Looking for a few new activities to use with your multilingual learners of English? Try the following adaptable, engaging classroom activities, which are both for learners at the beginning+ proficiency level and provide a fun, competitive environment.

• "Language Tic Tac Toe" is a group activity focusing on speaking and grammar, and
• "Relay Races" is a team game covering integrated skills.

These activities come from ELT Basics, by Jan Edwards Dormer, which includes more than 30 activities and three sample lesson outlines, as well as a companion website with links to useful videos, examples of classroom supports, downloadable worksheets, and further resources.

About ELT Basics

ELT Basics is a book for those seeking a straightforward, practical, and foundational understanding of English language teaching. The book covers a broad range of important topics, such as what it means to “know” a language, how people learn new languages, and what teachers can do to teach English effectively.

Whether you’re looking for a basic understanding of English language teaching (ELT) or considering a career in language teaching but want to know more first, this book will teach you about language acquisition as well as how to plan, instruct, and assess multilingual learners of English. 

The Activities

Language Tic Tac Toe: In this group activity, students must create sentences to place an X or an O on a tic-tac-toe grid.

Relay Races: In this game, competing teams form relay lines. They run to the front and must match several words on cards with real items or pictures, saying the words as they match them.

Purchase ELT Basics from TESOL Press.

These activities are for educational use only. Not for reproduction.

©TESOL International Association (2023).