Encourage your students to work out the meanings of words themselves when reading rather than immediately reaching for the dictionary. This will improve comprehension, speed up reading and develop vocabulary. For example, the word “dog-tired” in the sentence, “John was dog-tired after his long walk” may not be immediately understandable to students but by looking at the words surrounding it and the overall meaning of the sentence they should be able to work out that “dog-tired” means “very tired” or “exhausted.”
Most native speakers naturally skim texts to gain a general understanding of them and scan texts to search for specific information. ESL students, however, need to develop these skills. Practice skimming in class by giving the text face-down on the table and asking students a very general question such as “What's the main idea of this reading?” Have students turn over their paper, setting a time limit of approximately 30 seconds for a 200-word text. Students read just the title of the text, the introduction, topic sentences and the conclusion. After 30 seconds ask students to turn their text face-down again and answer the question. Develop scanning strategies in the same way, but instead of asking a general question, ask students to look for a very specific piece of information, for example, the main character's name or a specific number in the text.
Brainstorming helps students form and develop ideas about a writing topic and decide on what approach they will take to the task. Ask students to take five minutes or more before beginning any writing tasks to write down, very quickly, any ideas that come to mind. They then eliminate ideas they think unsuitable and develop those that they deem appropriate for the writing task. Practice brainstorming in class by having students call out ideas which you then write on the board or by arranging students into small groups or pairs with one student writing down the ideas generated.
Encourage students, with guidance, to actively analyze and correct their own mistakes. This develops their writing skills more effectively than simply handing them back a text you have corrected. Develop a numerical marking system to direct students to their errors, but do not correct them yourself. The number “1,” for example, above an underlined word could mean a spelling mistake and the number “2” above a sentence could indicate a tense error somewhere in the sentence. Students then have a general idea of what their mistakes are and can work by themselves to improve the word or sentence.