The Best TEFL Resources for Teaching English to Refugees

Written by Ian O'Sullivan Published 16 September 2021 ~5 min read

The Best TEFL Resources for Teaching English to Refugees

We’ve gotten so many calls lately looking for advice for teaching refugees and migrants. The usual questions are what do I need to teach English followed by what are the best TEFL resource for teaching English to refugees? We want to share our knowledge with you to help you change someone’s life, today. When considering your lesson plans for teaching English to refugees, make sure you take into consideration the struggles and paths your students have taken thus far. This will have an impact on the structure of the lesson. One of your top priorities should be to create a positive and safe learning environment where students feel comfortable attempting to speak another language. This kind of environment will also create a safe space where they can laugh and enjoy themselves. Laughter lowers stress, creates a positive atmosphere, and creates connections between people; something that might have been missing for a while. If you’re not TEFL certified yet, get in touch with us so we can match your goals with the best TEFL course for you. Or try our handy course picker tool. Answer three questions in less than 30 seconds and get your results instantly.

The Best TEFL Resources for Teaching English to Refugees

Some of your learners may not have been in the classroom or this kind of learning atmosphere for a very long time. The best way to help them gain more language skills and build concentration skills is through practice and a variation of activities. We’ve compiled a list of the best TEFL resource for teaching English to refugees to help get you started.

ESL Lesson Plan Download with OFF2Class

With OFF2Class you can create a free account or pay for one. The paid accounts give you more access to teaching resources but you can find a lot of resources for free including 150 lessons. You can filter lesson resources by categories including reading activities, speaking activities, verb tenses, and more.

Perfect for English Beginners - English My Way

Most likely your students will be total beginners which English My Way is perfect for. There are hours and hours of free TEFL resources for teaching English to refugees. It’s a “resource for tutors who support and teach adults with no or low levels of English - providing free teaching resources and tools to manage classes.” Lesson plans here are aimed at teaching adults but lesson plans can always be tweaked to suit the learner. In just a few clicks, find topics about daily life, technology, employability and jobs, healthcare, and more.

Twinkl - A Global Learning Resource

One of the greatest things about Twinkl is the number of countries it provides EFL lesson plans for. Choose the destination country (the United Kingdom, United States of America, Ireland, Canada, etc) and get tailored content. Memberships are not free with Twinkl but cost as low as $8/ £6 pounds. Even with the lower-tiered membership plan, you get access to a vast range of teaching materials including “Supportive materials for children with individualized needs” and “Originals - Access to original digital storybooks and teaching materials.”

Printable Lesson Plans with One Stop English

Teaching a diverse range of learners can be challenging but it can be made easier with One Stop English. They have TEFL resources for children, teenagers, and adults. This is definitely one of my favorite resources because it includes printable lesson plans and flashcards for all ages. You can find lesson plans for topics including sports, hobbies, phonics, and grammar in the theme of a comic book superhero!

Ready-made lesson plans with Premier TEFL

If you’re looking for a pack of lesson plans to follow, you can get TEFL resources for teaching English to refugees at Premier TEFL. We have a whole page dedicated to it. Although your learners will be of all ages they may be learning English from a little to no knowledge level. You could pick up a 10 pack of lesson plans for young learners and tweak the lesson plans to suit your students. If you have ideas for what you want to teach and need help structuring, you can even find a blueprint to TEFL lesson planning guide. The best thing is once you purchase, it’s yours forever.

Learning English - Multimedia TEFL Resources for Teaching English to Refugees

If you’re looking for a complete curriculum with videos and audio for free, Learning English can help. You can also find lesson plans and worksheets. At the English beginner’s level, there is a great resource called “News Words”. This shows how certain words are used in news stories and the current media. It seems all of their resources are free and tailor for a range of interests too including cinema and history.

Ideas and Resources for Busy Teachers at ELT-Training.com

et access to a plethora of TEFL Resources for teaching English to refugees. You can register for free at ELT-Training.com and enroll in a course to familiarize yourself with the teaching of specific topics. Courses include communication activities and teacher training resources. Once you complete your free registration, you’ll gain access to these great courses and resources.

Teacher Made Resources for Teachers at ISLCollective

The community of language teachers at ISLCollective (Internet Second Language Collective) share their homemade worksheets. The community is made up of international teachers from around the globe and the lesson resources are free to download. Lessons include reading art and graffiti, reading comprehensions, emoji worksheets, and games.

Play Your Way to Success at Games to Learn English

Speaking of games what better way to learn English than playing a game? Games allow students to divert their focus from learning grammar and rules to winning at fun activities. All the game resources on Games to Learn English were designed by an ESL teacher with 10 years of teaching experience. If you’re teaching online, these games would be a great asset. You can share your screen and click the answer the learners suggest. You can find a downloadable document of the vocab used so you can create your own in-person version of the game. Whether you will use one resource or a combination of TEFL Resources for teaching English to refugees, you will be more confident in your abilities as a TEFL teacher. A lot of these lessons range from introductory to advanced. We recommended taking it slow and start with the absolute basics to make your students feel safe and comfortable. Try teaching the alphabet and basic phrases and terms for everyday life to help them settle in. Remember the importance of routine. For students that have recently gone through a lot of change, a routine is special. Coming to English class and knowing what to expect can be calming and provide stability. It may take some time before your students trust you and feel comfortable practicing the language. But trust us, when they do, it’s the most rewarding thing ever.

Written by

Ian O'Sullivan

Co-Founder

Ian's educational travel career spans almost 25 years. In his opinion, travel is one of the most valuable educations you'll ever get. This adventure loving, dog-owning fitness enthusiast has a passion for living life to the fullest.