The Internet TESL Journal (ITESLJ) Review: Lessons, Articles & Teaching Ideas

The Internet TESL Journal (iteslj.org) launched in 1995 as a free online publication for ESL/EFL teachers. It originally combined a peer-reviewed academic journal with a teacher-friendly archive of classroom materials. Over the years the journal side wound down, and the resources section became the heart of the site.

The site is organized into several main sections:

• Lessons — teacher-contributed lesson plans with handouts, worksheets, and teacher notes. Tagged by level and skill.
• Articles — short papers on language teaching methodology, classroom management, assessment, and CALL (computer-assisted language learning).
• Techniques — practical classroom activities explained step by step. Many are still usable 20+ years later.
• Questions — conversation questions organized by topic (Travel, Internet, Family, Health…). A classic warm-up resource.
• Things for Teachers — collaborative projects teachers can contribute to and use.

The design is dated. Navigation is text-heavy, search is basic, and there is no mobile app. For teachers who want a deep archive of vintage lesson ideas and don't mind clicking around, it remains useful.

The Internet TESL Journal works best for these specific things:

• Conversation warm-ups: the Questions section has hundreds of topic lists (Travel, Internet, Family…) that pair with any speaking lesson.
• Printable handouts: lesson plans come with ready-to-print student handouts. Many follow a classic warmer / lead-in / production structure.
• Methodology reading: the Articles section is a free library of short papers on grammar teaching, error correction, vocabulary techniques, and CALL.
• Substitute teacher plans: pick 2-3 lesson plans by level, leave the URLs in a sub folder. Most plans run 30-60 minutes independently.
• Teacher training reading lists: Articles and Techniques sections are excellent introductions to communicative language teaching for newer teachers.

Yes — but with caveats. The Internet TESL Journal has been online for nearly 30 years and that longevity is its main argument. The lesson plans are not flashy, but they are structured, classroom-tested, and freely available. The Conversation Questions section alone is worth bookmarking.

The honest concern is availability. The site has had outages and intermittent access issues in recent years. Treat it as an archive to mine when it is up, not as a guaranteed live service. Always keep one of the alternatives below loaded as a backup.

Honest recommendation: if you teach adults or teens and appreciate vintage ESL methodology, ITESLJ is genuinely worth a bookmark. Pair it with a modern resource (British Council for free polish, ESL Brains for lesson plans built around authentic content, or Teach-This for printable worksheets) and you have a solid free stack.