What are the must-have books for ESL teachers?
👩🏽🏫Being a new ESL teacher can sometimes feel overwhelming. Every teacher can remember that first time walking into a classroom to teach their first class, to be greeted by a room full of expectant eyes. The feeling of being a complete fraud and not knowing what you’re doing has been felt by all of us at some point. What do you do? Of course, the internet can be a welcome source of free resources, including teflmethods.com! Sometimes, however, investing in a good book or two can be reassuring and help you polish your new craft. Here is a list of must-have books for ESL teachers. I own all of these and have used them extensively over the years, as evidenced by my dog-eared copies! Click on each title for the review.
1. Practical English Usage (2012), Swan
The classic reference book on grammar points for English learners and ESL teachers.
2. ESL Classroom Activities for Teens and Adults: ESL games, fluency activities, and grammar drills for EFL and ESL students (2012), Vernon
A popular activity book for teachers to get those awkward teen and adult classes speaking.
3. English Grammar in Use (2016), Raymond Murphy
Another classic. This self-study acts as both a grammar reference and an exercise book for students at the beginner and intermediate levels.
4. The Emergency English Teacher (2016), David M. Scraggs
This book is designed for teachers in the trenches. A go-to book packed with fun and educational classroom games and exercises,
5. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics (2013), Routledge, Jack C.Richards, Richard Schmidt
A linguistic dictionary, which is an essential tool for serious teachers and language geeks who want to polish their trade or get into the weeds about the mechanics of languages. Containing over 3000 terms, it’s the dictionary you need.
6. The Emergency English Teacher: Basic English Nouns (2025) Word Searches, and Spelling Tasks
This book is a great little resource for beginners to learn 320 basic English nouns in context, using a fun and challenging method.