Programme Notes
The Motivated Classroom Podcast
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Programme notes
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The hint is the name… this first episode is all about ‘motivation’ and how to build it in our classrooms.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Meta-analysis of Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) by Ali. Al-Hoorie
- Dr. Sam Carr at The University of Bath
- Self-determination theory (SDT) website with links to loads of related publications and research
- Overview of SDT by verywellmind.com
- Ryan, Rigby & Przybylski (2006) – The motivational pull of video-games
- Printer (2019) – My research on Teaching Proficiency through Reading & Storytelling (TPRS) and motivation
- Davis (2019) – Continued university foreign language study growth with SDT
- Ryan and Deci (2020) – Recent update paper on last 20 years of SDT research with definitions, theory, practices and future directions
- Fáilte = Welcome
- Sláinte = Health or cheers when raising a glass
- Slán abhaile = Safe (journey) home
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Episode three is all about autonomy, an essential psychological need we must satisfy to build intrinsic motivation. In this episode I discuss some zero-prep activities designed to boost autonomy for both students and teachers
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Ryan and Deci (2020) – Recent update paper on last 20 years of SDT research with definitions, theory, practices and future directions
- Blog-article: An introduction to teaching with comprehensible input
- Blog: Building relationships through co-creation of the classroom constitution
- Book: Creating cultures of thinking by Ron Ritchard
- Article: ‘Autonomy-supportive teaching: What is it and how do I do it?’
- Fáilte = Welcome
- Go raibh maith agat = Thank you
- Mo chairde = My friends
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Episode three is all about autonomy, an essential psychological need we must satisfy to build intrinsic motivation. In this episode I discuss some zero-prep activities designed to boost autonomy for both students and teachers
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Grant Boulanger – Check him out on Twitter
- Señor Wooly Spanish videos and songs
- What is Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS)
- Article – Vansteenkiste 2020: Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions
- Fáilte = Welcome
- Go raibh mile maith agat = Thank you (a thousand times)
- Mo chairde = My friends
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The ‘one-word image’ activity is an absolute must-listen for all MFL and world languages teachers! It allows you to teach languages in an engaging, student-centred way by creating an invisible character with your students, which will result in active listening, huge all-class engagement and high motivation. The strategy was originally developed by Ben Slavic and is now a mainstay in many language classrooms.
Rather than teaching long lists of vocabulary for describing people through worksheets or a textbook, the ‘invisible character’ approach uses students’ own creativity and autonomy to develop the character traits and feelings. This activity enables students to acquire language naturally through intent listening and high interest. It will:
✔️ Build relationships
✔️ Foster belonging
✔️ Lead to excited engagement
✔️ Nurture students’ creativity & autonomy
✔️ Embed vocabulary in long-term memory
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Ben Slavic, creator of the One-Word Image
- Article relating to explicit teaching of grammar:
- Vyn, Wesely and Neubauer (2019) “Exploring the effects of foreign language instructional practices on student proficiency development”
- Article: Parrish and Lanvers (2018) “Student motivation, school policy choices and modern language study in England”
- Sarah Breckley, Spanish teacher from whom I learned a lot about ‘one-word image’ on this blog
- Margarita Perez Garcia, who first introduced me to ‘one-word image’ and ‘the invisibles’
- Fáilte = Welcome
- Go raibh mile maith agat = Thank you (a thousand times)
- Mo chairde = My friends
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Relatedness is the second key component of motivation that we have looked at in The Motivated Classroom podcast. Listen back to Episode 1 to learn about the three basic psychological needs we all have and want to be satisfied in order to be intrinsically motivated. In Episode 3 we discussed ‘autonomy’ and its critical role in boosting motivation. This Episode goes into detail about the psychological need of ‘relatedness’.
- What is relatedness?
- How is it different to relationships?
- How do I build relatedness in my languages classroom?
The episode introduces some of the main educational research on building relationships and how we can apply this in our classrooms. This episode is a must-listen for language teachers as it gives lots of zero-prep activities and tips you can implement right away in your classes to connect with your students. I explain some of the following activities I use in my classes to foster relatedness and relationships right from the first class:
✔️ The class password
✔️ Personal questions and answers (PQA)
✔️ Story sharing
✔️ Special person interviews
✔️ Using pets and photos of you
✔️ Student jobs
✔️ Intent listening
✔️ Use of ‘high 4s’ or ‘high 3s’
✔️ Allow the lesson plan to go
✔️ How to be fair but strict
✔️ Using class constitution for classroom management
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Adriana Ramirez, author and expert at relationship building
- Martina Bex, creator of The Comprehensible Classroom website – “The Despicable Man” story script
- Article: Roseth et al.’s (2008) meta-analysis reports that when students have an enhanced perception of relatedness, they are more likely to participate, exert more effort and show positive attitudes to others.
- Article: Dincer et al.’s (2019) meta-analysis on how to use autonomy-supportive teaching to boost relatedness and relationships.
- Article: Fried and Konza (2013) which shows that students’ sense of belonging at school is fostered through ‘cooperative learning’ strategies, especially when a group is working towards a common goal
- Book: Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – highly recommended especially for Spanish teachers
- Dia dhuit = Hello (literally means May God be with you)
- Dia is muire duit = Response to ‘dia duit’ (literally means May God and Mary be with you
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This episode is all about engagement, active learning and retrieval practice. ‘Retrieval practice’ is a study technique where mental effort is used to recall information. It focusses on bringing information to mind which enhances and boosts learning. Deliberately recalling information forces us to pull our knowledge “out” and examine what we know.
Engagement and active learning strategies align closely in the research. When students are up out of their seats they are often more engaged in that moment. That is not to say they should be up doing games all lesson but now and again, getting students out of their seats can be hugely beneficial. Especially when coupled with ‘retrieval practice’ activities.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Johnmarshall Reeve is an eminent researcher in engagement and for him, high-quality student engagement is ultimately the variable that will positively affect their academic lives. He lays out four clear types of engagement:
- Cognitive engagement: When our brains are focussed on what is happening.
- Emotional engagement: When our feelings and emotions make a connection to the learning.
- Behavioural engagement: When we behave or act a certain way as we are following what is going on.
- Agentic engagement: When you take initiative and agency to actively involve yourself in that learning moment. When there is a level of unpredictability. High interest to their personal lives.
- Research article – Oga-Baldwin and Nakata (2017): “Motivating young language learners: A longitudinal model of motivational development in elementary school foreign language classes”.
- The authors conclude that students who actively engage in FL learning also appear more motivated at the end of term
- The use of mini-whiteboards for retrieval practice using active learning strategies (or some might call them ‘games’) like:
- Bingo
- Pointless
- Give one get one
- Elimination game
- Draw from last lesson or story
- Silent reading with instructions
- Free voluntary reading
- Circle clicks
- Create something great
- Pass the alarm
- Pop with a song
- Thank you to Claire (@_leolanguages on instagram for great ideas) for the ‘pointless’ strategy on her website Leo Languages.
- And to the amazing Beth Skelton for many of the other activities
- Conas atá tú? = How are you?
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In this episode the focus is on ‘competence’, one of the three basic needs of Self-Determination Theory that we need satisfied in order to feel intrinsically motivated. Competence relates not to a student’s individual ability but to their perception about their capability and capacity to achieve success in the classroom. Central to the notion of competence, is that students will only engage in and personally value classroom activities they can fully understand and potentially master.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Article: Muñoz and Ramirez (2015): “Teachers’ conceptions of motivation and motivating practices in second-language learning: A self-determination theory perspective”.
- Article: Niemiec and Ryan (2009): “Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom: Applying self-determination theory to educational practice”
- Article: Fried and Konza (2013): “Using Self-Determination Theory to Investigate Student Engagement in the Classroom”
- Book: ‘Evidence based teaching’ by Geoff Petty
- Stephen Krashen’s website and a blog article on his ‘affective filter’
- Paul Taylor: Bilingual French-British comedian
- Hywel Roberts and putting the narrative into the curriculum
Strategies to build competence in the classroom that are discussed in the podcast:
- Providing autonomy to students where you can accept their ideas into the lesson.
- Concentrate on 100% understanding and comprehension; When students cannot understand they zone out and their competence is dampened.
- In language acquisition classes: Slow down, don’t try to teach too much in one lesson. Forget long vocabulary lists and concentrate on what you need to communicate that particular scene, story or narrative.
- Managing risk versus reward in activities to ensure competence is maintained.
- Using narrative in the classroom to maintain engagement which builds competence as students can follow the story.
- Teaching ‘to the eyes’
- Catch them doing something good: Emphasise the positives with students
- Complimenting a student’s pronunciation
- Giving feedback that is meaningful: Don’t correct everything
- Using ‘medals and missions’ feedback to boost competence
- Read and translate with parents
- Go maith = Good
- This is the response to ‘Conas atá tú?’ meaning how are you?
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In this first interview episode I am joined by the inspiring and incredible @polyglotteacher Soukeina Tharoo. Soukeina is an English as an Additional Language (EAL) and French teacher as well as being the Home Language Coordinator at The International School of Lausanne in Switzerland. She is also a workshop leader & school visitor for the International Baccalaureate and a team evaluation member and Chair for the Council of International Schools. Soukeina was born in France but is originally from Madagascar, of Indian ancestry and was brought up in the UK. She speaks 11 languages (yes eleven) and is a fountain of wisdom when it comes to multilingualism, translanguaging and how we can leverage the home language in all classrooms to raise students’ competence, relatedness and esteem.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Eowyn Crisfield – Expert on translanguaging and multilingualism, full website here.
- Crisfield and Chalmers 2019 research paper “Drawing on linguistic and cultural capital to create positive learning cultures for EAL learners”
- Article: Crisfield Burr, E. (2018). Challenging the monolingual habitus of international school classrooms. International School Journal.
- Book: Cummins, Jim. (2001). Negotiating identities: Education for Empowerment in a Diverse Society.
- Thomas, W., & Collier, V. P. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement final report: Project 1.1. Berkeley, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence.
- Más é do thoil é = Please
- Pronounced “maw-sh-ay-dhuh-hull-ay”
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The first Question & Answer episode deals with a variety of questions mainly relating to teaching languages and motivation. Thank you to the listeners for these great questions. There were many others I did not have time to get to but will answer them in the next Q & A episode.
- Teaching/learning for young children in a virtual 1:1 setting with a view to maintaining interest and enthusiasm for the language.
- How do kids of different age groups respond to different motivational strategies or triggers?
- How to communicate and get an atmosphere going with masks and desks spaced out?
- How to be motivated as a teacher when the students won’t engage?
- Strategies to ensure students don’t look up lots of random vocabulary in creative tasks that they’ll never use again.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Alice Ayel – French teacher who uses the ‘story listening’ approach to teach French with stories on youtube. Great resource to learn how to engage young learners in the virtual setting.
- Diane Neubauer – Mandarin teacher with lots of great resources online. Uses a comprehensible input and storytelling approach very successfully.
- Article: Oga-Baldwin and Nakata (2017) “Motivating young language learners: A longitudinal model of motivational development in elementary school foreign language classes”
- An-mhaith = Very good
- Pronounced “on-ah wha”
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This episode looks in detail at Stephen Krashen’s Comprehensible Input (CI) hypothesis; where it comes from, the research behind it and why teaching with is so motivating for both students and teacher. This episode also aims to debunk and respond to some of the criticisms that have been leveled at Krashen’s CI model, highlighting that his most fierce critics were writing in the 1980’s just a few years after he published his ground-breaking “Principles and practice in second language acquisition” in 1982 and well before his CI theory had any time to be properly researched. Now, nearly 40 years later, vast amounts of robust research have empirically tested Krashen’s CI theory and found it be accurate, understandable and most importantly, easy for teacher’s to put into practice. Finally, the episode discusses what CI teaching actually looks like in the languages classroom and why CI activities are so motivating for students as well as their teacher.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Official website and Twitter account of Stephen Krashen with links to all his research papers.
- Article: Krashen (2013) “The Case for Non-Targeted, Comprehensible Input”
- Thesis: Richard Baker (2017) “Teachers’ experiences with the teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling (TPRS) method of language instruction: a qualitative study using a quasi-phenomenological approach”
- Critical reviews of Krashen’s input hypothesis:
- Gregg (1984) “Krashen’s Monitor and Occam’s Razor”
- Scarcella and Perkins (1987) “Shifting Gears : Krashen’s Input Hypothesis”
- Liu (2015) “A Critical Review of Krashen’s Input Hypothesis : Three Major Arguments”
- Moreen and Soneni (2015) “The Acquisition – Learning Distinction: A Critique of Krashen’s Monitor Model”
- Article: Dörnyei (1991) “Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and Swain’s Output Hypothesis in Practice: Designing “i+1″ Teaching Techniques”
- Book: Lighbown and Spada (2013) “How languages are learned”
- Go h-iontach = Excellent, great, brilliant.
- Pronounced “guh heen tuch”
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This episode is all about putting Comprehensible Input (CI) into practice in the classroom. Three practical, minimal prep, CI activities are presented that you can try out right away. These are activities that will really help your learners to feel a sense of belonging in the class, whilst also boosting their competence as they can follow along and understand all of your input. I really encourage you to give them a try!
- Calendar Chat: Essentially using the date and day to provide lots of interesting input; what happened in history on this day, asking who has birthdays or important links to the numbers of the day etc.
- Picture talk: Using images to provide the class with lots of compelling input, works even better as a set of images that tells a basic or funny story. Humans love narrative and want to listen to understand and see what is happening.
- Movietalk: Using short clips with no words to give the class lots of understandable inputs at their level
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dahiana Castro – Teacher who I learned the ‘Calendar Chat’ from at the Agen CI workshop
- The ‘Agen Workshop’ is a wonderful CPD opportunity with fantastic presenters from all over the world organised by Judith Dubois.
- Well worth attending!
- Research article: Dewaele et al. 2017 – Foreign Language Enjoyment and Anxiety: The effect of teacher and learner variables
- Blog by Martina Bex at ‘Comprehensible Classroom’ on Movietalk
- Wildebeest 1 minute video for Movietalk by Birdbox
- Blog post by ‘La Maestra Loca’, Annabelle Allen, on ‘Picture Talk’
- Blog post by Chris Stolz on Picture Talk
- i ndáiríre = Really!? Are you serious?
- Pronounced “ih nah ree rah”
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Every subject, every syllabus, every curriculum has a story behind it. Its time we re-humanised the classroom and the curriculum. This episode focusses on how we can weave narrative back into our classes to engage our learners and have them come on a learning journey with us. During this episode I give a live example of how I take students into the curriculum using the ‘four Ps’ approach. Behind everything we teach in every subject there are:
- People
- Places
- Problems
- Possibilities
When we focus on this and allow students to become immersed in the story behind our content, we engage and motivate them. We hook them into the learning so they feel part of it throughout the entire unit.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Twitter page of Hywel Roberts
- Book: “Uncharted Territories” by Hywel Roberts and Debra Kidd
- ‘Story Listening’ Youtube channel called ‘Le français naturellement’ by Alice Ayel
- Dr. Beniko Mason and ‘Story Listening’
- Sin é = That’s it!
- Pronounced “shin ay”
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I had the pleasure to chat with the inspirational Joe Dale about three key apps and technology tips to boost motivation and engagement in the languages classroom. Joe is a globally renowned expert in language teaching and learning, with special interest in the use of technology as a means to develop proficiency and grow interest in learning the language.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Zoom hack to join a session using a second device as a document camera / visualiser for your students
- #mfltwitterati and Joe’s MFLTwitterers list
- Whiteboard.fi and Jamboard and 60 MFL specific ideas for using Jamboard
- Gifmaker.me and Bitmoji Chrome extension
- TiLT webinars, database and recordings
- Jane Basnett on Twitter
- TiLT webinar AppSmashing with Google Geo Tools and Flipgrid in the World Language Classroom by Heidi Trude
- Russell Stannard webinar Zoom Online Lessons-Ways to get Students Engaged-Student Centered Ideas
- Audio questions in Quizizz for retrieval practice
- Setting up Duolingo for School: A webinar with David Shanks
- Adam Vickery on Twitter
- Search for #mfltwitterati + keyword
- Señor Wooly Spanish videos and songs
- Jason Fritze – Elementary/Primary Spanish teacher
- Cén fath? = Why?
- Pronounced “Cane faw”
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When we have active, enthusiastic, engaged participation, it has the potential to over-spill and feel chaotic. So how do we encourage this high level of participation in class without it reaching a stage that begins to impact on our classroom management and behaviour expectations? In this episode, using evidence from the research, I offer my three key elements for effective classroom management in the motivated classroom:
- Routines
- Relationships
- Repetitions
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Scott Benedict and his website ‘immediate immersion’ (previously ‘Teach for June’)
- Jon Cowart’s blog on classroom management and his own website
- Bryce Hedstrom’s website
- Thesis – Campbell (2016) Teacher Perceptions of Fostering Student Engagement Through The Use of the TPRS World Language Instructional Method
- Thesis – Dukes (2012) Students’ Perceptions of Total Physical Response and Storytelling as a Stand-Alone Foreign Language Learning Methodology
- Article – Roof and Kreutter (2010) An Interactive Storytelling Puzzle: Building a Positive Environment in a Second Language
- Cad é an fadhb? = What’s the problem?
- Pronounced “Cod ay on faib”
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‘The Star of the Week’ also known as ‘The Special Person Interview’ is a wonderful, zero-prep, activity that provides your students with huge amounts of compelling, comprehensible input as they learn about and make connections to their classmates and to the teacher. A beautifully simple activity that raises autonomy and is all about building bonds and a sense of community in the classroom.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Bryce Hedstrom’s website with Special Person Interview questions
- Sabrina Janczak who first introduced me to the Star of The Week
- Go raibh maith agat = Thank you
- Conas atá tú? = How are you?
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In this episode I explain how I build on those relationships built in the first few years of students’ Spanish learning journey, taking those more advanced and older students to a new level as ‘Government Ministers’ in my (fake) country of Españoland. It provides them with autonomy and ownership over what we learn and the resources we will study together as a group. By empowering them to be members of your ‘Government’ it not only teaches them about democracy and leadership but also allows them to become real experts in their chosen ‘Ministry’ before those final exams. If you teach older teenagers who have more advanced level of language, this episode is for you!
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Article: Roseth et al.’s (2008) meta-analysis “Promoting early adolescents’ achievement and peer relationships: The effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures.”
- Article: Fried and Konza (2013) “Using self-determination theory to investigate student engagement in the classroom”
- Article: Jang et al (2012) “Longitudinal test of self-determination theory’s motivation mediation model in a naturally occurring classroom context”
- Article: Niemiec and Ryan (2009): “Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom: Applying self-determination theory to educational practice”
- Aon scéal? = What’s the story? Any news?
- Pronounced “ayn shkale”
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In this second Q&A episode, some great questions from listeners get us talking about long-term motivation for learners as opposed to just dealing with the ‘here and now’ in our classrooms; how do we balance motivating activities with preparation for high stakes exams and finally some motivating classroom approaches for retrieval practice. Lots of practical classroom tips as well as important information about the current research around motivation and how to build it in our learners.
Thank you to these listeners for their questions:
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Meta-analysis of Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) by Ali. Al-Hoorie
- Mr. Barton Maths Podcast with Peps McCrea on Motivated Teaching
- Book: ‘Motivated Teaching’ by Peps McCrea
- TransformMFL on Twitter
- Ceisteanna = Questions
- Pronounced “keshtanna”
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In this third interview of the series, the inspirational Beth Skelton shares with us her vast experience and expertise relating to teaching languages through compelling, cultural and historical content. Beth outlines how we can use language classroom to engage our learners via experiential learning with students immersed in fascinating cultural and historical content related to the target language. This one is an absolute must listen for all EAL and world languages teachers containing lots of practical, easy to plan, activities that you can try right away!
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Blog post by Beth: “Finding the Focal Point”
- Another of Beth’s blogs: “Learning Content in a New Language”
- Andrea Honigsfeld Growing Language and Literacy: Strategies for English Learners
- Pauline Gibbons Scaffolding Language; Scaffolding Learning
- Article: Lawrence and Paige (2016) “What Our Ancestors Knew: Teaching and Learning Through Storytelling”
- Book: “Language and Culture” by Claire Kramsch
- Book: “An imaginative approach to teaching” by Kieran Egan
- Adh mór = Good luck!
- Pronounced “awe more”
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This episode provides a synopsis and summary of the findings from Doctorate research into the motivational impact of teaching languages through storytelling and reading. The episode begins with an overview of how the research was conducted using Self-Determination Theory and its basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness to measure changes in motivation. It then presents some of the quotes from both the teacher and her students regarding their motivation, need satisfaction and engagement throughout the year of the study. 25 minutes is unfortunately never going to be enough to go into all the findings so there will be more episodes that go into further detail around some of the core conclusions from the year long research study.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Self-determination theory (SDT) website with links to loads of related publications and research
- Printer (2019) – My research article on Teaching Proficiency through Reading & Storytelling (TPRS) and motivation published in The Language Learning Journal
- Ryan and Deci (2020) – Recent update paper on last 20 years of SDT research with definitions, theory, practices and future directions
- Thesis – Campbell (2016) Teacher Perceptions of Fostering Student Engagement Through The Use of the TPRS World Language Instructional Method
- Ciúnas = Quiet!
- Pronounced “Queue-ness”
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As a follow up to Episode 19 of the podcast, which provides an overview of the year long doctoral research into teaching languages through storytelling and its impact on student and teacher motivation, I am delighted to be joined in this episode by Chloé Lapierre who was the French teacher-participant during the longitudinal research study. Chloé described herself as a ‘novice’ teacher of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) or CI (comprehensible input) at the beginning of the enquiry. In this episode she explains her journey in detail and how the TPRS approach completely revolutionised her own motivation and that of her students. This is a fascinating listen, particularly for those languages teachers who are new to teaching with storytelling or for those who have heard about it but have yet to give it a go! Chloé provides excellent advice and provides compelling evidence as to the huge benefits that teaching languages with storytelling can bring to the classroom.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Episode 19 of The Motivated Classroom provides an overview of the year long research study and its findings.
- My research article on Teaching Proficiency through Reading & Storytelling (TPRS) and motivation published in The Language Learning Journal
- Dewaele et al. 2017 – Foreign Language Enjoyment and Anxiety: The effect of teacher and learner variables
- Cad a tharla = What happened?
- Pronounced “Cod a hor-la”
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Now that we understand the research behind storytelling in the languages classroom from episodes 19 & 20 and why it is so motivating for both teacher and students, its time to learn how we actually put TPRS into practice! In this episode I explain how I set up my class for its first TPRS story. I go through the ground rules, the physical make-up of the classroom and the jobs students have to ensure the story goes to plan. This is a must listen episode for any teachers who have heard about the power of TPRS storytelling and are eager to give it a go! It is full of hands-on, practical tips to get you started on y storytelling journey in your classroom that will raise motivation and engagement for both you and the learners.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Grant Boulanger – A wonderful teacher who trained me in TPRS in 2016. His classroom posters are brilliant.
- ‘Fluency through TPR storytelling‘ – An instructional book by Blaine Ray and Contee Seely
- Cad é an scéal? = What’s the story?
- Pronounced “Cod ay on shcale”
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So you listened to Episode 21 and you started your #TPRS story… but now what? This episode provides some detailed, zero-prep, practical, strategies you can implement in your language classes to build on and compliment the story asking process. I present comprehension techniques, homework tasks, formative assessment options. An overview of how the ‘circling’, questioning, strategy is done in a Comprehensible Input classroom is also provided.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Links to story scripts and TPRS presentation resources on my website.
- TPRS storytelling Youtube Channel by Adriana Ramirez
- Anois = Now
- Pronounced “anish”
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The inspirational author and teacher, Adriana Ramirez, joins Liam Printer on The #MotivatedClassroom for this episode where they discuss how we can instill a love and passion for reading in the target language through the use of graded novels. These are novels that are specifically written for learners of the language and use a Comprehensible Input approach to ensure the students read lots of repetitions of the target language so they can acquire new vocabulary and structures naturally. Adriana has already written a variety of novels for Spanish learners and has presented at numerous conferences. Her YouTube channel is hugely popular with teachers where they can see her unique approach to teaching Spanish with lots of reading. This is a must listen episode for all languages teachers, and especially those who want to instill a passion and love for reading among their students. Adriana shares a wide array of minimum prep strategies for boosting reading in the languages classroom.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Follow Adriana Ramirez on twitter
- Check out her fantastic TPRS storytelling Youtube Channel by Adriana Ramirez
- Cécile Lainé’s website ‘Toward Proficiency’ and you can follow Cécile on twitter here.
- Adriana’s recommendations of where to buy the CI or graded novels:
- In Europe: https://www.thecibookshop.com/en/
- Outside Europe: https://cpli.net/
- Research – Book: Egan, K., 2005. An Imaginative Approach to Teaching.
- Research – Book: Fabritius, F. and Hagemann, H.W., 2017. The leading brain: powerful science-based strategies for achieving peak performance.
- Research – Article: Phillips, L., 2013. Storytelling as Pedagogy. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years
- Cad é seo? = What is that?
- Pronounced “Cod ay shuh”
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Building on the interview with Adriana Ramirez in Episode 23 on using novels and reading to motivate our language students, this episode focuses on 11 zero-prep practical strategies for the languages classroom aimed at growing a love and passion for reading among your students:
1. Class novels
2. Free Voluntary Reading (FVR)
3. Embedded readings & extended readings
4. Volleyball reading
5. Read to parents and translate
6. The reading diary
7. Reading with laser and making new sentences
8. Reading and underlining all things you understand & Inventing questions with no answer
9. Highlighting the 1 key phrase and explaining why
10. Readers theater & Emotional reading
11. Boys and girls reading
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Van Staden, 2016: Reading in a second language: Considering the “simple view of reading” as a foundation to support ESL readers in Lesotho, Southern Africa
- Bryce Hedstrom: A great advocate for reading in the second language classroom.
- Check out www.embeddedreading.com by the amazing Laurie Clarq and Michele Whaley for more on this approach and how to use it in your classroom!
- Comprehensible Input Authors I like to use in my classes:
- The photo posted here is my “book wall” for the “reading marathon” as inspired by Margarita Pérez Garcia.
- Where to buy the Comprehensible Input ‘graded’ novels
- In Europe: https://www.thecibookshop.com/en/
- Outside Europe: https://cpli.net/
- Outside Europe: www.tprsbooks.com
- Madra = Dog
- Pronounced “Maw-dra”
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Episode 25 of The #MotivatedClassroom is all about Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) and the most common questions people have about it as a way to help learners acquire language more naturally. I go through some of the questions you have submitted about assessment, units, planning and many others! This is a very practical episode for language teachers who are trying out TPRS and still have lots of questions.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Diane Neubauer – wonderful TPRS teacher and researcher
- Printer (2019) – My research article on Teaching Proficiency through Reading & Storytelling (TPRS) and motivation published in The Language Learning Journal
- Ryan and Deci (2020) – Recent update paper on last 20 years of SDT research with definitions, theory, practices and future directions
- Thesis – Campbell (2016) Teacher Perceptions of Fostering Student Engagement Through The Use of the TPRS World Language Instructional Method
- Suas agus síos = Up and down
- Pronounced “Soo-is aw-guss shee-is”
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In this question and answer episode, we look at the topics of teaching culture, the one important thing to change in our languages classrooms (from my perspective at least!), how to build confidence in our learners and how to adequately challenge our high achievers in each lesson. Thank you to all the lessons who submitted questions!
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Ryan and Deci (2020) – Recent update paper on last 20 years of SDT research with definitions, theory, practices and future directions
- Book: “Language and Culture” by Claire Kramsch
- Mitchell’s (2016) thesis on “The Impact of the Storyline Method on the Foreign Language Classroom: An Action Research Case Study with Military Linguist Cadets”
- Steve Smith – shares lots of great resources and research related to language acquisition.
- An leithreas = The toilet
- Pronounced “On leh-ris”
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We all have to teach the ‘basics’ like numbers, dates, colours and letters in one way or another… or do we? What if the students just naturally acquired all of this basic vocabulary through motivational strategies and activities in the classroom? In this episode I explain how I introduce these items and the various, zero-prep, activities I use to embed these key words in the students’ long term memory without having them sit and rote-learn in lists of vocabulary.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Bryce Hedstrom: Uses the ‘points system’ for classroom management
- www.embeddedreading.com: Created by Laurie Clarq and Michele Whaley and can be used as a way to include more numbers, dates and colours in the more advanced readings with extra detail.
- Margarita Pérez Garcia who first introduced me to ‘the invisible character’
- Dahiana Castro – Teacher who I learned the ‘Calendar Chat’ from at the Agen CI workshop
- The ‘Agen Workshop’ is a wonderful CPD opportunity with fantastic presenters from all over the world organised by Judith Dubois. Well worth attending!
- Uimhir = Number
- Pronounced “Ivir”
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Drawing on recent research around error correction and feedback, this episode provides six easy to implement strategies that allow the teacher to give meaningful feedback to students whilst ensuring it doesn’t harm their basic psychological need of ‘competence’. These strategies will hopefully give you some ideas about how we can ensure our feedback is timely, specific and meaningful to the student so that it helps them to move forward and not over analyse the errors that may be present. Most importantly, these are practical approaches to feedback designed to maintain and build motivation, rather then dampen it!
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Book: Evidence based teaching by Geoff Petty
- Book: Creating cultures of thinking by Ron Ritchard
- Article: Hattie and Timperley (2007) The power of feedback
- Article: Chen et al. (2016) Corrective Feedback in SLA: Theoretical Relevance and Empirical Research
- Article: Enright et al. (2010) Can I do it in my pyjamas? Negotiating a physical education curriculum with teenage girls
- Conas atá tú? = How are you?
- Pronounced “Cunis athaw thoo”
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Teacher motivation: A hugely important topic we don’t discuss nearly enough. In many countries around the world, teachers are leaving the profession in huge numbers. So what can school leadership do to ensure their teachers remain motivated? In this episode we delve into this thorny issue with a look at recent studies on teacher motivation and discuss what the research can teach us in terms of maintaining teacher motivation. This episode contains many practical, easy to implement, tips for school leaders, Heads of Department and for teachers themselves to help them to stay motivated.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dr. Lorena Salud Gadella Kamstra (2020). Teacher motivation is vital and Covid-19 may be hurting it
- Bernaus, M et. al, (2009). Teachers’ motivation, classroom strategy use, students’ motivation and second language achievement.
- Dörnyei, Z. and Ushioda, E., (2011). Teaching and Researching: Motivation. 2nd ed. Routledge.
- Foster, D., (2019). Teacher recruitment and retention in England
- Kassabgy et. al., (2001). Values, rewards, and job satisfaction in ESL/EFL. Motivation and second language acquisition, pp.213–237.
- Katz, I. and Shahar, B.H., (2015). What makes a motivating teacher? Teachers’ motivation and beliefs as predictors of their autonomy-supportive style. School Psychology International [Online], 36(6), pp.575–588.
- Lamb, M., (2017). The motivational dimension of language teaching. Language Teaching [Online], 50(3), pp.301–346.
- Oga-Baldwin, Q. and Praver, M., (2008). The motivated language teacher: Work satisfaction in a Japanese context. K Bradford Watts. T Muller &M. Swanson (Eds), Jalt 2007conference Proceedings. Tokyo. JALT.
- Muinteoir = Teacher
- Pronounced “Moon-chore”
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I’m delighted to be joined in this episode with Olly who goes by “Let’s Transform MFL (Modern Foreign Languages)” on Twitter. Olly is a vocal and powerful advocate for reinvigorating the MFL curriculum in England so that we can reach more students and help more people achieve fluency. In this discussion, Olly shares his passion for MFL and argues convincingly for a re-imagined curriculum that focuses on the reasons “why” we learn foreign languages in the first place. Explaining beautifully why we should all learn languages, not just from a “useful” perspective but from a wider interest and social justice viewpoint.
Olly teaches French and German in three different secondary schools, although his first teaching experience was in a Berlin primary school. He is originally from the North of England and studied French & German at University. As a teacher he is busy advocating for languages and contributing to debates about curriculum, uptake and the student experience. Alongside doing a Masters in education, Olly is well versed in the academic literature and research around motivation, subject choices and achieving fluency.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- “Ancrage culturel” of language learning: the French approach
- Ema Ushioda (2017). The Impact of Global English on Motivation to Learn Other Languages: Toward an Ideal Multilingual Self, Modern Language Journal
- Shirley Lawes on MFL in Cuthbert, Stanndish (eds), What should schools teach?, London: UCL Press
Linguistics in Language Learning
- Linguistics in MFL project
- Sascha Stollhans: Linguistic Variation in the MFL Classroom
- James Milton. The role of classroom and informal vocabulary input in growing a foreign language lexicon
- Republic of Ireland: Junior Cycle MFL
- Ursula Lanvers, Amy Thompson, Martin East (eds.) (2021), ‘Language Learning in Anglophone Countries’, Palgrave Macmillan
Further reading
- Cuff, B., Ofqual, corp creator (2017), Perceptions of subject difficulty and subject choices: Are the two linked, and if so, how?
- Hawkins, E. (1987) Modern Languages in the Curriculum. Revised Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Kramsch, C. (2014) ‘Teaching Foreign Languages in an Era of Globalization: Introduction’, The Modern Language Journal 98:1, 296-311
- Ipsos MORI (2014) Why is the take-up of Modern Foreign Language A-levels in decline? A report for the Joint Council for Qualifications
- Milton, J. (2011) The role of classroom and informal vocabulary input in growing a foreign language lexicon. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 26. 59-80.
- Malpass, D. (2014) The Decline in Uptake of A-level Modern Foreign Languages: Literature Review. A review of Modern Foreign Languages at A level: A* grade and low take up
- Panayiotou, S., Boulden, K., Newton, S., Andersson, D., Kantar Public for DfE, corp creator (2017) Omnibus Survey of Pupils and their Parents/Carers. Research report wave 2
- Wingate, U (2018) ‘Lots of games and little challenge – a snapshot of modern foreign language teaching in English secondary schools’, The Language Learning Journal, 46:4, 442-455
- Bóthar = Road
- Pronounced “Bo-her”
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I’m delighted to be joined in this episode with Olly who goes by “Let’s Transform MFL (Modern Foreign Languages)” on Twitter. Olly is a vocal and powerful advocate for reinvigorating the MFL curriculum in England so that we can reach more students and help more people achieve fluency. In this discussion, Olly shares his passion for MFL and argues convincingly for a re-imagined curriculum that focuses on the reasons “why” we learn foreign languages in the first place. Explaining beautifully why we should all learn languages, not just from a “useful” perspective but from a wider interest and social justice viewpoint.
Olly teaches French and German in three different secondary schools, although his first teaching experience was in a Berlin primary school. He is originally from the North of England and studied French & German at University. As a teacher he is busy advocating for languages and contributing to debates about curriculum, uptake and the student experience. Alongside doing a Masters in education, Olly is well versed in the academic literature and research around motivation, subject choices and achieving fluency.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- “Ancrage culturel” of language learning: the French approach
- Ema Ushioda (2017). The Impact of Global English on Motivation to Learn Other Languages: Toward an Ideal Multilingual Self, Modern Language Journal
- Shirley Lawes on MFL in Cuthbert, Stanndish (eds), What should schools teach?, London: UCL Press
Linguistics in Language Learning
- Linguistics in MFL project
- Sascha Stollhans: Linguistic Variation in the MFL Classroom
- James Milton. The role of classroom and informal vocabulary input in growing a foreign language lexicon
- Republic of Ireland: Junior Cycle MFL
- Ursula Lanvers, Amy Thompson, Martin East (eds.) (2021), ‘Language Learning in Anglophone Countries’, Palgrave Macmillan
Further reading
- Cuff, B., Ofqual, corp creator (2017), Perceptions of subject difficulty and subject choices: Are the two linked, and if so, how?
- Hawkins, E. (1987) Modern Languages in the Curriculum. Revised Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Kramsch, C. (2014) ‘Teaching Foreign Languages in an Era of Globalization: Introduction’, The Modern Language Journal 98:1, 296-311
- Ipsos MORI (2014) Why is the take-up of Modern Foreign Language A-levels in decline? A report for the Joint Council for Qualifications
- Milton, J. (2011) The role of classroom and informal vocabulary input in growing a foreign language lexicon. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 26. 59-80.
- Malpass, D. (2014) The Decline in Uptake of A-level Modern Foreign Languages: Literature Review. A review of Modern Foreign Languages at A level: A* grade and low take up
- Panayiotou, S., Boulden, K., Newton, S., Andersson, D., Kantar Public for DfE, corp creator (2017) Omnibus Survey of Pupils and their Parents/Carers. Research report wave 2
- Wingate, U (2018) ‘Lots of games and little challenge – a snapshot of modern foreign language teaching in English secondary schools’, The Language Learning Journal, 46:4, 442-455
- Bóthar = Road
- Pronounced “Bo-her”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dr. Ed Stevens: Leading on from this episode, Ed will join me on the podcast in Episode 32 to talk about teacher professional identity
Research papers mentioned:
- Barnard, R., Burns, A., 2012. Researching language teacher cognition and practice international case studies, New perspectives on language and education. Multilingual Matters, Bristol.
- Borg, S., 2011. The Impact of In-Service Teacher Education on Language Teachers’ Beliefs. System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics 39, 370–380. doi:10.1016/j.system.2011.07.009
- Borg, S., Sanchez, H.S., 2015. International perspectives on teacher research. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.
- Davis, A., 2003. Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs Regarding Aspects of Language Learning. Evaluation & Research in Education 17, 207–222. doi:10.1080/09500790308668303
- Fives, H., Buehl, M.M., 2012. Spring cleaning for the “messy” construct of teachers’ beliefs: What are they? Which have been examined? What can they tell us?, in: APA Educational Psychology Handbook, Vol 2: Individual Differences and Cultural and Contextual Factors, APA Handbooks in Psychology. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, US, pp. 471–499.
- Li, L., Walsh, S., 2011. “Seeing is believing”: looking at EFL teachers’ beliefs through classroom interaction. Classroom Discourse 2, 39–57. doi:10.1080/19463014.2011.562657
- Sanchez, H.S., Borg, S., 2014. Insights into L2 teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge: A cognitive perspective on their grammar explanations. System 44, 45–53. doi:10.1016/j.system.2014.02.005
- Skott, J., 2015. The promises, problems and prospects of research on teachers’ beliefs, in: International Handbook of Research on Teachers’ Beliefs, Educational Psychology Handbook Series. Routledge, New York, pp. 13–30.
- Comhghairdeas = Congratulations
- Pronounced “Co-gawr-je-kes”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Follow updates from Dr. Ed Stevens on LinkedIn.
Research papers mentioned:
- Archer, L (2008) The new neoliberal subjects? Young/er academics’ constructions of professional identity. Journal of Education Policy, 23(3), pp 265 – 285
- Burke, P J, Crozier, G & Misiaszek, LI (2017) Changing Pedagogical Spaces in Higher Education: Diversity, inequalities and misrecognition. Oxon: Routledge
- Colley, H, James, D & Diment, K (2007) Unbecoming teachers: towards a more dynamic notions of professional participation. Journal of Education Policy, 22(2), pp 173 – 193
- Meyerson, D. (2001) Radical change, the quiet way
- Cad is ainm duit? = What is your name?
- Pronounced “Cod is anim dhich”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Gianfranco Conti and Steve Smith blog on the importance of ‘chunking’ and ditching long vocabulary lists
- Grant Boulanger and “the less I force them to talk, the more they want to talk”
- Margarita Pérez Garcia – Teacher who I learned the ‘Calendar Chat’ from at the Agen CI workshop
- Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona Dhuit = Happy St. Patrick’s Day
- Pronounced “Law fayla pawdrig huna gwitch”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dincer et al.’s (2019) meta-analysis on how to use autonomy-supportive teaching to boost relatedness and relationships.
- Ryan and Deci (2020) Recent update paper on last 20 years of SDT research with definitions, theory, practices and future directions
- Vansteenkiste et al. (2020). Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions.
- Go raibh míle Síle = Thanks a million (colloquial)
- Pronounced “Ge-re meele Sheila”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Ryan and Deci (2020) Recent update paper on last 20 years of SDT research with definitions, theory, practices and future directions
- Scott Benedict and the online Comprehended Conference he organises.
- Tá súil agam = I hope
- Pronounced “Thaw soo-ul awgum”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Diane Neubauer on Twitter.
- Diane’s YouTube channel.
- Diane’s blog.
- Diane’s PhD program at University of Iowa.
- James Lantolf – Language play.
- Johnmarshall Reeve: eminent researcher in engagement.
Further reading recommended by Diane:
- Cook, G. (2000). Language play, language learning. Oxford University Press.
- Bell, N., & Pomerantz, A. (2015). Humor in the classroom: A guide for language teachers and educational researchers. Routledge.
- Seedhouse, P. (2004). The interactional architecture of the language classroom: A conversation analysis perspective. Language Learning.
- Tá súil agam = I hope
- Pronounced “Thaw soo-ul awgum”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dr. Chris Martin on Twitter.
- Boo, Z., Dörnyei, Z. and Ryan, S., 2015. L2 motivation research 2005–2014: Understanding a publication surge and a changing landscape. System [Online], 55, pp.145–157.
- Blanton, M., 2015. The Effect of Two Foreign Language Teaching Approaches, Communicative Language Teaching and Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling, on Motivation and Proficiency for Spanish III Students in High School. Doctoral Dissertations and Projects [Online].
- Dörnyei, Z. and Ushioda, E., 2011. Teaching and Researching: Motivation. 2nd ed. Routledge.
- Lamb, M., 2017. The motivational dimension of language teaching. Language Teaching [Online], 50(3), pp.301–346.
- McEown, M.S., Noels, K.A. and Saumure, K.D., 2014. Students’ self-determined and integrative orientations and teachers’ motivational support in a Japanese as a foreign language context. System [Online], 45, pp.227–241.
- Parrish, A. and Lanvers, U., 2018. Student motivation, school policy choices and modern language study in England. The Language Learning Journal [Online], 0(0), pp.1–18.
- Oga-Baldwin, W.L.Q., Nakata, Y., Parker, P. and Ryan, R.M., 2017. Motivating young language learners: A longitudinal model of self-determined motivation in elementary school foreign language classes. Contemporary Educational Psychology [Online], 49, pp.140–150.
- Ryan, R.M. and Deci, E.L., 2020. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology [Online], (April).
- Capall = Horse
- Pronounced “Cawpil”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Gass, S. and Mackey, A., 2007. Input, interaction, and output in second language acquisition in Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction, New York ; Abingdon: Routledge, 2015
- Lamb, M., 2017. The motivational dimension of language teaching. Language Teaching [Online], 50(3), pp.301–346.
- Long, M., 1981. Input, interaction and second language acquisition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences , 379 , 259– 278.
- Schmidt, R.W., 1990. The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied linguistics, 11(2), pp.129-158.
- Swain, M., 2005. The output hypothesis: Theory and research. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 471– 484). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
- Vyn, R., Wesely, P.M. and Neubauer, D., 2019. Exploring the effects of foreign language instructional practices on student proficiency development. Foreign Language Annals, 52, pp.45–65.
- Chuaigh mé = I went
- Pronounced “Hoo-ee may”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Martina Bex and her website with story scripts www.comprehensibleclassroom.com
- Easy story scripts book called “Look I can Talk” by Blaine Ray.
- Tripp Scripts by Jim Tripp available on Bryce Hedstrom website
- Cad é seo = What is that?
- Pronounced “Cod ay shuh”
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Sitting all day is exhausting! This episode is full of practical ideas for active learning in the language classroom. Getting students up and out of their seats is a mainstay in every class I teach. Even just for a few minutes, it helps to re-engage the students in what is happening, it freshens things up and helps them to re-focus. It also helps to mix things up and keep that important aspect of ‘unpredictability’ in each class. The twelve, zero-prep,an strategies I present in this episode are:
- Bingo
- Touch the board
- The elimination game
- Sentence sharing and co-teaching
- Get up and talk to a different table
- Volleyball reading
- Find someone who
- Pass it up
- Pop
- Yes and no wall
- The rhythm circle
- Brain breaks:
- Line up by..
- Stay standing if…
- TPR
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Grant Wiggins blog and some sobering lessons learnt
- Lisa Lee Tedx Talk on ‘Getting at the heart of teaching’
- An trá = The beach
- Pronounced “On thraw”
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Steve is a former Head of Modern Languages in England. He has taught French for over 30 years and is the author of the resources website frenchteacher.net. He has also co-authored five books for language teachers with with Dr. Gianfranco Conti with the latest being What Every language Teacher Should Know. This episode is an absolute must-listen for all language teachers!
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Steve Smith on twitter and his website frenchteacher.net
- Book: ‘Memory: What every language teacher should know’ by Conti and Smith
- Great website with links to important research around language acquisition: informedlanguageteacher.com
- Chuaigh mé = I went
- Pronounced “Hoo-ee may”
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Anxiety, stress, nervousness and a high ‘affective filter’ is often discussed around language learning, but what happens when you focus on positive emotions? It’s time we talked about the research behind positive emotions in the language classroom rather than focusing on the negative ones. In this episode I provide an overview of the key research in this area and how we can apply it to our classes to make the experience more welcoming, fun and interesting for our students.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Al-Hoorie, A.H., 2017. Sixty Years of Language Motivation Research: Looking Back and Looking Forward. SAGE Open [Online], pp.1–11.
- Bowman, R.F., 2018. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas Teaching and Learning in a Storytelling Culture Teaching and Learning in a Storytelling Culture
- Dewaele, J.-M., 2015. On emotions in foreign language learning and use. The Language Teacher, 39(3), pp.13–15.
- Dewaele, J.-M. and Alfawzan, M., 2018. Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance? Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching [Online], 8(1), p.21.
- Dewaele, J.-M. and MacIntyre, P.D., 2014. The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching [Online], 2, pp.237–274.
- Dörnyei, Z., Henry, A. and Muir, C., 2015. Motivational Currents in Language Learning: Frameworks for Focused Interventions.
- Henry, A., Dörnyei, Z. and Davydenko, S., 2015. The Anatomy of Directed Motivational Currents: Exploring Intense and Enduring Periods of L2 Motivation. Modern Language Journal [Online], 99(2), pp.329–345.
- Saito, K., Dewaele, J.M., Abe, M. and In’nami, Y., 2018. Motivation, Emotion, Learning Experience, and Second Language Comprehensibility Development in Classroom Settings: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study. Language Learning [Online], 68(3), pp.709–743.
- Susan Stewart on Twitter and the Educational Collaborative for International Schools multilingual learning in international education twitter.
- Grá = Love
- Pronounced “Graw”
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Thank you to The #MotivatedClassroom patron, Margit Alexy, for prompting me to do an episode on how I structure a year of language acquisition curriculum without a textbook. In this episode I go into some detail about what my Spanish Level 1 sequence of learning looks like over a whole year, before giving a brief overview of what this translates into for older, more advanced, students a few years later in their language learning journey.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- The IB: The International Baccalaureate
- The MYP: The Middle Years Program of the IB (students aged 11-16)
- The DP: The Diploma Program of the IB (students aged 16-18)
- Leabhar = Book
- Pronounced “Lao-er”
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This episode is a follow up to Ep. 43 on ‘Structuring a language curriculum without a textbook’ and focuses on the individual language acquisition lesson and how I structure it to keep motivation at the forefront of each class. At the end of the episode I also speak about what this structure looks like in my lesson planning. I hope you find this practical episode useful
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Lesson plan format:
- Retrieval
- Motivation
- Orientation
- Information
- Application
- Review
- Scoil = School
- Pronounced “Skull”
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The inspirational Tan Huynh shares excellent practical tips on easy to implement ways to make our classrooms more welcoming for everyone, focusing on inclusion, diversity and pride! This is a must listen episode for all language teachers striving to have a more inclusive learning environment where everyone feels welcome to be themselves and explore their own unique identity
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Follow Tan Huynh on Twitter
- Visit Tan’s website www.empoweringells.com
- Larry Ferlazzo’s strategies to help learners motivate themselves; linked closely to Self-Determination Theory
- Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop and “Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors” as a lens through which to ensure we include every child and their cultural experiences in our classrooms.
- Podcast with Dr. Ofelia Garcia on the power of translanguaging
- Ag foghlaim = Learning
- Pronounced “Egg fo-lum”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Follow Maud Waret on Twitter
- Angélica Dass and the humanae photography project
- Maud’s presentation at the Association for Language Learning conference on ‘Decolonising the language curriculum’
- Maud’s list of BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) books
- The Guardian: Les Misérables review
- ‘Writing with colour’ tumblr account to help teachers
- Black Lives Matter UK
- Mo cairde = My friends
- Pronounced “Muh-cawr -ja”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Thank you to Beth Miriam, Isabel Puete Lozano and Sophie Harrison for the great questions!
- Lichtman & VanPatten 2021 – “Was Krashen right? 40 years later”
- Madra = Dog
- Pronounced “Maw-draw”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dr. Beniko Mason and Dr. Stephen Krashen on ‘optimal input’
- Lichtman & VanPatten 2021 – “Was Krashen right? 40 years later”
- Boo, Z., Dörnyei, Z. and Ryan, S., 2015. L2 motivation research 2005–2014: Understanding a publication surge and a changing landscape. System [Online], 55, pp.145–157.
- Blanton, M., 2015. The Effect of Two Foreign Language Teaching Approaches, Communicative Language Teaching and Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling, on Motivation and Proficiency for Spanish III Students in High School. Doctoral Dissertations and Projects [Online].
- Czizér, K. and Kormos, J., 2009. Learning Experiences , Selves and Motivated Learning Behaviour : A Comparative Analysis of Structural Models for Hungarian Secondary and University Learners of English. In: Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda, eds. Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp.98–119.
- Dörnyei, Z. and Csizér, K., 1998. Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results of an empirical study. Language Teaching Research [Online], 2(3), pp.203–229.
- Dörnyei, Z. and Ushioda, E., 2011. Teaching and Researching: Motivation. 2nd ed. Routledge.
- Guilloteaux, M.J. and Dörnyei, Z., 2008. Motivating Language Learners: A Classroom-Oriented Investigation of the Effects of Motivational Strategies on Student Motivation. TESOL Quarterly [Online], 42(1), pp.55–77.
- Lamb, M., 2017. The motivational dimension of language teaching. Language Teaching [Online], 50(3), pp.301–346.
- McEown, M.S., Noels, K.A. and Saumure, K.D., 2014. Students’ self-determined and integrative orientations and teachers’ motivational support in a Japanese as a foreign language context. System [Online], 45, pp.227–241.
- Oga-Baldwin, W.L.Q., Nakata, Y., Parker, P. and Ryan, R.M., 2017. Motivating young language learners: A longitudinal model of self-determined motivation in elementary school foreign language classes. Contemporary Educational Psychology [Online], 49, pp.140–150.
- Ryan, R.M. and Deci, E.L., 2020. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology [Online], (April).
- Vansteenkiste et al. (2020). Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions.
- Cupán tae = Cup of tea
- Pronounced “Cup-awn tay”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Astuti, S.P., 2016. Exploring Motivational Mechanisms. TEFLIN Journal [Online], 27(1), pp.1–22.
- Bower, K., 2019. Explaining motivation in language learning: a framework for evaluation and research. Language Learning Journal [Online], 47(5), pp.558–574.
- Lichtman & VanPatten 2021 – “Was Krashen right? 40 years later”
- Czizér, K. and Kormos, J., 2009. Learning Experiences , Selves and Motivated Learning Behaviour : A Comparative Analysis of Structural Models for Hungarian Secondary and University Learners of English. In: Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda, eds. Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp.98–119.
- Dörnyei, Z. and Ushioda, E., 2011. Teaching and Researching: Motivation. 2nd ed. Routledge.
- Guilloteaux, M.J. and Dörnyei, Z., 2008. Motivating Language Learners: A Classroom-Oriented Investigation of the Effects of Motivational Strategies on Student Motivation. TESOL Quarterly [Online], 42(1), pp.55–77.
- Lamb, M., 2017. The motivational dimension of language teaching. Language Teaching [Online], 50(3), pp.301–346.
- Ushioda, E., 2013. International Perspectives on Motivation: Language Learning and Professional Challenges [Online]. Springer.
- Daltaí = Students
- Pronounced “dawl-tee”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Norris, J. M. & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50, 417-528.
- Piggott et al. (2000). The icing on the cake? Effects of explicit form-focused instruction after two years of implicit EFL learning
- Spada, N. & Tomita, Y. (2010). Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60, 263-308.
- Lichtman, K. & VanPatten, B. (2021). Was Krashen right? Forty years later. Foreign Language Annals, 54, 283-305.
- Lichtman, K. & VanPatten, B. (2021). Krashen forty years later: Final comments. Foreign Language Annals, 54, 336-340.
- VanPatten, B., Smith, M. & Benati, A. (2020). Key questions in second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
- Le chéile – Together
- Pronounced “Lay-kay-le”
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Main classroom jobs I use:
- Door, windown, date, weather.
- Security (controls password), profe dos (helps teacher)
- Whiteboards, markers, erasers, paper,props (for stories)
- Timer, ender (checks class is tidy at the end of class), welcomer, translator
- Savage – An English word we use in Ireland to mean brilliant or excellent or impressive
- We sometimes say ‘saváiste’ to make it sound like Irish but this is not a real Irish word
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- This episode includes 12 easy, zero-prep, steps I employ to set up my language classroom for the year including:
- Routines, jobs
- How to enter and leave the class
- Starter activities
- Notebooks and folders
- Google classroom
- Other technology we use to increase contact with the language
- An bhfuil cead agam – Can I? or Can I have permission to?
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Key talking points with links to resources:
In this Question & Answer episode the questions focus on girls v. boys motivation, how to structure a class with no textbook and how to align a more acquisition based approach within school vertical and horizontal alignment policies.
- Parsons et al. (1982): Socialization of Achievement Attitudes and Beliefs: Parental Influences
- Pekrun et al. (2017): Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: Longitudinal Models of Reciprocal Effects
- Le do thoill – Please!
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This episode explores the current debates around implicit and explicit knowledge in the language classroom; should we be focusing on meaning or form, or a combination of both. The focus of this episode revolves mainly around the recent Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research in this area and what we, as language teachers, can do to ensure we maintain motivation whilst also boosting acquisition.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dr. Florencia Henshaw’s Youtube channel “Unpacking language pedagogy”
- Ellis, R. (1997). SLA research and language teaching. Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314.
- Long, M., Lee, and Hillman (2019) Task-based language learning in Schwieter, J. W., & Benati, A. (2019). The Cambridge Handbook of Language Learning. Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013.
- Spada, N., & Lightbown, P. M. (2008). Form‐focused instruction: Isolated or integrated?. TESOL quarterly, 42(2), 181-207.
- Spada, N. & Tomita, Y. (2010). Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60, 263-308.
- Lichtman, K. & VanPatten, B. (2021). Was Krashen right? Forty years later. Foreign Language Annals, 54, 283-305.
- Ryan, R.M. and Deci, E.L., 2020. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psycholog
- Uafásach – Awful/terrible!
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In this episode we speak to the inspirational Dr. Florencia Henshaw about Second Language Acquisition theory, recent research in the area and how we can bring the classroom practice and the academic research together in a way that benefits all students. Dr. Henshaw shares her top tips for language acquisition teachers that stem directly from her research and are related to her forthcoming book entitled “Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory goes to the Classroom”.
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Dr. Florencia Henshaw’s Youtube channel “Unpacking language pedagogy”
- Follow Dr. Henshaw on twitter here and get in touch with her here.
- Unpacking articles: How helpful is spelling instruction?
- OASIS database of research
- Spada, N. & Tomita, Y. (2010). Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60, 263-308.
- Rang / ranganna – Class (as in a class in school) / Classes
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This episode explores some of the recent research about homework and how we can apply this to the language acquisition classroom. Should we even give homework in the first place? If so, how much and when? How can we ensure the homework we are providing is actually purposeful and not just ‘busy work’? Have a listen to this episode and find out!
Key talking points with links to resources:
- Buying graded readers in Europe: The CI Bookshop
- Buying graded readers outside Europe: Command Performance Books
- Authors writing in Spanish I use in my classes a lot:
- Dr. Florencia Henshaw’s Youtube channel “Unpacking language pedagogy”
- Edpuzzle – website for using songs or Youtube to assess listening
- Fernandez-Alonso et al. (2015) Adolescents’ Homework Performance in Mathematics and Science: Personal Factors and Teaching Practices
- Fernández-Alonso et al. (2019) Homework and Academic Achievement in Latin America: A Multilevel Approac
- Abhaile – Home
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Gunderson et al. (2013). Parent praise to 1‐to 3‐year‐olds predicts children’s motivational frameworks 5 years later. Child development, 84(5), 1526-1541.
- Fulkerson et al. (2006). Family dinner meal frequency and adolescent development: Relationships with developmental assets and high-risk behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39(3), 337-345.
- Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. A. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skill: A five‐year longitudinal study. Child development, 73(2), 445-460.
- Castro, M et al. (2015). Parental involvement on student academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational research review, 14, 33-46.
- Cá bhfuil sé? – Where is it?
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Bartram, B. (2006) An examination of perceptions of parental influence on attitudes to language learning. Educational Research, 48(2), pp. 211-221.\
- Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital. in Richardson,J. G.(ed). Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. New York: Greenwood Press.
- Coleman, J.A., Galaczi, Ã. and Astruc, L. (2007) Motivation of UK school pupils towards foreign languages: A large-scale survey at key stage 3. Language Learning Journal, 35(2), pp. 245-281.
- Jones, C. (2009) Parental support and the attitudes of boys and girls to modern foreign languages. Language Learning Journal, 37(1), pp. 85-97.
- Lanvers, U., Hultgren, K. and Gayton, A.M. (2016) ‘People can be smarter with two languages’: Changing anglophone students’ attitudes to language learning through teaching linguistics*. The Language Learning Journal pp. 1-17.
- Martin, C. & Lanvers, U. (2021) ‘Language choice in England: Insights from parents and students’ in East, M., Lanvers, U., Thompson, A. (Eds) Language Learning in Anglophone Countries: Challenges, Practices and Solutions, Palgrave MacMillan.
- Mercer, S. & Dornyei, Z. (2020) Engaging Language Learners in Contemporary Classrooms. Cambridge Professional Learning. Cambridge University Press
- Na tuismitheoirí – The parents
- Pronounced ‘nah tish-ma-horee
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Using autonomy to boost motivation even among the most resistant of learners
- How to minimise the use of online translators
- Practical strategies to make teaching spelling more motivating
- An carr – The car
- Pronounced ‘on corr’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Kerr and Hertel (2011), The Köhler Group Motivation Gain: How to Motivate the ‘Weak Links’ in a Group
- Working with someone of higher ability prompts the weaker member to try harder, set a higher benchmark, not want to let their team-mate down.
- Caveat: Most research has been performed under lab conditions, with easy tasks but authors conclude to say it can be found in educational settings.
- When it works best:
○ Feel connected to other person
○ Trust other person is working hard too
○ Receive feedback based on the process, individual performance and effort
○ If ability gap is not too big (close in level)
○ Don’t always work with the same person
- An mbord – The table
- Pronounced ‘on merd-th
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Activites:
- Listen and draw
- Story listening
- Pop
- Listen for the intruder or special one
- Cold call back
- Classmates – write bullet points
- Bingo or elimination game
- Listen and remember
- Reflection section – empecemos expertos
- Ver-taal
- Edpuzzle
- Duolingo stories
Thanks to these fantastic people for the inspiration:
- Ag éisteacht – Listening
- Pronounced ‘egg aysh-tucht’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
Thanks to these fantastic people for the inspiration:
- Ceoil – Music
- Pronounced ‘kyole’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
All papers are available for free download through ResearchGate or on Quint’s webpage: www.quint.space
- Fryer, L. K., & Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q. (2019). Succeeding at junior high school: Students’ reasons, their reach, and the teaching that h(inders)elps their grasp. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59, 101778. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101778
- McEown, M. S., & Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q. (2019). Self-determination for all language learners: New applications for formal language education. System, 86, 102124. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.102124
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q. (2018). Schools can improve motivational quality: Profile transitions across early foreign language learning experiences. Motivation and Emotion, 0(0), 0–0. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9681-7
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q. (2019). Acting, thinking, feeling, making, collaborating: The engagement process in foreign language learning. System, 102128. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.102128
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q. (2020). Show them how, but don’t intrude: Autonomy support promotes EFL classroom attendance and achievement, teacher control hinders it. The Language Teacher, 44(3), 3. http://doi.org/10.37546/JALTTLT44.3-1
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q., & Fryer, L. K. (2020). Profiles of language learning motivation: Are new and own languages different? Learning and Individual Differences, 79, 101852. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101852
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q., & Nakata, Y. (2014). Optimizing new language use by employing young learners’ own language. ELT Journal, 68(4), 410–421. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2003.04.001
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q., & Nakata, Y. (2017). Engagement, gender, and motivation: A predictive model for Japanese young language learners. System, 65, 151–163. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.01.011
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q., & Nakata, Y. (2020). How teachers promote young language learners’ engagement: Lesson form and lesson quality. Language Teaching for Young Learners, 2(1), 101–130. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2003.04.001
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q., Fryer, L. K., & Larson-Hall, J. (2019). The critical role of the individual in language education: New directions from the learning sciences. System, 102118. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.102118
- Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q., Nakata, Y., Parker, P., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Motivating young language learners: A longitudinal model of self-determined motivation in elementary school foreign language classes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 49, 140–150. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.01.010
- Óg – Young
- Pronounced ‘o-ge’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- The Dynamic Language Learning Conference in The Netherlands 2022
- Ag tabhair amach – Giving out (telling off/scolding)
- Pronounced ‘egg tow-ir om-och’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- Ag sugradh – Playing
- Pronounced ‘egg soo-grew’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
This question and answer episode looks at how to overcome the difficulties of moving classrooms, what we can and should teach when we only see students for less than 1 hour per week and finally how we can go about creating a class slogan or motto based on our co-created values from the class constitution. Thank you to Stephanie Harrison, Stephanie Miller and Amanda Miller for the great questions!
- Ceapaim – I think that
- Pronounced ‘kea-pim’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
- An teach – The house
- Pronounced ‘on tchaugh’
Enjoying The Motivated Classroom Podcast? Give it a review or join me on my patreon page here.
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Key talking points with links to resources:
Building on Ep. 67 with Darren Leslie of Becoming Educated podcast focusing on our roles as ‘teaching and learning research leads’, this episode discusses the internal, research based, professional development we have started here at The International School of Lausanne in our drive to becoming an evidence-informed school using evidence-informed pedagogy. I explain the rational and research behind how our internal PD structure works at our school and how we actively encourage everyone to be part of our reading research groups
- Supporting teachers through the school workload reduction toolkit; Education Development Trust 2020
- Evidence review: The effects of high-quality professional development on teachers and students; Education Policy Institute 2020
- Developing Great Teaching – Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development; The Teacher Development Trust – 2015
- Teacher autonomy: how does it relate to job satisfaction and retention?; National Foundation for Educational Research – 2020
- Nuair – When
- Pronounced ‘new-er’
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Key talking points with links to resources:
The last in the three part mini series on professional development and the importance of being an evidence-informed teacher. In this episode I am joined by the inspirational, Jade Pearce. Jade shares the journey her school has been on towards becoming an evidence-informed school and gives us all tips to get started on this path in our own contexts.
- Clark, Kirschner and Sweller (2012), The case for fully guided instruction
- CESE (2017), Cognitive load theory: Research that teachers really need to understand
- Durrington High School blog
- Tá mé ábalta – I am able to
- Pronounced ‘thaw may aw-bal-tha’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
Parent-teacher meetings: A part of every teacher’s year but often one that causes anxiety, stress and worry. In this episode I present six, easy, date-focused, steps to apply to your parent-teacher meetings to ensure they are effective and focus on student learning. While this episode highlights strategies that will be of particular use for language acquisition teachers, the steps can easily be applied across all subject areas.- Na bí ag cáint – Don’t be talking!o
- Pronounced ‘naw bee egg contch’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
In this question and answer episode, we discuss the most motivational and effective ways to start class, how often students should take notes in the language classroom and finally what we can do to build upon co-created class stories. A huge thank you to all the listeners for the wonderful questions!- Adriana Ramirez, – Author of Spanish books for language learners.
- Margarita Pérez García, – Author of Spanish readers for beginning students.
- The Language Learner Literature Advisory Board– Group of teachers who critically analyse graded readers for language learners from an inclusion and equitable lens.
- Cad atá tú ag deanamh – What are you doing!
- Pronounced ‘cod a thaw thoo egg jane-iv’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
- Teanga – Language
- Pronounced ‘chawn-ga’
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In this episode, the brilliant Françoise Thenoux speaks to us about the inextricable links between language, identity and inclusion. Françoise shares how we can make everyone in our language classroom feel included by ensuring everyone’s identity and history is represented. She shares tips and advice about how language teachers can get started on the route to a more diverse and inclusive classroom. A must listen!
Key talking points and references:
- Maturana, H. (1978), The Biology of Language: The Epistemology of Reality
- Paris, D. (2017), Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World (Language and Literacy Series)
- Kleinrock, L. (2021), Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community
- Wesely, P. and Thenoux, F. (2021), Myths and realities about teaching for social justice in the elementary WL classroom
- Vigneaux, G. (2019), Maturana’s Party: Sense-making through everyday language
- Glacadh – Acceptance
- Pronounced ‘gluh-cah
Get in touch on social media with your questions and comments using #MotivatedClassroom
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Thanks to these fantastic people for the inspiration:
- Grá – Love
- Pronounced ‘graw’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
- The AfroFranco Book Club – Run by Ben Tinsley
- Free MapTalk resource and script for Häiti by Ben
- Podcast episode with Ben Tinsley on The World Language Classroom podcast with Joshua Cabral entitled “Diversifying world language curriculum”
- Ag smaoineadh – Thinking
- Pronounced ‘egg smwee-neuv’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
- Dr. Gianfranco Conti
- Adriana Ramirez – Author of Spanish books for language learners.
- Margarita Pérez García – Author of Spanish readers for beginning students.
- Ben Tinsley
- Bualadh bos mór – Big round of applause
- Pronounced ‘boolah bus more’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
- Blanton, M., 2015. The Effect of Two Foreign Language Teaching Approaches, Communicative Language Teaching and Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling, on Motivation and Proficiency for Spanish III Students in High School. Doctoral Dissertations and Projects [Online]. Available from: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1010.
- Bustamante, M.C., 2009. Measuring the effectiveness of a TPRS pilot course in Spanish at the 100 college level. Kearney: University of Nebraska.
- Collen, I., 2020. Language Trends 2020: Language Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools in England
- Jeffreys, B., 2019. Language learning: German and French drop by half in UK schools – BBC News [Online]. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/education-47334374
- Kelly, M., 2019. Is the UK in a language crisis? | British Council. Voices magazine, British Council [Online]. Available from: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/uk-language-learning-crisis
- Lamb, M., 2017. The motivational dimension of language teaching. Language Teaching [Online], 50(3), pp.301–346. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444817000088
- Megawati, S., 2012. The application of Total Physical Response and Storytelling to teach English for kindergarten students. Satya Wacana Christian University.
- Parrish, A. and Lanvers, U., 2018. Student motivation, school policy choices and modern language study in England. The Language Learning Journal [Online], 0(0), pp.1–18. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018
- Perna, M., 2007. Effects of Total Physical Response Storytelling versus traditional, versus initial instruction with primary-, reinforced by secondary-perceptual strengths on the vocabulary-and grammar-Italian-language achievement test scores, and the attitudes of ninth a. St. John’s University (New York).
- Wenck, T.M., 2010. Using language acquisition strategies in the secondary German classroom. Bethlehem, PA.: Moravian College.
- Na déan dearmad – Don’t forget
- Pronounced ‘naw jane jarmed’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
- Parsons and Hallam, 2014. The impact of streaming on attainment at age seven: evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study
- DeFraine et al., 2003. The Effect of Schools and Classes on Language Achievement.
- Léim insteach – Jump in!
- Pronounced ‘lay-im ish-chach’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
- Dr. Gianfranco Conti on twitter
- The Language Gym website
- Ríomhaire – Computers!
- Pronounced ‘ree-var-ha’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
- The motivational power of teaching with co-created stories
- Stephen Krashen’s website with links to open source research studies on CI
- Lichtman and VanPatten (2021): Was Krashen right? 40 years later.
- Dún an doras – Shut the door!
- Pronounced ‘doon on duhr-as’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
- Uair amháin eile – One more time!
- Pronounced ‘ooer awawn ella’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
- The Comprehensible Classroom – Martina Bex
- The Language Learner Literature Advisory Board – Reviews of graded readers from a culturally inclusive lens
- Rud eile – Something else!
- Pronounced ‘rudth ella’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and references:
- Dr. Stephen Krashen’s website with links to many of his open source research papers that he mentions in the episode.
- Website of author Adriana Ramirez
- Krashen, S. 2018. Down with forced speech! In Leung, Yiu-nam, Katchen, Johanna, Hwang, Su-yi, & Chen, Yulin (Eds.). Reconceptualizing English Language Teaching in the 21st Century: A Special Monograph in Memory of Professor Kai-Chong Cheung. Taiwan: ETA-ROC, Crane Publishing Company. pp: 99-106.
- Krashen, S. 2012. A short paper proposing that we need to write shorter papers. Language and Language Teaching (Azim Premji University). 1(2): 38-39.
- Krashen, S. 2012. Academic jibberish. RELC Journal. 43 (2): 283-285.
- Krashen, S. 2019. Easy and free access to all scientific knowledge. Language Magazine, January 2019.
- Krashen, S. 1997. A conjecture on accent in a second language. In A. Lengyel, J. Navracsics, and O. Simon (Eds.) Applied Linguistic Studies in Central Europe. Veszprem, Hungary: Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Veszprem. pp. 42-45.
- Krashen, S. (2013). The case for non-targeted, comprehensible input. Journal of Bilingual Education Research & Instruction 15(1): 102-110.
- Mason, B., Vanata, M., Jander, K., Borsch, R., & Krashen, S. (2009). The effects and efficiency of hearing stories on vocabulary acquisition by students of German as a second foreign language in Japan. The Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 5(1), 1-14.
- Mason, B., & Krashen, S. (2017). Self-selected reading and TOEIC performance: Evidence from case histories. Shitennoji University Bulletin, 63, 469-475.
- McQuillan, J. (2019). Where do we get our academic vocabulary? Comparing the efficiency of direct instruction and free voluntary reading. Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 19, 129–138. (open access journal)
- McQuillan, J. 2020. Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Vocabulary Instruction: Acquiring Academic Language at Hogwarts. Reading in a Foreign Language October 2020, Volume 32, No. 2: 122-142. (open access journal)
- i gconaí – Always!
- Pronounced ‘ee gonee’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
- David Didau’s blog: When do novices become experts?
- Plomin et al., (2014). Nature, nurture and expertise. Intelligence Journal. 46-59.
- Kirschner, P.A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R.E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist 41(2), 75-86
- Clark, R.E., Kirschner, P.A., & Sweller, J. (2012). Putting students on the path to learning: The case for fully guided instruction.
- cloisim rud éigin – I hear something!
- Pronounced ‘cleshim rudth aygin’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
- Follow Margarita on twitter
- Margarita’s website including links to resources and approaches she mentioned
- Ben Slavic
- Martina Bex and The Comprehensible Classroom
- Dr Beniko Mason – Resources for story listening
- Tá brón orm – I’m sad / I am sorry!
- Pronounced ‘thaw brone urim’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
- Blog posts on reading strategies
- Blog on proficiency after two years of reading activities
- Cad atá tú ag léamh – What are you reading?
- Pronounced ‘cod athaw too egg layuv’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
My eight strategies for a motivated year:- Build relationships, not powerpoints
- More autonomy, less monotony
- Share passions, not problems
- Look at students, not at a screen
- Talk more, photocopy less
- Be good to yourself, not hard on yourself
- Co-create, don’t coerce
- Think motivation, not examination
- i bhfostú – Stuck; tangled up
- Pronounced ‘ie fosthu’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
Check out resources by these great educators: Book: Tools for teachers by Oliver Lovell- tá an grian ag taitneamh – The sun is shining
- Pronounced ‘thaw on gree-in egg thatnuv’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
Check out resources by these great educators:- Cult of Pedagogy podcast: Episode 166 – UDL as a key to equity
- Dalton, E (2019): Beyond Universal Design for Learning: Guiding Principles to Reduce Barriers to Digital & Media Literacy Competence, Journal of Media Literacy Education
- Dewaele, J.-M. and Alfawzan, M., 2018. Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance? Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching [Online], 8(1), p.21.
- Dewaele, J.-M. and MacIntyre, P.D., 2014. The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching [Online], 2, pp.237–274.
- Dörnyei, Z., Henry, A. and Muir, C., 2015. Motivational Currents in Language Learning: Frameworks for Focused Interventions.
- Henry, A., Dörnyei, Z. and Davydenko, S., 2015. The Anatomy of Directed Motivational Currents: Exploring Intense and Enduring Periods of L2 Motivation. Modern Language Journal [Online], 99(2), pp.329–345.
- Saito, K., Dewaele, J.M., Abe, M. and In’nami, Y., 2018. Motivation, Emotion, Learning Experience, and Second Language Comprehensibility Development in Classroom Settings: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study. Language Learning [Online], 68(3), pp.709–743.
- arís – again
- Pronounced ‘areesh’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
Check out resources by these great educators:- Didau, D. (2017) What do teachers think differentiation is?
- Education Endowment Foundation, Five evidence-based strategies to support students
- tar éis – after
- Pronounced ‘thar aysh’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
Check out resources by these great educators:- Karim and Nassaji (2010), The role of corrective feedback in second language writing
- Dekeyser, R. (1993), The Effect of Error Correction on L2 Grammar Knowledge and Oral Proficiency
- Truscott, J. (1999), What’s Wrong with Oral Grammar Correction
- Lyster, R., Lightbown, P., and Spada, N. (1999), A Response to Truscott’s ‘What’s Wrong with Oral Grammar Correction’
- gabh mo leithscéal – Excuse me
- Pronounced ‘guh muh leshkale’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
Check out resources by these great educators:- Book: Languages and Children: Making the Match : Foreign Language Instruction for an Early Start Grades K-8
- ‘Talk, Read, Sing’ First Five Initiative.
- Dr. Karen Lichtman: “Research soundbites to Motivate your Students” part of the CI Reboot online conference 2022
- Blog by Alina Filipescu (2018): For Teachers New to CI Methods
- Dr. Terry Waltz: The Super 7 Verbs
- YouTube Channel of Alina Filipescu: Making Language Comprehensible
- Ag obair – Working
- Pronounced ‘egg ubb-er’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
Check out resources by these great educators:- Book: Henshaw, F. and Hawkins, M (2022), Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom
- Cé mhéad – How much/how many?
- Pronounced ‘kay vade’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
- An carrchlós – The car park
- Pronounced ‘on corr close’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points, resources and references:
- Google Drive folder with all of Janique’s resources
- Janique’s class website for her students
- The dark cabinet and dream cabinet
- A 10 minute video by Janique explaining and showing the ‘cabinets’
- Janique’s padlet on teaching practices
- Janiques’ padlet on teaching with CI
- Tog go bog é – Calm down
- Pronounced ‘thoge guh bug ay’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points, resources and references:
- Ben Tinsley: His episode on The Motivated Classroom about “Centering black and brown voices in our classroom“.
- Video: Kimberlé Crenshaw – The urgency of intersectionality
- Article/blog posted on Medium by Abelardo on positionality and privilege as a cishet man
- Paulo Freire “Teaching is a political act”
- Voices of Brotherhood instagram account of Ricardo Rivera
- Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- Romper el pacto patriarcal
- Interrupting Microagressions (especially sexist ones)
- Salud Mental en comunidades Hispanas/Latinx
- Video: Showcasing Men’s vulnerability: why Latino Dads don’t say “I love you”?
- Tá áthas an domhain orm – I’m so happy (literally: The happiness of the world is upon me)
- Pronounced ‘thaw awhiss on dhowin urim’
Enjoying The Motivated Classroom Podcast? Give it a review on Apple Podcasts here, join me on my patreon page here or buy me a coffee here!
Get in touch on social media with your questions and comments using #MotivatedClassroom
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
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Key talking points, resources and references:
- Self-Determination Theory website with hundreds of research papers on motivation and engagement
- Kathrin Shechtman’s website – The wonderful German teacher who drew the ‘CAR’ of motivation
- Johnmarshall Reeve – Eminent researcher on engagement
- Tá sé ag cócaireacht sa chistin – He is cooking in the kitchen
- Pronounced ‘thaw shay egg coke-air-ucht sa kishthin’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points, resources and references:
- Self-Determination Theory website
- Na dean dearmad – Don’t forget
- Pronounced ‘naw jane jarmad’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points, resources and references:
- Self-Determination Theory website with hundreds of research papers on motivation and engagement
- Dr. Richard Ryan’s profile on Researchgate with his 512 publications and 294,790 citations!
- Johnmarshall Reeve – Eminent researcher on engagement
- Book chapter: Ryan, Reeve, Kaplan and Matos (2023): Education as Flourishing: Self-Determination Theory in Schools as They Are and as They Might Be
- Book: Ryan et al. (2022): Supporting Students’ Motivation – Strategies for Success
- Excellent, easy to read book for educators.
- Tá sé ag cócaireacht sa chistin – He is cooking in the kitchen
- Pronounced ‘thaw shay egg coke-air-ucht sa kishthin’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and References:
- Follow Eowyn’s updates on LinkedIn and on Twitter (X).
Recommended references and reading from Eowyn:
- Cenoz, J., F. Genesee and D. Gorter. 2014. “Critical Analysis of CLIL: Taking Stock and Looking Forward.” Applied Linguistics, 35 (3): 243-262.
- Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. 2010. “Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching?” The Modern Language Journal, 94(1), 103–115.
- Cummins, J. (2008). Teaching for Transfer: Challenging the Two Solitudes Assumption in Bilingual Education. In N. Hornberger (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Language and Education (pp. 1528-1538). New York: Springer US. Lin, A. M. Y. 2013. “Towards Paradigmatic Change in TESOL Methodologies: Building Plurilingual Pedagogies from the Ground up.” TESOL Quarterly 47 (3): 521-545.
- Littlewood, W., & Yu, B. 2011.” First language and target language in the foreign language classroom”. Language Teaching, 41 (1): 64-77.
- Lo, Y.Y. 2015. “How much L1 is too much? – Teachers’ language use in response to students’ abilities and classroom interaction in CLIL” .International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18(3), 270-28
- Macaro, E. 2009. “Teacher Use of Codeswitching in the Second Language Classroom: Exploring ‘Optimal Use’.” In First Language Use in Second and Foreign Language Learning, edited by M. Turnbull and J. Dailey-O’Cain, 35-49. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
- Moore, P. 2013. “An Emergent Perspective on the Use of the First Language in the English as‐a‐Foreign‐Language Classroom”. The Modern Language Journal, 97, 1, p. 239-253
- Tian, L., and E. Macaro. 2012. “Comparing the Effect of Teacher Codeswitching with English-only Explanations on the Vocabulary Acquisition of Chinese University Students: A Lexical Focus-on-form Study.” Language Teaching Research 16 (3): 367-391.
- Turnbull, M., and J. Dailey-O’Cain. (Eds.) 2009. “First Language Use in Second and Foreign Language Learning”. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
- Wang, D. 2016. “Translanguaging in Chinese foreign language classrooms: students and teachers’ attitudes and practices”, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2016.1231773
- Tá grá agam duit – I love you
- Pronounced ‘thaw graw ogum dhitch’
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Online conference: The CI Reboot
- In-person conference in France: The Agen Workshop
- Carl Hendrick’s book: How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology and What They Mean in Practice
- Dewaele, J.-M. and Alfawzan, M., 2018. Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance? Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching [Online], 8(1), p.21.
- Saito, K., Dewaele, J.M., Abe, M. and In’nami, Y., 2018. Motivation, Emotion, Learning Experience, and Second Language Comprehensibility Development in Classroom Settings: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study. Language Learning [Online], 68(3), pp.709–743.
- Adriana Ramirez’s book series Revolucionarias
- Bryan Kandel’s book: Los sobrevivientes
- An bhliain = The year
- Pronounced “on vlee-in”
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Episode 32: Unpacking language teacher professional identity with Dr. Ed Stevens
- Lichtman & VanPatten 2021 – “Was Krashen right? 40 years later”
- The Interaction Hypothesis, Dr. Michael Long
- Working paper: The output hypothesis, from theory to practice
- Ar ais arís = Back again
- Pronounced “Err ash erreesh”
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Cárbh as duit? = Where are you from?
- Pronounced “Caw riv os ditch”
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Ar fheabhas = Excellent!
- Pronounced “Air owss”
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Episode 51: Using classroom jobs to provide more inputs
- Focal = word
- Pronounced “Fuck-il”
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Episode 24: 11 zero-prep reading strategies for the language classroom
- Episode 86: Eight zero-prep classroom activities to instil a love of reading
- The Matthew Effect on reading
- Nagy and Herman (1987), Learning Word Meanings from Context during Normal Reading
- Study by the University of Sussex showing that reading reduced stress levels by 68%
- BBC Future (2019), Does reading fiction make us better people?
- Shapiro and Rucker (2003), Reading helps medical students to become better doctors
- Lloyd, J. (2022), Pioneering an exciting new reading programme for social and emotional learning at the International School of Lausanne
- Elley (2006), Acquiring Literacy in a Second Language: The Effect of Book‐Based Programs
- An leabhar = The book
- Pronounced “On lao-er”
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Detailed handout put together by Dr. Beniko Mason with links to research, resources and websites for Story Listening
- Dr. Beniko Mason and Dr. Stephen Krashen on ‘optimal input’
- Mason, B., Vanata, M., Jander, K., Borsch, R., & Krashen, S. (2009). The effects and efficiency of hearing stories on vocabulary acquisition by students of German as a second foreign language in Japan. The Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 5(1), 1-14.
- Mason, B., & Krashen, S. (2017). Self-selected reading and TOEIC performance: Evidence from case histories. Shitennoji University Bulletin, 63, 469-475.
- Dr Beniko Mason – Resources for story listening
- Huge database of stories for language learning: The great story reading project
- Alice Ayel’s website
- Ar ais arís = Back again
- Pronounced “Air ash air eesh”
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
- Twitter: @motclasspodcast
- Facebook: themotivatedclassroom
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Anderson, J. and Chung, Y.-C., 2011. Finding a voice: arts-based creativity in the community languages classroom. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism [Online], 14(5), pp.551–569. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2010.537742
- Bowman, Richard., 2018. Teaching and Learning in a Storytelling Culture. Issues and Ideas [Online], 913(3), pp.97–102. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2017.1373547.
- Egan, K., 2005. An Imaginative Approach to Teaching [Online]. 1 edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Available from: https://www.amazon.com/Imaginative-Approach-Teaching-Kieran-Egan/dp/0470928484.
- Isbell, R., Sobol, J., Lindauer, L. and Lowrance, A., 2004. The Effects of Storytelling and Story Reading on the Oral Language Complexity and Story Comprehension of Young Children. Early Childhood Education Journal [Online], 32(3), pp.157–163. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1023/b:ecej.0000048967.94189.a3
- Kramsch, Claire., 1998. Language and Culture [Online]. 1st editio. Oxford, OX: Oxford University Press.
- Kramsch, laire., 2009. The multilingual subject: What foreign language learners say about their experience and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Landrum, R. E., Brakke, K., & McCarthy, M. A. (2019). The pedagogical power of storytelling. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 5(3), 247–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000152.1017/s0261444817000088
- Mokhtar, N.H., Farida, M., Halim, A., Zurina, S. and Kamarulzaman, S., 2011. The Effectiveness of Storytelling in Enhancing Communicative Skills. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences [Online], 18, pp.163–169. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.05.024.
- Phillips, Louise, 2013. Storytelling as Pedagogy. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years [Online], 21(2)
- Sneddon, R. (2008). Young bilingual children learning to read with dual language books. English Teaching : Practice and Critique, 7(2), 71
- Whaley, C., 2002. Meeting the Diverse Needs of Children through Storytelling. Supporting Language Learning. Young Children [Online], 57(2), pp.31–34.
- Coinín beag = Little rabbit / bunny rabbit
- Pronounced “Coneen beug”
Get in touch on social media with your questions and comments using #MotivatedClassroom
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Key talking points and research mentioned:
- Cécile Lainé on Instagram
- Cécile Lainé’s blog: https://towardproficiency.com/
- Three Myths about Story Listening (Inc. action research on vocabulary retention)
- What can 1st graders do after 50 stories?
- The great Story Reading Project (scroll down to find the wiki where teachers share their own story scripts)
- More stories here (for Novice learners) and here (Halloween stories, the hairy toe is in there).
- Story LIstening in the classroom on YouTube: Kathrin Schechtman (German), Megan Hayes (Spanish), Cécile Lainé (French)
- Julian is a mermaid (Story Listening in my classroom with a special comment by the author of the book, Jessica Love!!) The Book is also available in Spanish and French, perfect for Novice
- “What happens after the story” ideas.
- i gconaí ag éisteacht = always listening
- Pronounced “ih go-knee egg ayshtucht”
This special Q&A episode covers topics ranging from motivating students in online lessons to using artificial intelligence in the language classroom.
Irish words:
Fan go feicfidh mé = Let me see!
- Pronounced “fon gu feckee may”
- AI Tools for Educators
ChatGPT: Used for creating and editing basic stories tailored to specific student levels and contexts.
Twee: Summarizes YouTube videos and generates questions for classroom use.
Diffit: Simplifies or differentiates texts to match specific reading levels, particularly effective for English language materials.
2. World Language Bookshelf
A curated collection of over 600 language readers searchable by author, level, content, or release date. Recommended for starting or expanding a free, voluntary reading library.
3. Story Listening
Insights from Dr. Beniko Mason, Alice Ayel, and Cécilie Lainé on using story listening in classrooms. Ideal for fostering comprehension and engagement.
Episodes referenced: The recent three-part series on story listening.
1. Motivating Students During Online Lessons
– Address the basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness.
– Use strategies like storytelling, student choice, and personal connections to enhance engagement.
2. Using AI in the Language Classroom
– AI tools can assist in generating resources but require editing for context and appropriateness.
– Effective for visuals, question creation, and differentiating texts.
3. Story Creation and Free Voluntary Reading
– Co-created stories (TPRS) typically require 1-2 weeks of lessons.
– Start a reading program by investing in a small library of level-appropriate readers and establishing consistent routines.
A huge Go raibh míle maith agat to all patrons of the podcast. If you’d like to support the show, you can become a patron here or buy me a coffee here!
This episode blends practical advice with insights into how modern tools and techniques can elevate language teaching. If you found it helpful, please share it with your colleagues, friends, and students using #MotivatedClassroom:
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Welcome to Episode 112 of The Motivated Classroom podcast, in this episode, we delve into the challenge of preparing students for high-stakes exams while using a Comprehensible Input (CI) approach. The discussion explores various Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories and their implications for teaching in contexts where exams, such as university entry tests, are the ultimate goal.
Irish words:
Chuaigh me go dtí = I went to
- Pronounced “hoo-ee may gu gee”
Key SLA Theories Discussed
- Output Hypothesis
The idea that producing language (speaking or writing) enhances language learning by pushing learners to process language at a deeper level. - Interaction Hypothesis
This theory emphasizes the importance of interactive communication in language learning, highlighting the benefits of real-time conversation and feedback. - Noticing Hypothesis
This suggests that learners must “notice” language features in input in order to learn them effectively. It’s a central concept in language acquisition. - Input-Interaction-Output Model
A comprehensive model suggesting that language learning occurs through a combination of comprehensible input, interactive use of the language, and productive output.
Resources Mentioned
– SLA Research and Theories
The episode dives deep into SLA research, specifically examining how CI fits into high-stakes exam contexts and whether additional teaching strategies are needed to succeed in these settings.
Key talking points and research mentioned:
- David Block (2003) – Input, Interaction, Output (IIO) Model: in Block, D. (2003). The Social Turn in Second Language Acquisition. Edinburgh University Press.
- Merrill Swain – Output Hypothesis in Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.), Input in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 235-253). Newbury House.
- Michael Long – Interaction Hypothesis in Long, M. H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 413-468). Academic Press.
- Richard Schmidt – Noticing Hypothesis in Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 129-158.
- Lichtman, K., & VanPatten, B. (2021). Was Krashen right? Forty years later. Foreign Language Annals, 54(2), 283-305.
- Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Pergamon Press.
- Krashen, S. D. (2003). Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use. Heinemann.
- Video: The linguistic genius of babies – Dr. Patricia Kuhl
Key Concepts Discussed
- Is CI Enough for High-Stakes Exams? The episode examines whether relying solely on CI is sufficient for students preparing for major exams or if other methods, such as productive output, are necessary for optimal language acquisition and exam success.
- Incorporating SLA Theories in Exam Prep The discussion includes practical ways of integrating theories like the Output and Interaction Hypotheses, as well as the Input-Interaction-Output model into exam preparation, ensuring that students are not only receiving input but also practising language use in communicative settings.
Thank You!
A huge Go raibh míle maith agat to all patrons of the podcast. If you’d like to support the show, you can become a patron here or buy me a coffee here!
This episode explores theoretical insights with practical advice on how to adapt CI for students facing high-stakes exams. If you found it helpful, please share it with your colleagues, friends, and students using #MotivatedClassroom:
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This episode focuses on the Critical Period Hypothesis, which examines whether there is a limited biological window for acquiring language to native-like proficiency. The discussion includes a review of key studies and critiques of this hypothesis.
Irish words:
Go cúramach = Be careful!
- Pronounced “guh
Key Theories Discussed
1. Origins of the Critical Period Hypothesis
– First proposed by Wilder Penfield and Lamar Roberts (1959) in Speech and Brain Mechanisms.
– Popularized by Eric Lenneberg (1967) in Biological Foundations of Language.
– Claims that language acquisition is easier and more natural before puberty due to biological factors.
2. Case Studies Supporting the Hypothesis
– Victor, the feral child (1799): Despite intense tutoring, showed limited language acquisition after age 12.
– Genie (1970s): Severely deprived of language input; her language development was incomplete even after extensive intervention.
3. Studies of Deaf Children
– Research by Newport (1990) compared groups exposed to sign language at different ages.
– Findings revealed more errors and less grammaticality in sign language among those exposed later.
4. Sensitive vs. Critical Period
– Research by Hakuta et al. (2003) suggests the term “sensitive period” may be more appropriate, as some individuals still achieve high levels of proficiency later in life.
Resources Mentioned
1. Studies Referenced
– Patkowski (1980): Sensitive Period for the Acquisition of Syntax in a Second Language.
– Johnston & Newport (1989): Age of Arrival and Language Proficiency in Chinese and Korean Learners.
– Mayberry & Kluender (2018): Brain Development and Late Learning of American Sign Language.
2. Books and Articles
– Lenneberg, E. (1967). Biological Foundations of Language.
– Rothman, J. (2008). Critical Period Hypothesis and Its Challenges.
Key Concepts Discussed
1. Implications for Teachers
– Avoid focusing on perfect pronunciation or native-like fluency; celebrate learners’ multilingual abilities.
– Provide rich, engaging, and comprehensible inputs to overcome barriers to acquisition.
2. Motivation and Confidence
– Success in language learning is not solely age-dependent but influenced by motivation, environment, and effective teaching strategies.
Thank You!
A huge Go raibh míle maith agat to all patrons of the podcast. If you’d like to support the show, you can become a patron here or buy me a coffee here.
This episode highlights the complexities of the Critical Period Hypothesis and its relevance for language learning. If you found it useful, please share it with your colleagues, friends, and students using #MotivatedClassroom!
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Enjoying The Motivated Classroom Podcast? I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a 5⭐ review on Apple Podcasts here or on Spotify here.
This episode explores Universal Grammar, the idea that humans have an innate, inbuilt language capacity. We discuss theories from Noam Chomsky and others, alongside critiques and alternative perspectives on how language is acquired.
Irish words:
Feách! = Look!
Pronounced “fay-uk”
Key Theories Discussed
- Universal Grammar (UG)
- Introduced by Noam Chomsky in the 1980s.
- Proposes the existence of a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that allows humans to acquire language effortlessly during early development.
- Evidence Supporting UG
- Poverty of Stimulus Argument: Suggests that children acquire complex language rules despite limited explicit input.
- Creole Formation: Examples of children transforming pidgin languages into fully grammatical creoles, supporting the idea of an innate grammar system.
- Critiques of UG
- Patricia Kuhl (2000s): Argues that learning stems from biases and strategies for processing inputs, not an innate device.
- Eva Dubrovsky (2015): Challenges UG’s assumptions, highlighting the sufficiency of rich and varied linguistic input in language acquisition.
Resources Mentioned
- Books and Studies
- Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin, and Use.
- Dubrovsky, E. (2015). The Limits of Universal Grammar: A Critique.
- Research on pidgin and creole development in linguistic communities.
- Alternative Theories
- Patricia Kuhl: Studies on infant speech perception and its implications for language development.
Key Concepts Discussed
- Implications for Teachers
- Focus on providing rich, compelling, and comprehensible inputs.
- Recognize that learners can acquire language through exposure and motivation, even without a “perfect” inbuilt system.
- Input and Output Balance
- Comprehensible inputs are essential for building a linguistic system.
- Outputs help refine fluency but should not precede adequate input exposure.
Thank You!
A huge Go raibh míle maith agat to all patrons of the podcast. If you’d like to support the show, you can become a patron here or buy me a coffee here.
This episode examines the ongoing debate surrounding Universal Grammar and its relevance for language teachers. If you found it insightful, please share it with your colleagues, friends, and students using #MotivatedClassroom!
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Enjoying The Motivated Classroom Podcast? I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a 5⭐ review on Apple Podcasts here or on Spotify here.
This episode focuses on the importance of questions in language teaching. It highlights how thoughtful questioning builds relationships, fosters engagement, and aids language acquisition.
Irish words:
Ceisteanna = Questions
- Pronounced “kesh tin-ah”
Key Concepts Discussed
- Types of Questions
- Use of key question words such as who, what, where, how many, and their importance in building communication skills.
- Incorporating gestures and visuals to reinforce understanding.
- Circling Technique
- Repeating questions with variations (yes/no, either/or, open-ended) to provide multiple repetitions of key language structures.
- Helps learners process and internalize language patterns.
- Creating a Question-Friendly Environment
- Displaying question words prominently in the classroom.
- Using interactive strategies like shout-outs or gestures to make questioning fun and engaging.
Practical Strategies
- Student Jobs
- Assign roles for students to respond with gestures or reactions to specific question words.
- Examples: Gesture for where by shading eyes as if searching; gesture for how much by mimicking counting money.
- Encouraging Interaction
- Build classroom routines where students use and respond to questions regularly.
Thank You!
A huge Go raibh míle maith agat to all patrons of the podcast. If you’d like to support the show, you can become a patron here or buy me a coffee here.
This episode highlights how questioning techniques can transform language learning. If you found it helpful, please share it with your colleagues, friends, and students using #MotivatedClassroom!
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Enjoying The Motivated Classroom Podcast? I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a 5⭐ review on Apple Podcasts here or on Spotify here.
This episode explores the role of co-created stories in fostering positive emotions such as joy, interest, and happiness in language classrooms. Based on my recent research study, the episode emphasizes the importance of creating a positive emotional climate to enhance language acquisition.
Irish words:
Faitíos = Fear/apprehension
- Pronounced “faitch-ee-us”
Key Concepts Discussed
- The Power of Positive Emotions
- Emotions like joy and interest facilitate better memory retention and learner engagement.
- A positive classroom atmosphere supports intrinsic motivation and reduces anxiety.
- Co-Created Stories
- Involving students in storytelling enhances their connection to the content.
- This approach fosters a sense of ownership, creativity, and emotional involvement in learning.
- Research Highlights
- Findings from the study suggest that learners participating in co-created stories report higher levels of enjoyment and engagement compared to traditional methods.
Practical Strategies
- Implementing Co-Created Stories
- Collaborate with students to build stories using their ideas and input.
- Use visual aids, gestures, and simple language to ensure comprehensibility.
- Building Engagement Through Ownership
- Allow students to suggest plot twists, characters, or endings for the stories.
- Celebrate and share completed stories to reinforce a sense of achievement.
Thank You!
A huge Go raibh míle maith agat to all patrons of the podcast. If you’d like to support the show, you can become a patron here or buy me a coffee here.
This episode highlights the emotional benefits of co-created storytelling and its impact on language learning. If you found it valuable, please share it with your colleagues, friends, and students using #MotivatedClassroom!
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Enjoying The Motivated Classroom Podcast? I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a 5⭐ review on Apple Podcasts here or on Spotify here.
In this follow-up to Episode 116, Dr. Liam Printer delves into the methodology and findings of his research on co-created stories. The episode provides insights into how this approach fosters a positive emotional climate in the classroom.
Irish words:
Shona sásta = So happy
- Pronounced “hun-ah saw-sta”
Key Concepts Discussed
- Research Methodology
- The study involved language learners from diverse backgrounds participating in co-created storytelling activities.
- Data was collected through surveys, classroom observations, and interviews to measure emotional engagement.
- Findings on Emotional Engagement
- Students who participated in co-created stories reported feeling more motivated and connected to their peers and teacher.
- Joy and interest were identified as critical factors in boosting language acquisition.
Practical Strategies
- Designing Effective Co-Created Stories
- Use student-suggested ideas to craft narratives tailored to their interests.
- Incorporate humor and surprises to maintain engagement.
- Evaluating Emotional Impact
- Regularly gather feedback from students to refine storytelling approaches.
- Use reflection activities to help students recognize how emotions support their learning.
Thank You!
A huge Go raibh míle maith agat to all patrons of the podcast. If you’d like to support the show, you can become a patron here or buy me a coffee here.
This episode deepens the exploration of co-created storytelling and its emotional and linguistic benefits. If you found it useful, please share it with your colleagues, friends, and students using #MotivatedClassroom!
- Instagram: @themotivatedclassroom
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Enjoying The Motivated Classroom Podcast? I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a 5⭐ review on Apple Podcasts here or on Spotify here.
