April 7, 2025

teaching and learning

Ross Thorburn

How Languages Are (And Aren't) Learned (With ...

Second language acquisition researcher, Patsy Lightbown, joins us to discuss how languages are learned, and also, how they aren’t. We hear about problems of training teachers, how learners overcome challenges and aspects of language teaching which still lag years behind research.

December 23, 2024

Ross Thorburn

End of Year Special: What's The Best Way To ...

If you regularly listen to this podcast, the chances are you listen because you want to be a better teacher. But what is the best way to become a better teacher? Is it attending training? Is it being observed by your boss? Is it watching your peers teach? In a special end of year double length episode, Professor Thomas Guskey, author of Evaluating Professional Development talks to us about the best way to help teachers learn and the evidence for workshops, peer observations and what the best teachers do that the rest of us don’t.

June 3, 2024

Ross Thorburn

8th Anniversary: Changes to Teacher Training

We speak with friends and experts about teacher training and what needs to change. Our guests are David Nunan, Kathleen Bailey, Thomas Guskey, Steve Walsh, Mark Hancock, Marek Kiczkowiak, and Chris Rolland.

May 6, 2024

Ross Thorburn

PPP vs Task Cycles (with Jane Willis)

Jane Willis joins us to discuss the drawbacks of PPP and the benefits and challenges of using task cycles for language lessons.

April 1, 2024

teaching and learning

Ross Thorburn

The Downsides to Speaking (with Professor ...

Students need to speak to learn a language and the more students talk, the more they learn. Not according to Professor Stephen Krashen. For 40 years he has championed the concept that what students should be doing in class is reading (and listening), not speaking. In this episode, Stephen tells Ross some of the arguments against forcing students to speak, something which might not just be inefficient, but in some cases counterproductive.

native and non-native English teachers

Ross Thorburn

December 7, 2020

The Past, Present and Future of Second Language Acquisition (With Vivian Cook)

Ross Thorburn

December 7, 2020

The Past, Present and Future of Second Language Acquisition (With Vivian Cook)

We talk with Vivian Cook, Professor Emeritus at Newcastle University about second language acquisition; how it has progressed in the twentieth century, how it gets used by language teachers and what the future holds for SLA.

Ross Thorburn

November 30, 2020

Decentering in English Language Teaching (with Amol Padwad)

Ross Thorburn

November 30, 2020

Decentering in English Language Teaching (with Amol Padwad)

Amol Padwad joins us to explain “decentering” in ELT. Amol tells us about the problem with language teaching having a “center” and how this can cause voices and ideas to be suppressed.

Ross Thorburn

April 23, 2018

teaching and learning, teacher development, classroom management, academic management

Highlights from IATEFL 2018 in Brighton (Part 2)

Ross Thorburn

April 23, 2018

teaching and learning, teacher development, classroom management, academic management

Highlights from IATEFL 2018 in Brighton (Part 2)

The second of our two-part special from the 2018 IATEFL conference in Brighton. We chat with our friends, fellow teacher trainers and returning podcast guests David Weller, Simon Galloway, Fifi Pyatt and new guest and DipTESOL candidate Will Ferguson about technology in the classroom, activities for teenagers, creating positive group dynamics in classes, native and non-native English teachers and effective practices in language teaching.

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