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.

End of Year Special: What's The Best Way To Become A Better Teacher (With Thomas Guskey)
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.

8th Anniversary: Changes to Teacher Training
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.

PPP vs Task Cycles (with Jane Willis)
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.

The Downsides to Speaking (with Professor Stephen Krashen)
Ross Thorburn
Remembering More, Forgetting Less (with Lesley ...

In this episode, I  had the privilege of speaking with Professor Lesley Painter Farrell about how we can help students retain more language lessons for the long haul. During the podcast, Lesley outlines the difference between short-term learning and long-term memory. We discuss evidence-based techniques teachers can implement to optimize retention. Lesley also shares some simple but effective techniques such as recycling content across lessons, building in reflection time, avoiding cognitive overload, and using retrieval practices. Listen now to uncover how we can help our students remember more.

Remembering More, Forgetting Less (with Lesley Painter-Farrell)
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How to Plan Lesson Aims and Why (With Dave Weller)

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How to Plan Lesson Aims and Why (With Dave Weller)

Why both writing a lesson aim? Are they not printed in the coursebook? Ross and regular guest Dave Weller discuss why it’s a good idea to write a lesson aim, what a good lesson aim looks like, and what are the drawbacks to lesson aims…

Xmas Special: What Kind of English Should Be in Our Coursebooks? (with Jack Richards)

Xmas Special: What Kind of English Should Be in Our Coursebooks? (with Jack Richards)

Since it’s Christmas, we bring you a double length episode with Professor Jack Richards. We discuss a range of issues related to English and coursebooks: how has curriculum design changed? What influence has the CEFR had on coursebooks? How does English as a Lingua Franca affect what we should teach? What effect does all the English available outside the classroom on the internet have on students and teachers inside the classroom?

Podcast: Are Robots Taking Over Language Assessment? (with Dan Elsworth)

Podcast: Are Robots Taking Over Language Assessment? (with Dan Elsworth)

How is technology influencing language testing and assessment? Should AI replace language test examiners? How can we use bots in dialogues? How can technology make testing more affordable to students around the world? The answers to all these questions and more in this week's podcast...

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

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.

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Observations & Feedback – They Don’t Need to be One Size Fits All

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Observations & Feedback – They Don’t Need to be One Size Fits All

As teachers, we try to personalize our classes for our students. But as supervisors, trainers and mentors, how much do we personalize our feedback to teachers?

Interactions in Online Classes (with Michael Epstein)

Interactions in Online Classes (with Michael Epstein)

Michael Epstein from online classroom space provider ClassIn joins me to talk about interactions in online classes. We talk about the potential of getting learners working alone in breakout rooms, preparing learners to work in groups online and making the best use of online tools like chat boxes during whole class interactions.

Going From Teacher To Buisness Owner (with Ed Dudley, Jake Whiddon & Peter Liu)

Going From Teacher To Buisness Owner (with Ed Dudley, Jake Whiddon & Peter Liu)

Have you ever thought about starting your own school, start-up or just going freelance? As the educational landscape changes due to Covid, branching out on your own is becoming a necessity for many teachers. This week I speak with three people who have gone from being teachers to becoming their own bosses. Peter Liu tells us how he got the inspiration for his online education company, Jake Whiddon tells us why he founded his own school after fifteen years of working for other people and Ed Dudley tells us what kind of people should avoid going freelance.

Green Issues In ELT (with Ceri Jones)

Green Issues In ELT (with Ceri Jones)

Ceri Jones from ELT Footprint joins me to talk about green issues in language teaching. What does the environment have to do with teaching English? Is climate change too much of a hot topic for the language classroom? What can teachers do to weave the environment into their lessons?

Please Mind The ___________ Gap (with Matt Courtois)

Please Mind The ___________ Gap (with Matt Courtois)

We speak with one of our favorite guests, __________ about _____________. An antidote to free talk activities, _____________ are a great way to get students to _______, listen to each other and ___________. ___________ activities can even be used in teacher training. Listen to fill in the _______.

The Apprenticeship of Observation (with Donald Freeman)

The Apprenticeship of Observation (with Donald Freeman)

Donald Freeman, professor at the University of Michigan, joins me to talk about the how teachers become teachers. Do teachers teach as they were taught? What role does our experience as students play in forming our attitudes about teaching? And how does our experience as language learners and users influence our behavior in the classroom?

Podcast: How To Advance Your Career In TEFL (with Jessica Keller, Jason Anderson & Felicity Pyatt)

Podcast: How To Advance Your Career In TEFL (with Jessica Keller, Jason Anderson & Felicity Pyatt)

We interview three former teachers who are all still part of the TEFL industry but have experienced very different careers. Jessica Keller tells us about becoming a recruitment expert, Jason Anderson about becoming an author and Felicity Pyatt about becoming a teacher trainer.

Meaningful Communication in Online Classes (With Jake Whiddon)

Meaningful Communication in Online Classes (With Jake Whiddon)

Jake Whiddon guest hosts the podcast and interviews Ross about interactions in online classes with young learners. We discuss the interactions that commonly occur in online lessons, what stops experienced teachers from being more creating in online teaching and how teachers can spark better and more meaningful interactions in their online classes.