ESL Speaking and Listening Made Easier: Strategies and Resources for Teachers

In ESL classrooms, it’s easy to focus on reading and writing—but speaking and listening are just as essential, if not more so. These skills are the foundation for real-world communication and language fluency.

Why ESL Speaking and Listening Matter

Building in consistent opportunities for ESL students to speak and listen in English can:

• • Increase overall fluency

  • Expand and reinforce vocabulary

  • Improve pronunciation

  • Build confidence in real-time conversations

But how does ESL speaking and listening look in a high school classroom?

Let’s start with this:

An ESL classroom should never be a quiet classroom.

When students aren’t actively encouraged to speak English, they’ll naturally fall back on using their native languages. While we should never discourage students from using their first language, it’s our job to create structured opportunities to speak and hear English during every lesson.

A Common Problem: Calling on Individual Students

Many teachers ask questions aloud and call on individual students to respond—but for English learners, this can create anxiety. Some students:

• Didn’t fully understand the question

• Are unsure how to answer in English

• Feel too nervous to speak publicly

Instead, try this ESL-friendly speaking routine:

ESL Speaking Strategy: Scaffolded Group Talk

1. Project the question clearly on the board.
2. Read the question slowly and clearly—facing the class.
3. Rephrase the question using simpler English or sentence stems.
4. Allow students to discuss the question in small groups.
5. Let them know they’ll need to answer in English.
6. After a few minutes, randomly call on a group to share.

What About Listening Skills?

Listening practice should include both live modeling (where students see your mouth and facial expressions) and recorded audio. Dictation activities—where students write what they hear—are powerful tools for:

• Improving auditory decoding

• Reinforcing grammar and sentence structure

• Strengthening spelling and attention to detail

Dictations don’t need to be boring. Try integrating them with:

• Cloze listening activities

• Audio story segments

• Songs or podcasts

• AI-generated audio from tools like ElevenLabs (for classroom use)

ESL Speaking and Listening Resources