When learning a new language like English, developing writing skills is essential. Many beginner ESL students find it difficult to write essays, especially if they have to come up with the essay topic themselves.
Providing ESL students with writing topics and writing prompts can help students to focus and start writing. As a teacher, it can be quite challenging to come up with many ESL writing topics, so we have put together this list of ESL writing topics and writing prompts to help you out.
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Here is a list of ESL writing topics and writing prompts your students can write about.
Writing in a foreign language is hard, especially for beginner ESL students. Students will likely make many mistakes in the beginning.
Although it is necessary to highlight and correct students’ errors, it can be quite demotivating for a student to only hear all the things they got wrong.
To ensure students stay motivated, be sure to praise them and tell them all the things they did well, as well as point out any grammatical mistakes.
After correcting errors, give students an opportunity to re-write their essays and correct their mistakes. Once students have completed their final draft, be sure to let them know what you liked about their essay, and you can even share this praise with other students, teachers, and even the student’s parents.
To master writing in English, students will need to write a lot of essays over time, and if students stay motivated, they are much more likely to succeed.
Another great way to keep students motivated while writing ESL essays is to encourage them to write about things that interest them.
A great way to encourage this is to ask about things students are interested in and then tailor the writing topic to them.
Students are much more likely to actively engage in a writing assignment if it is something they are interested in and passionate about.
ESL students often find it difficult to write long answers to essay questions. Ask an ESL student to write about their favorite restaurant, and they’ll likely give you a one-sentence answer.
To help students write longer essays, be sure to give them enough writing prompts to cover the different aspects they should cover in their writing.
For example, if students are to write about their favorite restaurant then you could give them several writing prompts such as ‘where is the restaurant’, ‘what kind of food do they serve’, ‘how much is a typical meal’, ‘what do you usually order’, etc.
Giving beginner ESL students plenty of writing prompts will help them to flesh out their essays and write longer answers.
To help ESL students become better at writing in English, teach them a particular structure you would like them to follow when writing their essays.
A typical writing structure with beginner ESL students would include an introduction, the main body of the text, and then a conclusion.
Providing students with an easy-to-follow structure will help them to plan out their essays and develop their writing skills over time.
Thanks for reading. I hope you found some useful ESL writing topics and writing prompts you can use in your next writing class.
Before you go, don’t forget to check out our FREE resources for teaching English, including Activity Videos, Board Games, Flashcards, PowerPoint Games, and Lesson Plans.
