be the case, other than that there is visible evidence that the task has been done.
• Learner involvement and motivation may be increased by encouraging students to contribute ideas for homework and possibly design their own tasks. The teacher also needs to know how much time the students have, what facilities they have at home, and what their preferences are. A simple questionnaire will provide this data.
• While homework should consolidate classwork, it should not replicate it. Home is the outside world and tasks which are nearer to real-life use of language are appropriate.
• If homework is set, it must be assessed in some way, and feedback given. While marking by the teacher is sometimes necessary, peer and self-assessment can encourage learner independence as well as reducing the teacher’s workload. Motivating students to do homework is an ongoing process, and encouragement may be given by commenting and asking questions either verbally or in written form in order to demonstrate interest on the teacher’s part, particularly in the case of self-study and project work.

Types of homework There are a number of categories of useful and practicable homework tasks.

• Workbook-based tasks Most published course materials include a workbook or practice book, mainly including consolidation exercises, short reading texts and an answer key. Most workbooks claim to be suitable for both class and self-study use, but are better used at home in order to achieve a separation of what is done in class and at home. Mechanical practice is thus shifted out of class hours, while this kind of exercise is particularly suited to peer- or self-checking and correction.
• Preparation tasks Rarely do teachers ask learners to read through the next unit of a coursebook, though there are advantages in involving students in the lesson plan and having them know what is coming. More motivating, however, is asking students to find and bring materials such as photographs and pictures, magazine articles and realia which are relevant to the next topic, particularly where personalisation or relevance to the local context requires adaptation of course materials.
• Extensive tasks Much can be gained from the use of graded readers, which now often have accompanying audio material, radio and TV broadcasts, podcasts and songs. Sometimes tasks need to be set as guidance, but learners also need to be encouraged to read, listen and watch for pleasure. What is important is that learners share their experiences in class. Extensive reading and listening may be accompanied by dictionary work and a thematic or personalised vocabulary notebook, whereby learners can collect language which they feel is useful.
• Guided discovery tasks Whereas classroom teaching often involves eliciting language patterns and rules from learners, there is also the option of asking learners to notice language and make deductions for themselves at home. This leads to the sharing of knowledge and even peer teaching in the classroom.
• Real-world tasks These involve seeing, hearing and putting language to use in realistic contexts. Reading magazines, watching TV, going to the cinema and listening to songs are obvious examples, offering the option of writing summaries and reviews as follow-up activities. Technology facilitates chat and friendship networks, while even in monolingual environments, walking down a shopping street noticing shop and brand names will reveal a lot of language. As with extensive tasks, it is important for learners to share their experiences, and perhaps to collect them in a formal or informal portfolio.
• Project work It is a good idea to have a class or individual projects running over a period of time. Projects may be based on topics from a coursebook, the locality, interests and hobbies or selected individually. Project work needs to be guided in terms of where to find resources and monitored regularly, the outcome being a substantial piece of work at the end of a course or term of which the learner can claim ownership.

Conclusion Finally, a word about the Internet. The Web appears to offer a wealth of opportunity for self-study. Certainly reference resources make project work easier and more enjoyable, but cutting and pasting can also be seen as an easy option, requiring little originality or understanding. Conferring over homework tasks by email can be positive or negative, though chatting with an English-speaking friend is to be encouraged, as is searching for visual materials. Both teachers and learners are guilty of trawling the Net for practice exercises, some of which are untried, untested and dubious in terms of quality. Learners need guidance, and a starting point is to provide a short list of reliable sites such as the British Council's  LearnEnglish  and the BBC's Learning English  which provide a huge variety of exercises and activities as well as links to other reliable sources. Further reading Cooper, H. Synthesis of Research on Homework . Educational Leadership 47/3, 1989 North, S. and Pillay, H. Homework: re-examining the routin e. ELT Journal 56/2, April 2002 Painter, L. Homework . English Teaching Professional, Issue 10, 1999 Painter, L. Homework . OUP Resource Books for Teachers, 2003

First published in October 2007

Mr. Steve Darn I liked your…

Mr. Steve Darn I liked your method of the role of the homework . Well, I am one of those laggard people. Unfortunately, when it comes to homework, I definitely do it. Because, a student or pupil who understands new topics, of course, does his homework to know how much he understands the new topic. I also completely agree with all of Steve Darn's points above. However, sometimes teachers give a lot of riff-raff homework, just like homework is a human obligation. This is a plus. But in my opinion, first of all, it is necessary to divide the time properly, and then to do many tasks at home. Only then will you become an "excellent student" in the eyes of the teacher. Although we live in the age of technology, there are still some people who do not know how to send homework via email. Some foreign teachers ask to send tasks by email. Constant email updates require time and, in rare cases, a fee. My above points have been the cause of constant discussions.

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StoryLearning

Learn A Language Through Stories

11 ESL Homework Ideas To Engage Your Learners & Simplify Lesson Planning 

Are you looking for ESL homework ideas for your classes? If you’re thinking about setting homework you’re onto a good thing. Learning a language requires a lot of exposure and practice. And much of that happens outside of class. 

The more students make contact with English outside the classroom, the faster they’ll progress. And if you can connect their homework assignments to what you’re teaching in class, you’ll make lesson planning a lot easier for yourself. 

So, without further ado, here are 11 ESL homework ideas for adults that you can use with groups, individuals, in-person or online.

If you want to become a qualified online language teacher and earn a living from home, I recommend checking out CeOLT (Certificate of Online Language Teaching).

Click here to find out more .

How To Make Homework Work For You &Your Students 

Many ESL teachers are wary of setting homework because students often don’t do it! You may remember being set useless homework in language classes that you weren't motivated to do, such as learning lists of words for a test. 

The problem is, if ESL learners rely too much on you or on coming to lessons, they will make slow progress because so much language learning takes place outside of the classroom. 

The trick then is to integrate homework assignments into what happens in class so that it becomes non-negotiable. In the list of ESL homework ideas below, you’ll find tasks that are fun and motivating to do as well as ways to fit them into your class time. 

1.Read A Short Story Or Short Book Chapter 

Reading is the foundation of the StoryLearning method and makes for the perfect ESL homework idea.

Instead of spending time reading in class, get the students to do it between classes. 

They can find a quiet time to read the story or chapter as many times as they like.

In my short story books , they’ll find tools to help them understand the material such as glossaries and comprehension questions. 

In class, students can then discuss the chapter or story together. If you’re teaching 1:1, you can ask them to present a summary and show you new words they learned from the chapter. You can then discuss it together.  

For more ideas on how to use my short story books for teaching check out my Short Stories teacher’s Guide .

2. Listen To A Short Podcast Episode 

Many ESL students struggle with English listening skills so they need as much practice as possible. 

If you teach conversation classes then this activity will also mean fewer lesson planning headaches. And you won’t waste any class time on listening. 

Tell your student to listen to a short ESL podcast such as the BBC’s 6-Minute English podcast. Ask them to prepare a summary of it to present to you in class. If the episode includes show notes, they can compare their summary with those notes. 

You can also adapt this homework activity for groups and ask them to discuss the podcast in pairs in class. This is also a great opportunity to use class time to clarify and new words, or structures that came up in the episode. 

If you’re feeling ambitious or your students have a high level, you could plan a whole series of lessons or a semester around a particular podcast such as a true crime or other investigative journalism show. 

3. Presentation About A Passion 

Not everyone is passionate about learning English and many ESL students come to class because they have to. But even if they’re not interested in English, they must be interested in something, right? 

You can harness their hobbies and passions and generate some excitement for the English language by asking them to present a special object to the rest of the class. 

This can also work well in a 1:1 online lesson. You can ask your student to prepare a short talk about an object that they hold up to the webcam to show you. 

You can use time in class to work on presentation and storytelling skills. You can model this type of presentation by telling them about your own significant object so they know what to aim for.

4. Write A Review 

Who doesn’t love sharing their opinion whether it’s about the latest movie they’ve seen or the hot new restaurant they had dinner at? 

You can harness this desire and get your student to practice useful language by getting them to write reviews as homework. These could be movie reviews, product reviews, restaurant reviews etc. 

In class, you can take a look at the structure of reviews in English plus the language used such as colourful adjectives or phrases for giving opinions. 

That way, your students will have a model they can use to write their own reviews at home. Back in class, students can share their reviews with each other and discuss them – would they see this movie, buy this product etc or not based on the review. 

You can also give feedback both about the content of the reviews as well as any language points to improve. 

5. Get Creative 

Creativity requires constraints and there’s no greater one than writing a story in your second, third or fourth language. 

You can challenge students to write a short story based on words they’ve learned recently in class or on a particular topic you’ve been discussing. Give them a word count to respect as well. 

Again, you can use class time to read stories together and analyse their structure so that they know what to aim for. 

After they’ve written a short story at home, they can come back to class to read and discuss each others’ stories. 

6. Share Amazing Anecdotes 

Telling an interesting anecdote is a real skill in any language, especially in a new one that you're learning. But it's a great way to work on your speaking skills. 

You can use your class time to read or listen to anecdotes in English. You could even tell your learners a funny or sad story about yourself. Once they’ve understood what makes a great anecdote, it’s time to create their own one for homework. 

At home, learners can write their anecdotes, or even better, can prepare and rehearse them orally, so they’re ready to tell them in class. 

During the lesson, you and the other students can react to the anecdotes and ask follow-up questions. 

7. Blogs And Blogging 

Did you know that blogs are an incredibly rich resource for language learning and teaching? You can use blogs in many ways both inside and outside of the classroom. 

As a homework activity you could ask students to read a blog post of their choice and leave a comment for the writer. 

If your students prefer watching YouTube videos, they can watch videos and leave comments underneath them. 

In both cases, in class time, students can report back on the blog they read, why they chose it and what comment they left and why. 

If you and your students are feeling really ambitious, you could start a class blog or they could start writing their own individual blogs about their English learning journeys. 

For even more inspiration for your teaching, check out these best ESL bloggers .

8. Start A Podcast 

This one is a bit more ambitious, but as well as listening to podcasts, learners can also consider starting their own! 

In fact, English learner Daniel Goodson from Switzerland started his podcast, My Fluent Podcast , to develop his speaking skills and gain confidence. He interviews other learners who have similar projects. 

Of course, your students don’t have to make the podcast public. It can simply be a project between you and the members of the class. They could interview each other or otherwise upload short episodes on a topic of their choice. 

Again, if they do this outside of class as homework you can use time in class to give them feedback on their work. Their episodes can also be a springboard for further discussion as well as a listening comprehension activity for the other students. 

9. Class WhatsApp Group 

Another way for students to use English outside the classroom thanks to digital tools is to create a class WhatsApp group.

Other chat apps like Telegram or Voxer would work just as well. 

In this group, you can ask your students questions or share material for them to discuss.

Their homework in this case could be as simple as sending at least one message per week in the group. For more ideas about using apps check out this post about English teaching apps.

10. Write A Letter 

Do you remember writing letters to a pen friend when you were learning languages at school? 

Instead of writing letters to someone else, your students can try some creative writing activities that involve writing letters to themselves. 

That’s right, you can ask them to write a letter to their younger self with advice or to their future self about goals and dreams. There’s even a website where you can write and schedule a letter to your future self called FutureMe . 

This activity is quite a personal one so you’d need to be willing to get vulnerable yourself and share your letter before encouraging your students to talk to each other about the content of their letters. 

11. The Student Becomes The Teacher 

Here’s an interesting reversal of classroom roles that works well with groups. For homework, you can ask your students to teach the rest of the class some new vocabulary or a spelling or grammar rule. 

You won’t expect them to give a whole class on the topic. But they could do a short presentation of the topic in the format they prefer – through song or story or in a more traditional way.

As long as you keep expectations clear, they’ll benefit from peer teaching this way. After all, you can only teach what you’ve understood well yourself. 

11 ESL Homework Ideas 

So there you have it – 11 engaging ESL homework ideas that your students will actually want to do outside of class! 

As you can see, these ESL homework ideas are a million miles away from the types of boring worksheets that you had to fill in for language classes at school. 

Thanks to these engaging ideas, you’ll make your lesson planning easier and your students will be excited to do their homework. And they’ll start to become more independent learners who make faster progress. 

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10 entertaining homework ideas for online English Language Learners

Did hearing the words, “do your homework,” when you were a child excite you? 

For most of us, the word homework doesn’t conjure up exciting or fun memories. 

Homework was likely one of the last things you wanted to do as a student!

However, what if you could make homework fun for students? What if homework was entertaining? 

In this article, we share some entertaining homework ideas for English language learners to help them improve their English while having fun!

You might be familiar with lots of ESL games and activities for your students , but assigning the right homework can feel overwhelming. 

This is particularly true if you don’t want to burden your students with a tremendous amount of information. 

Have you ever thought about combining games with homework? 

There are many alternative ways to create memorable lessons, such as incorporating karaoke songs to learn English. 

Here are 10 fun and entertaining homework ideas for your ESL students:

• Cafe hopper
• Tiktok star
• Let’s go to the movies
• Hello Mr. Teacher
• Interview a stranger
• Shine like a Karaoke star
• Expert on the loose
• 24 hour challenge
• It’s a wrap!
• Masterchef in the making

1. Cafe hopper

Most people love checking out cafes and this is an easy homework task to assign to your students.  

Have your students visit a variety of cafes as part of their homework. 

Then, consider what they could do for homework in a cafe of their choice.

Here are some fun ideas for turning cafe-hopping into homework:

• Practice ordering in English off of the menu.
• Take a photo of the cafe’s and share the differences and similarities with you in class.
• Speak to a stranger in each cafe in English and ask them some interesting questions about their life.
• Interview the barista about their favorite kind of coffee or beverage.

This is a stress-free homework idea that your students will love, especially if they are coffee or tea lovers!

2. TikTok star

Tiktok is a fun social media application where you can watch videos and songs from creators. You can also watch creators lip-synching to catchy tunes.

Show some fun examples in your class of some famous TikTok songs being lip-synched to by others and practice doing one together.

• For homework, have them choose their favorite song on TikTok.
• They can lip-synch to the song and download the song to their camera album without having to actually post it to TikTok.
• Have them share their creation with you in the next class!

Depending on the age and location of your student, TikTok might not be an option for them. If you are teaching older students or adults , then it might be easier for them to use social media for this homework assignment rather than young children.

If they are too young to use the app, have them find an online video of their favorite song and ask a parent to record them singing!

3. Let’s go to the movies

Going to the movies doesn’t sound like homework, does it? Well, as you might already be discovering, homework doesn’t have to be conventional!

Find some interesting movies that are playing in your students’ area or ask them to watch a movie of their choice in English. 

Tell them that their homework is going to be based on the movie they watch.

Here are some ideas for making going to the movies part of their homework:

• Have them write a summary of the movie or their favorite part.
• Tell them that they have to give you a movie review in your next class.
• Have them act out their favorite part of the movie with a sibling or family member and record it (in English of course!).
• Ask them to make a poster advertising the movie with captions, titles and text to accompany any drawings.

If you are struggling to find movies they can go and watch in the cinema, you can always use these ESL movies and TV shows as a resource. 

Students can also watch movies from the comforts of their homes. 

4. Hello Mr. Teacher!

Students love playing the role of the teacher! 

This can work for in-person or online ESL classes.  

Tell them that as part of the next classroom activity, the first 5 – 10 minutes will be their time to shine as the teacher!

For homework, ask them to:

• Think of one topic that they know a lot about (This could be a sport, musical instrument, game, topic, etc…).
• Have them prepare 5 important things that someone needs to know about their topic.
• Tell them that in their next class they will be the teacher and share their knowledge! (They can even give you homework!).

Have fun with this homework idea and role-play the student where you ask them questions after they finish. 

Your students will love this one!

5. Interview a stranger

This one might need some parent support and guidance if you are teaching children, but having them interview someone is an entertaining homework idea for English language learners.

• It encourages their own voice as they come up with ideas.
• It helps with writing skills as they write out their questions.
• Interviewing encourages conversation and role playing which is a fun way to learn English.

You could have your younger students interview a family member and ask questions related to that family member’s childhood. 

Here are some sample questions you could help your students form:

• What kind of things did you like to do when you were my age?
• What was your favorite thing about school?
• What types of sports did you play when you were young?
• Tell me about what life was like when you were a child.

Have them choose and write out 5-10 questions and come back to class to report on their findings!

6. Shine like a Karaoke star

Who doesn’t like a bit of karaoke? Imagine….singing your heart out to “I love rock n roll” in the privacy of your own home!

You don’t need to go to a karaoke place to actually sing karaoke songs. There are lots of great karaoke songs available online to learn English with your students.

YouTube is a great place to start, just by searching for your favorite song + “karaoke lyrics” in the search bar.

In class, help your student(s) choose a song and task them with finding the online karaoke lyrics to sing along.

Have them sing this for homework! You could even ask a parent to help them record it if they are comfortable with that.

Here are some fun and popular karaoke songs online to learn English:

• “I Will Survive” with Gloria Gaynor
• “Livin’ on a Prayer” with Bon Jovi
• “Summer Nights” with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
• “Don’t Stop Believin’” with Journey

7. Expert on the loose

There is an expert in all of us, including your students!

In this fun and entertaining homework idea, have your student share their expertise on something!

To add a different dimension to the homework idea, “Hello Mr. Teacher,” task your students to dress up as the expert and make a short speech on their topic of choice.

Here are some examples:

• Harry Potter
• Michael Jordan (to talk about basketball)
• Favorite sports athlete
• Insect scientist
• Astronaut (if your student knows a lot about space)
• Presidential candidate
• Pilot (for students who know a lot about countries)

Even if they are not an expert on the topic, part of the homework assignment could be to do some research and learn more about their chosen field.

You could even ask them to dress up and come to class in the role, ready to share their knowledge with you! 

8. 24 hour English challenge

This one is self-explanatory and incredibly fun!

Set a challenge for your student to only speak in English for 24 hours. 

This means that you might need to get parents involved with the homework assignment, so that they can help out.

The idea is that they have to speak only in English (as much as is possible given their situation) when interacting with family, friends and at school.

Your students might already be immersed in English environments, but, oftentimes, they are speaking their native language at home with family and friends.

Having your students force themselves to only speak in English is challenging and a great way to encourage English outside the classroom.

9. It’s a wrap!

Lots of students love to rap! Rap music is poetic and encourages a lot of ESL language skills that we want to build in our students.

This is an activity that you can model with your students in class and assign it for homework for them to create their own rap.

Again, they can come back to class and rap their new song to you! It might, however, work better with older students who have a good base level of English, to begin with.

Here are some fun homework assignments incorporating rap:

• Create their own rap if they are the creative type
• Find a well known rap online and practice it to present in class
• Assign your students to find a rap online that they sing and record with their friends

10. Masterchef extraordinaire

For the food lovers, creating a homework assignment that includes cooking can be really fun.

Most kids love the idea of cooking, especially if it centers around cooking their favorite food!

When considering this as a homework idea, consider these possible assignments:

• Create and write out a recipe for a unique culinary dish.
• Make a video about the cooking experience.
• Record a tutorial of how to cook something.
• Turn it into a competition if you have multiple students.

Plus, this works with physical and online classrooms. 

Of course, if you have a physical classroom with multiple students, this could be a really fun in-class experience with some homework assignments to accompany it.

Who doesn’t love a food-related assignment? 

If you choose Masterchef extraordinaire, allow your students to share the food they make with the class and encourage lots of conversations in English.

Homework doesn’t have to be boring!

As you can see, homework doesn’t have to be boring! 

Most of your ESL students have a lot to do even outside class, and that’s why assigning homework that doesn’t feel like homework is ideal!

This is an opportunity to get creative, creating excitement for your students to learn English.

If you use some of the homework ideas mentioned here, make sure you document the experience and continue to discover new activities that bring laughter and joy to the classroom. 

And when you are applying to online teaching jobs , be sure to share how you plan to creatively incorporate class assignments and homework for your students!

Enjoy the process and make learning an enjoyable experience for everyone. 

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Homework for Beginning ESL Students: 8 Tips for Success

Homework can be a controversial subject . Some schools and teachers are strongly in favor of it, others are strongly against it, and many fall somewhere in the middle. But, when it comes to ESL students and other English learners , homework can offer ways to extend learning outside of the classroom and encourage independent English reading, speaking, writing, and listening at home. Here are our tips for making homework for beginning ESL students a positive and productive experience.

• 1. Keep it Brief

One of the keys to ESL homework success is to keep it as short and simple as possible. The goal should not be for students to spend hours on an assignment that may confuse and frustrate them. Instead, the main goal should simply be to practice and reinforce classroom learning.

There is also no rule stating that you have to assign homework for English language learners every day. Consider homework on an ad hoc basis , and only assign it on days when you have truly meaningful assignments, rather than as a given every single day. You can also send home a folder of fun English activities for students to complete for extra credit at any point in the year. This encourages learning at home while offering flexible options for families.

Whatever you choose to assign for homework, make sure that you are providing adequate scaffolding so that your ELLs will succeed. For newcomers, you may want to modify the assignment by giving them extra visuals , adapting the text to their language level, or writing directions in bullet points rather than paragraphs. Consider using writing prompts or sentence frames to support and guide your students in their writing.

2. Get to Know Your Students’ Families

The more you know about your students’ lives at home, the easier assigning reasonable and relevant homework for English language learners will be. Some students may have access to a computer and English-speaking relatives, while others may have neither.

As much as possible, have homework directions and explanations translated into the native language of the ESL student. Keep in mind that parents of ELLs likely speak another language, so it may be difficult for them to help their child with a homework assignment in English.

Once you get to know your students’ families, you can often offer better advice to help parents and their students succeed with homework. Reinforce that:

• Using their native language is important for their child’s second language development and should be encouraged.
• They can help their child, but shouldn’t do the homework for them. There is no benefit to homework being completed unless the child is learning by doing it themselves.
• Homework is an important part of learning and a responsibility of their child.
• They should feel comfortable coming to you at any time if they are struggling to help their child with homework or have any concerns relating to their child’s assignments.

• 3. Offer Flexibility

As you’re getting to know your students and their families, creating flexible homework assignments is essential. Here are some simple tips for making homework success more accessible:

• Provide several days (or the entire week) to complete an assignment.
• Allow students to choose between several readings or assignments to cater to their interests and help them build confidence.
• Send home bilingual books so children can read in English and parents can follow along or read in their native language.
• Send home supplies like markers or glue sticks that students may need for their assignments.
• Provide open-ended homework assignments, like listening to something on StorylineOnline.net .
• 4. Assess for Completion, Not Accuracy

The goal in assigning homework for beginning ESL students should not be total comprehension or mastery. That means that for many classes, assessing or monitoring for accuracy isn’t the best use of your time and can be discouraging to new students who are trying their best to grasp a whole new language.

Assessing for completion is the best option for most newcomer ESL students. It allows you to keep track of how students are doing and gauge their progress and parental involvement at home. And you can always have students turn in assignments and take your own private notes on their accuracy, even while assessing for completion publicly.

• 5. Make Homework Hard to Forget

Oftentimes, homework for English language learners may be incomplete because the student wasn’t clear on what exactly needed to be done. In addition to verbally assigning homework, write down any assignments and consider using a brightly colored stamp to denote homework assignments.

You can also opt to send home a “homework packet” full of ESL homework ideas every week that contains all of the assignments that need to be completed during the week. While it will take some additional preparation, this provides a flexible option that allows time for questions and may result in a higher completion rate when parents have time to help students with their assignments.

• 6. Create Meaningful Assignments

Colorin Colorado shares that “Recent meta-analyses have shown that educational programs that systematically incorporate use of ELLs’ home language result in levels of academic success , including achievement in literacy and other academic subjects, that are as high as and often better than that of ELLs in English-only programs (Genesee & Lindholm-Leary, in press).” When assigning homework for beginning ESL students, make sure you support students in using their native language. Encourage parents to read aloud to their children in their home language— research shows that strong native language literacy supports second language development .

Another part of providing flexibility with homework for beginning ESL students is allowing them to discover the subjects and topics they enjoy. Especially in the early days of learning a new language, learning vocabulary and choosing reading and writing assignments related to your students’ personal interests can be a big motivator.

If you assign at-home reading for ESL students, allow students to choose from several high-interest books that are on their language level. Consider sharing audio books or other resources for students to listen to stories, if possible.

• 7. Use Homework as Preparation for Class

Because of the individuality of language learning and the differences in parental involvement , homework for beginning ESL students typically isn’t a valuable tool for developing mastery. The best homework for ESL practice is typically an assignment that prepares students for in-class activities and maximizes your effectiveness in the classroom.

Try some of these ESL homework ideas to make the most of your time in the classroom:

• Preview a text for the next day’s class.
• Review a vocabulary sheet for a text for the next day’s class.
• Practice pronunciation and reading aloud in preparation for oral reading fluency.
• Review a rough draft and make edits in preparation for finalizing a writing piece in class.
• Add unknown words identified in class to your vocabulary notebook .

• 8. Encourage a Homework Routine

Part of assigning homework for beginning ESL students is helping them build good homework habits as they progress and as homework may become more intensive or time-consuming.

Here are some tips to pass along to parents to help students find their focus at home :

• Create a schedule and do homework at the same time every day. Attaching it to an existing habit can help create consistency (e.g. having a snack and then doing homework).
• Provide a space for students to do their homework that has the supplies they’ll need. This can be anything from a desk in their room to a spot in the kitchen.
• Put screens and distractions away—consider them a reward for when homework is finished.
• Develop an order to create a routine. If the child needs motivation, start with their favorite subject. If they’re naturally driven to complete homework, start with the hardest assignment to get it over with.

Language-centered ESL activities for students with limited English ability help develop vocabulary and life skills necessary to communicate effectively with others.

Thank you to Melissa Miller, an ESOL teacher in Howard County, Maryland for consulting on this blog post. This blog was originally published on October 1, 2021. It was updated on February 3, 2023.

• 2. Get to Know Your Students' Families

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Free Printable English Worksheets For ESL Teachers

Browse our archive of completely free quality English worksheets and lessons (PDF and Word documents). Download, customize and print the resources, incorporate them in your lessons or assign them as homework to your students.

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ESL Worksheets for Adults and Teens (Intermediate to Advanced Students)

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Intermediate Level (B1-B2)

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Exclusively available from JIMMYESL: The following bundles include illustrated vocabulary worksheets for various exercises, flashcards, and a certificate of achievement. They’re great to help young learners memorize new vocabulary with fun!

School & Classroom Objects – ESL Vocabulary Worksheets & Flashcards

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Esl worksheets for beginners and elementary.

These are the ESL worksheets for young students, and for beginner and elementary level students. Again, you can download all worksheets in PDF and Word format, edit and print them for your lessons. Have fun teaching!

Beginner and Elementary Level (A1-A2)

Esl reading comprehension worksheet: in the restaurant (beginner-elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: france (beginner-elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: zoo animals (beginner-elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: playing football (beginner-elementary), listening comprehension worksheet: the pet competition (elementary), esl vocabulary worksheet: sports activities, action words (elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: the world of dinosaurs (elementary), list: prepositions of place: at, in & on (elementary), elementary-intermediate level (a2-b1), esl vocabulary worksheet: weather report & forecast (elementary-intermediate), esl vocabulary worksheet: let’s go shopping (elementary-intermediate), esl grammar worksheet: using articles (elementary-intermediate), esl grammar worksheet: -ed & -ing adjectives: describing feelings & situations (elementary-intermediate), esl vocabulary worksheet: describing people (elementary-intermediate), ideas to create your own esl lesson plans.

Check these ideas for engaging and fun ESL lesson activities which you can use to easily create customized worksheets. Or browse our full list of activity ideas to find tons of inspiration and materials.

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Using natural language processing to improve everyday life

Also in its news.

By Stephanie Dascola

Joyce Y. Chai , professor of electrical engineering and computer science, College of Engineering, and colleagues have been seeking answers to complex questions using natural language processing and machine learning that may improve everyday life.

Some of the algorithms that they develop in their work are meant for tasks that machines may have little to no prior knowledge of. For example, to guide human users to gain a particular skill (e.g., building a special apparatus or even, “Tell me how to  bake a cake ”). A set of instructions based on the observation of what the user is doing, e.g., to correct mistakes or provide the next step, would be generated by Generative AI, or  GenAI . The better the data and engineering behind the AI, the more useful the instructions will be. 

“To enable machines to quickly learn and adapt to a new task, developers may give a few examples of recipe steps with both language instructions and video demonstrations. Machines can then (hopefully) guide users through the task by recognizing the right steps and generating relevant instructions using GenAI,” said Chai.

WHAT ARE AI, MACHINE LEARNING, DEEP LEARNING, AND NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING?

By Lollixzc – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

It might help to take a step back to understand AI, machine learning (ML), and deep learning at a high level. Both ML and deep learning are subsets of AI, as seen in the figure. Some natural language processing (NLP) tasks fall within the realm of deep learning. They all work together and build off of each other.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a branch of computer science that attempts to simulate human intelligence with computers. It involves creating systems to perform tasks that usually need human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

“NLP is a sub-area in AI, where DL/ML approaches are predominantly applied,” stated Chai.

Christopher Brown, a research data scientist, with  ITS Advanced Research Computing  (ARC) and a member of the  ARC consulting team , explains that ML is a subfield of AI. Within ML, algorithms are used to generalize situations beyond those seen in training data and then complete tasks without further guidance from people. A good example is  U-M GPT . The large language models (LLMs) accessible via U-M GPT are trained with millions of diverse examples. “The goal is to train the models to reliably predict, translate, or generate something.” 

“Data is any information that can be formatted and fed into an algorithm that can be used for some task, including journal articles, chats, numbers, videos, audio, and texts,” said Brown, Algorithms can be trained to perform tasks using these real-world data. 

Natural Language Processing is a branch of artificial intelligence that helps computers understand and generate human language in a way that is both meaningful and useful to humans. NLP teaches computers to understand languages and then respond so that humans can understand, and even accounting for when rich context language is used. 

“NLP is highly interdisciplinary, and involves multiple fields, such as computer science, linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science, statistics, mathematics, etc.,” said Chai.

Examples of NLP are everywhere: when you ask Siri for directions, or when Google efficiently completes your half-typed query, or even when you get suggested replies in your email. 

Ultimately NLP, along with AI, can be used to make interactions between humans and machines as natural and as easy as possible. 

A LOT OF DATA IS NEEDED TO TRAIN THE MODELS

Dr. Chai and her team use large language models, a lot of data, and computing resources. These models take longer to train and are harder to interpret. Brown says, “The state of the art, groundbreaking work tends to be in this area.” 

Dr. Chai uses deep learning algorithms that make predictions about what the next part of the task or conversation is. “For example, they use deep learning and the transformer architecture to enable embodied agents to learn how new words are connected to the physical environment, to follow human language instructions, and to collaborate with humans to come up with a shared plan,” Brown explains.

THE TECHNOLOGY THAT SUPPORTS THIS WORK

To accomplish her work, Dr. Chai uses the  Great Lakes High-Performance Computing Cluster  and  Turbo Research Storage , both of which are managed by U-M’s Advanced Research Computing Group (ARC) in Information and Technology Services. She has 16 GPUs on Great Lakes at the ready, with the option to use more at any given time. 

A GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, is a piece of computer equipment that is good at displaying pictures, animations, and videos on your screen. The GPU is especially adept at quickly creating and manipulating images. Traditionally, GPUs were used for video games and professional design software where detailed graphics were necessary. But more recently, researchers including Dr. Chai discovered that GPUs are also good at handling many simple tasks at the same time. This includes tasks like scientific simulations and AI training where a lot of calculations need to be done in parallel (which is perfect for training large language models).

“GPUs are popular for deep learning, and we will continue to get more and better GPUs in the future. There is a demand, and we will continue supporting this technology so that deep learning can continue to grow,” said Brock Palen, ITS Advanced Research Computing director. 

Chai and her team also leveraged 29 terabytes of the  Turbo Research Storage  service at ARC. NLP benefits from the high-capacity, reliable, secure, and fast storage solution. Turbo enables investigators across the university to store and access data needed for their research via Great Lakes. 

GREAT LAKES HPC IN THE CLASSROOM 

ARC offers  classroom use  of high-performance computing cluster resources on the  Great Lakes High-Performance Computing Cluster . 

Dr. Chai regularly leverages this resource. “Over 300 students have benefited from this experience. We have homework that requires the use of the Great Lakes, e.g., having students learn how to conduct experiments in a managed job-scheduling system like SLURM. This will benefit them in the future if they engage in any compute-intensive R&D (research and development).

“For my NLP class, I request Great Lakes access for my students so they have the ability to develop some meaningful final projects. We also use the Great Lakes HPC resources  to study the reproducibility for NLP beginners ,” said Chai. A  gallery  is available for many of the student projects.

THE UMRCP DEFRAYS COSTS

The  U-M Research Computing Package  is a set of cost-sharing allocations offered by ITS ARC, and they are available upon request. Other units offer additional cost-sharing to researchers. Chai said, “We typically use the nodes owned by my group for research projects that require intensive, large-scale GPU model training. We use the UMRCP for less intensive tasks, thereby extending the budgetary impact of the allocations.” 

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Tiny but mighty: The Phi-3 small language models with big potential

• Sally Beatty

Sometimes the best way to solve a complex problem is to take a page from a children’s book. That’s the lesson Microsoft researchers learned by figuring out how to pack more punch into a much smaller package.

Last year, after spending his workday thinking through potential solutions to machine learning riddles, Microsoft’s Ronen Eldan was reading bedtime stories to his daughter when he thought to himself, “how did she learn this word? How does she know how to connect these words?” 

That led the Microsoft Research machine learning expert to wonder how much an AI model could learn using only words a 4-year-old could understand – and ultimately to an innovative training approach that’s produced a new class of more capable small language models that promises to make AI more accessible to more people.

Large language models (LLMs) have created exciting new opportunities to be more productive and creative using AI.  But their size means they can require significant computing resources to operate. 

While those models will still be the gold standard for solving many types of complex tasks, Microsoft has been developing a series of small language models (SLMs) that offer many of the same capabilities found in LLMs but are smaller in size and are trained on smaller amounts of data.

The company announced today the Phi-3 family of open models , the most capable and cost-effective small language models available. Phi-3 models outperform models of the same size and next size up across a variety of benchmarks that evaluate language, coding and math capabilities, thanks to training innovations developed by Microsoft researchers.

Microsoft is now making the first in that family of more powerful small language models publicly available: Phi-3-mini , measuring 3.8 billion parameters, which performs better than models twice its size, the company said.

Starting today, it will be available in the Microsoft Azure AI Model Catalog and on Hugging Face , a platform for machine learning models, as well as Ollama , a lightweight framework for running models on a local machine. It will also be available as an NVIDIA NIM  microservice with a standard API interface that can be deployed anywhere. 

Microsoft also announced additional models to the Phi-3 family are coming soon to offer more choice across quality and cost. Phi-3-small (7 billion parameters) and Phi-3-medium (14 billion parameters) will be available in the Azure AI Model Catalog and other model gardens shortly. 

Small language models are designed to perform well for simpler tasks, are more accessible and easier to use for organizations with limited resources and they can be more easily fine-tuned to meet specific needs. 

“What we’re going to start to see is not a shift from large to small, but a shift from a singular category of models to a portfolio of models where customers get the ability to make a decision on what is the best model for their scenario,” said Sonali Yadav, principal product manager for Generative AI at Microsoft.

“Some customers may only need small models, some will need big models and many are going to want to combine both in a variety of ways,” said Luis Vargas, vice president of AI at Microsoft.

Choosing the right language model depends on an organization’s specific needs, the complexity of the task and available resources. Small language models are well suited for organizations looking to build applications that can run locally on a device (as opposed to the cloud) and where a task doesn’t require extensive reasoning or a quick response is needed.

Large language models are more suited for applications that need orchestration of complex tasks involving advanced reasoning, data analysis and understanding of context.  

Small language models also offer potential solutions for regulated industries and sectors that encounter situations where they need high quality results but want to keep data on their own premises, said Yadav. 

Vargas and Yadav are particularly excited about the opportunities to place more capable SLMs on smartphones and other mobile devices that operate “at the edge,” not connected to the cloud. (Think of car computers, PCs without Wi-Fi, traffic systems, smart sensors on a factory floor, remote cameras or devices that monitor environmental compliance.) By keeping data within the device, users can “minimize latency and maximize privacy,” said Vargas. 

Latency refers to the delay that can occur when LLMs communicate with the cloud to retrieve information used to generate answers to users prompts. In some instances, high-quality answers are worth waiting for while in other scenarios speed is more important to user satisfaction.

Because SLMs can work offline, more people will be able to put AI to work in ways that haven’t previously been possible, Vargas said. 

For instance, SLMs could also be put to use in rural areas that lack cell service. Consider a farmer inspecting crops who finds signs of disease on a leaf or branch. Using a SLM with visual capability, the farmer could take a picture of the crop at issue and get immediate recommendations on how to treat pests or disease.  

“If you are in a part of the world that doesn’t have a good network,” said Vargas, “you are still going to be able to have AI experiences on your device.”    

The role of high-quality data  

Just as the name implies, compared to LLMs, SLMs are tiny, at least by AI standards. Phi-3-mini has “only” 3.8 billion parameters – a unit of measure that refers to the algorithmic knobs on a model that help determine its output. By contrast, the biggest large language models are many orders of magnitude larger.

The huge advances in generative AI ushered in by large language models were largely thought to be enabled by their sheer size. But the Microsoft team was able to develop small language models that can deliver outsized results in a tiny package. This breakthrough was enabled by a highly selective approach to training data – which is where children’s books come into play.

To date, the standard way to train large language models has been to use massive amounts of data from the internet. This was thought to be the only way to meet this type of model’s huge appetite for content, which it needs to “learn” to understand the nuances of language and generate intelligent answers to user prompts. But Microsoft researchers had a different idea.

“Instead of training on just raw web data, why don’t you look for data which is of extremely high quality?” asked Sebastien Bubeck, Microsoft vice president of generative AI research who has led the company’s efforts to develop more capable small language models. But where to focus?

Inspired by Eldan’s nightly reading ritual with his daughter, Microsoft researchers decided to create a discrete dataset starting with 3,000 words – including a roughly equal number of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Then they asked a large language model to create a children’s story using one noun, one verb and one adjective from the list – a prompt they repeated millions of times over several days, generating millions of tiny children’s stories.

They dubbed the resulting dataset “TinyStories” and used it to train very small language models of around 10 million parameters. To their surprise, when prompted to create its own stories, the small language model trained on TinyStories generated fluent narratives with perfect grammar.

Next, they took their experiment up a grade, so to speak. This time a bigger group of researchers used carefully selected publicly-available data that was filtered based on educational value and content quality to train Phi-1. After collecting publicly available information into an initial dataset, they used a prompting and seeding formula inspired by the one used for TinyStories, but took it one step further and made it more sophisticated, so that it would capture a wider scope of data. To ensure high quality, they repeatedly filtered the resulting content before feeding it back into a LLM for further synthesizing. In this way, over several weeks, they built up a corpus of data large enough to train a more capable SLM.

“A lot of care goes into producing these synthetic data,” Bubeck said, referring to data generated by AI, “looking over it, making sure it makes sense, filtering it out. We don’t take everything that we produce.” They dubbed this dataset “CodeTextbook.” 

The researchers further enhanced the dataset by approaching data selection like a teacher breaking down difficult concepts for a student. “Because it’s reading from textbook-like material, from quality documents that explain things very, very well,” said Bubeck, “you make the task of the language model to read and understand this material much easier.”

Distinguishing between high- and low-quality information isn’t difficult for a human, but sorting through more than a terabyte of data that Microsoft researchers determined they would need to train their SLM would be impossible without help from a LLM. 

“The power of the current generation of large language models is really an enabler that we didn’t have before in terms of synthetic data generation,” said Ece Kamar, a Microsoft vice president who leads the Microsoft Research AI Frontiers Lab, where the new training approach was developed. 

Starting with carefully selected data helps reduce the likelihood of models returning unwanted or inappropriate responses, but it’s not sufficient to guard against all potential safety challenges. As with all generative AI model releases, Microsoft’s product and responsible AI teams used a multi-layered approach to manage and mitigate risks in developing Phi-3 models.

For instance, after initial training they provided additional examples and feedback on how the models should ideally respond, which builds in an additional safety layer and helps the model generate high-quality results. Each model also undergoes assessment, testing and manual red-teaming, in which experts identify and address potential vulnerabilities.

Finally, developers using the Phi-3 model family can also take advantage of a suite of tools available in Azure AI  to help them build safer and more trustworthy applications.  

Choosing the right-size language model for the right task

But even small language models trained on high quality data have limitations. They are not designed for in-depth knowledge retrieval, where large language models excel due to their greater capacity and training using much larger data sets.

LLMs are better than SLMs at complex reasoning over large amounts of information due to their size and processing power. That’s a function that could be relevant for drug discovery, for example, by helping to pore through vast stores of scientific papers, analyze complex patterns and understand interactions between genes, proteins or chemicals. 

“Anything that involves things like planning where you have a task, and the task is complicated enough that you need to figure out how to partition that task into a set of sub tasks, and sometimes sub-sub tasks, and then execute through all of those to come with a final answer … are really going to be in the domain of large models for a while,” said Vargas.

Based on ongoing conversations with customers, Vargas and Yadav expect to see some companies “offloading” some tasks to small models if the task is not too complex. 

For instance, a business could use Phi-3 to summarize the main points of a long document or extract relevant insights and industry trends from market research reports. Another organization might use Phi-3 to generate copy, helping create content for marketing or sales teams such as product descriptions or social media posts. Or, a company might use Phi-3 to power a support chatbot to answer customers’ basic questions about their plan, or service upgrades.    

Internally, Microsoft is already using suites of models, where large language models play the role of router, to direct certain queries that require less computing power to small language models, while tackling other more complex requests itself.

“The claim here is not that SLMs are going to substitute or replace large language models,” said Kamar. Instead, SLMs “are uniquely positioned for computation on the edge, computation on the device, computations where you don’t need to go to the cloud to get things done. That’s why it is important for us to understand the strengths and weaknesses of this model portfolio.”

And size carries important advantages. There’s still a gap between small language models and the level of intelligence that you can get from the big models on the cloud, said Bubeck. “And maybe there will always be a gap because you know – the big models are going to keep making progress.”

Related links:

• Read more: Introducing Phi-3, redefining what’s possible with SLMs
• Learn more: Azure AI
• Read more: Phi-3 Technical Report: A Highly Capable Language Model Locally on Your Phone

Top image: Sebastien Bubeck, Microsoft vice president of Generative AI research who has led the company’s efforts to develop more capable small language models. (Photo by Dan DeLong for Microsoft)

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Computer Science > Computation and Language

Title: a survey on self-evolution of large language models.

Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) have significantly advanced in various fields and intelligent agent applications. However, current LLMs that learn from human or external model supervision are costly and may face performance ceilings as task complexity and diversity increase. To address this issue, self-evolution approaches that enable LLM to autonomously acquire, refine, and learn from experiences generated by the model itself are rapidly growing. This new training paradigm inspired by the human experiential learning process offers the potential to scale LLMs towards superintelligence. In this work, we present a comprehensive survey of self-evolution approaches in LLMs. We first propose a conceptual framework for self-evolution and outline the evolving process as iterative cycles composed of four phases: experience acquisition, experience refinement, updating, and evaluation. Second, we categorize the evolution objectives of LLMs and LLM-based agents; then, we summarize the literature and provide taxonomy and insights for each module. Lastly, we pinpoint existing challenges and propose future directions to improve self-evolution frameworks, equipping researchers with critical insights to fast-track the development of self-evolving LLMs.

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Non-Indigenous Australians taking classes to help revive Dhurga language

Fifty years ago, students would be punished for taking this class. Now they're bringing this Indigenous language back.

Every Monday afternoon, a handful of people gather in a TAFE classroom on the New South Wales south coast and engage in an activity that up until the 1970s was banned across Australia.

The students are learning the Dhurga language, traditionally spoken by Yuin people from Nowra south to Wallaga Lake and inland to Braidwood.

In the class, First Nations people sit shoulder to shoulder with migrants and non-Indigenous Australians learning phrases, verbs, syntax and culture.

The class is part of a resurgence of interest in the language which was, until recently, on the verge of extinction.

TAFE teacher and Yuin woman Trish Ellis said these classes were the only way to keep the language alive.

"If we just confine the Dhurga language to Aboriginal people, there's a very real chance that we could lose it again," she said.

Resurrecting a language

Prior to colonisation, Australia had 250 distinct languages with more than 600 dialects.

The Commonwealth government banned Aboriginal languages in school classrooms and playgrounds while pursuing a policy of assimilation.

The report Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages, released in 2000, found languages were disappearing in Australia at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world.

In the 2016 census, only 10 per cent of Australia's Indigenous population reported speaking an Indigenous language at home.

Ms Ellis said, historically, police heard all Indigenous language as rebellious scheming.

"Our elders stopped us speaking [Dhurga] for our own protection," she said.

She said as a result, the language became almost extinct.

Ms Ellis was able to help resurrect the Dhurga language using archival material that was collected by various people between 1834 and 1902 — before Indigenous languages became jumbled together at missions.

In 2022, Ms Ellis helped publish the Dhurga Dictionary and Learner's Grammar with more than 730 words.

She began teaching Certificate I in Aboriginal Languages at TAFE in 2008 with a class of 18 students. She has since added certificates II and III.

Ms Ellis said her classes were originally only for Indigenous people, but she was happy to open the doors to anyone in 2023.

"The more people who speak our language, the less chance we've got of losing it a second time," she said.

"You can't really teach culture without language. They go hand in hand."

Invited into culture

Despite growing up in Moruya, Molly Carter didn't know the name of the local native language and always thought Indigenous culture was not something she could participate in.

"I didn't have any confidence to learn it or approach it without being disrespectful," she said.

"It wasn't even in my head that [Dhurga] was a thing to learn."

The 23-year-old preschool teacher hopes to pass the Dhurga she is now learning on to her students.

"It's important children are taught the language and it's carried on for future generations," she said.

"It's not just language — it's the cultural side of it."

Breaking the ice

Matthew Thomas grew up not knowing much about the history and culture of his homeland.

He learnt French and German at school but jumped at the opportunity to learn Dhurga because he saw it as a push back on tokenism.

"If I want to be genuine about being involved with everyone, then learning a bit of their language is a good part of that," he said.

"It's the best way of showing people that you've got a genuine interest in what they have to say.

"It helps bridge that gap and break the ice."

The language of empathy

Wendy Hardman wanted to do something about the injustice she saw towards Aboriginal people in society and the effect it had on her Indigenous friends.

"Learning Dhurga felt like a way of expressing that anger and frustration," she said.

"I'm a migrant, I'm going to learn the language of the country that I've migrated to, I want to assimilate."

Connecting with ancestors

Education Support Officer and Yuin woman Gayle Nolan was nervous at first to share language with non-Indigenous people.

"We haven't had language for so long – through so many generations. You don't want it taken out of the hands of Aboriginal people again," she said.

Ms Nolan said the gracious response shown while sharing language was a way to share culture.

"You're learning the dialect of what ancestors used to speak before they weren't allowed to speak," she said.

"I have a sense of pride to be able to speak the language that has not been heard for a long time.

"It's not just about language. It's about culture."

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