Teaching ESL Writing Through Sentence Combining Activities

🎯 Introduction

Many ESL learners write choppy sentences or repeat simple structures. Sentence combining helps students expand ideas and write more naturally. This post explains how TEFL teachers can use sentence combining to strengthen writing skills without overwhelming learners.

📄 Why It Matters / Why It Works

Sentence combining trains students to notice relationships between ideas. Instead of adding more sentences, learners practice merging ideas using connectors, clauses, and modifiers. This builds grammatical flexibility, improves flow, and helps students move beyond basic sentence patterns. It also supports grammar instruction in a practical, meaningful way.

📚 Practical Teaching Strategies / Steps / Activities

1. Two-Sentence Merge Practice

Give students two simple sentences:

• “She was tired.”

• “She finished her homework.”Students combine them using conjunctions or clauses.This encourages experimentation with structure.

  
  

2. Connector-Focused Combining

Assign a target connector such as because, although, while, or so.Students must combine sentences using only that connector.This reinforces accurate usage.

3. Sentence Expansion Chains

Start with a base sentence:“The student answered.”Students add one detail at a time:

• how

• when

• whyThis builds complexity gradually.

  
  

4. Peer Comparison and Discussion

Students compare their combined sentences in pairs and explain their choices.This promotes grammatical awareness and shared learning.

5. Rewrite-from-Text Activity

Students take short sentences from a reading and combine them into fewer, stronger sentences.This connects reading and writing skills naturally.

💡 Pro Tip

Accept multiple correct answers. Sentence combining is about flexibility, not one perfect solution.

📌 Final Thought

Sentence combining strengthens writing clarity and sophistication. GoTEFL trains teachers to develop writing fluency step by step, while TEIK places educators in classrooms where strong sentence skills lead to confident writing.