Ross Thorburn
PPP vs Task Cycles (with Jane Willis)

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

PPP vs Task Cycles (with Jane Willis)
teaching and learning
Ross Thorburn
The Downsides to Speaking (with Professor ...

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

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

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

Remembering More, Forgetting Less (with Lesley Painter-Farrell)
Ross Thorburn
Teacher Evaluation - A Double Edged Sword (with ...

Professor Kathi Bailey joins us to discuss teacher evaluation. Teacher evaluation can do so much good, but it can also end up doing even more harm. Professor Bailey tells us about what supervisors can do to earn trust, why supervision and evaluation is important, and how everyone can make the most out of the process.

Teacher Evaluation - A Double Edged Sword (with Professor Kathleen Bailey)
Ross Thorburn
Using Corpora (with Michael McCarthy)

Professor Michael McCarthy joins me to talk about using corpora in language teaching. Mike tells us how teachers should use corpora when planning lessons, the advantages and disadvantages of showing corpora to students. We discuss how teachers can create their own corpora and how to use corpora to create better materials.

Using Corpora (with Michael McCarthy)

teaching and learning

Applying Critical Thinking In Classes and Materials Writing (with John Hughes)

Applying Critical Thinking In Classes and Materials Writing (with John Hughes)

We speak with ELT course book author and teacher trainer extraordinaire John Hughes about critical thinking: what is it, how can teachers use it and what challenges it presents for teachers and students

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How to Apply What You Learn (with Matt Courtois and Karin Xie)

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How to Apply What You Learn (with Matt Courtois and Karin Xie)

Learning is one thing. Using what you learn is something else. We speak with Karin Xie about how to bridge the gap. Find out how to help students apply their learning, how teachers can apply what they learning on teacher training courses and what trainers and teacher educators can do to encourage teachers apply more of what they learn in professional development.

Podcast: Read To Learn (With Paul Nation)

Podcast: Read To Learn (With Paul Nation)

We celebrate our second anniversary episode by interviewing Emeritus Professor Paul Nation about reading. Paul tells us about research into the effectiveness of reading, why as teachers we tend to avoid including reading in our classes and how we can start doing more reading in class.

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Highlights from IATEFL 2018 in Brighton (Part 2)

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Highlights from IATEFL 2018 in Brighton (Part 2)

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

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Highlights From IATEFL 2018 in Brighton (Part 1)

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Highlights From IATEFL 2018 in Brighton (Part 1)

Didn’t make it to Brighton for this year’s IATEFL conference? We chat with returning guests and friends Dave Weller, Simon Galloway and Felicity Pyatt and new guest Will Ferguson about the best ideas and concepts from the IATEFL’s 52nd annual conference.

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Podcast: How to Start Thinking Straight - Cognitive Biases for Teachers, Trainers & Managers (with Simon Galloway)

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Podcast: How to Start Thinking Straight - Cognitive Biases for Teachers, Trainers & Managers (with Simon Galloway)

Cognitive biases screw up our thinking. They make us make bad decisions, come to wrong wrong conclusions and for the most part we're completely unaware of them. This week we speak with Trinity DipTESOL course Director Simon Galloway about cognitive biases for teachers, cognitive biases for trainers and cognitive biases for managers and how to avoid them and start thinking more clearly. 

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Podcast: Is "Less" Sometimes "More" In Teaching, Training and Management? (Matt Courtois)

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Podcast: Is "Less" Sometimes "More" In Teaching, Training and Management? (Matt Courtois)

We look at minimalist approaches to teaching, training and management and discuss examples of when less busy means more efficiency.

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The "Native" / "Non-Native" English Teacher Debate (with Dave Weller)

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The "Native" / "Non-Native" English Teacher Debate (with Dave Weller)

What are the real differences between "native" and "non-native" English teachers? How did we end up with these distinctions in our industry? And what should we be doing about discrimination? We meet with Dave Weller to discuss the issues surrounding "native" and "non-native" English teachers such as attitudes of parents and teachers, the responsibilities  of language schools and how to change opinions.

Podcast: Teaching Writing to the Students We Forgot (with David Tait)

Podcast: Teaching Writing to the Students We Forgot (with David Tait)

Why don't we teach writing more? Is writing less interesting than other skills? Or less useful? Or just harder to teach? We (Ross, Tracy and Matt Courtois) speak to published author and ESL writing specialist David Tait about how to teach writing and the students who thrive when writing that we forget about when teaching speaking.

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What is Testing and How Does it Shape Our Teaching? (with Dan Ellsworth)

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What is Testing and How Does it Shape Our Teaching? (with Dan Ellsworth)

Testing is a huge part of learning, but most teachers don't know a lot about it. We ask test guru Dan Elsworth all about testing. What is a test? How is it different to an assessment? How Can you go about writing a test? How can you assess students for a learner profile? How do tests affect teaching? Yes, we asked him a lot of questions. Listen to hear the answers...

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Podcast: Taking Role Plays from Nerdiness to Awesomeness (with Fifi Pyatt)

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Podcast: Taking Role Plays from Nerdiness to Awesomeness (with Fifi Pyatt)

We talk with self confessed role play and ESL nerd Fifi Pyatt to look at how to take role plays from nerdiness to awesomeness and discuss how to help students get as much as possible from role plays and also go off on tangents about burning witches and dungeons and dragons…

Podcast: How to Spend a Lifetime in Teaching

Podcast: How to Spend a Lifetime in Teaching

For our first anniversary episode, we talk with Ross' parents about the differences that teaching has seen over the last 40 years, how to motivate yourself throughout your teaching career and what advice they have for young teachers working with older teachers.

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Teachers? Trainers? Schools? Who Is Responsible for Teacher Autonomy? (with Special Guest Jake Whiddon)

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Teachers? Trainers? Schools? Who Is Responsible for Teacher Autonomy? (with Special Guest Jake Whiddon)

Every year schools spend millions of dollars developing curriculums, creating tests, training and observing teachers. But what are the side effects? 

Are Your Materials Helping Your Students Learn Or Just Wasting Your Time?

Are Your Materials Helping Your Students Learn Or Just Wasting Your Time?

Materials creation can be both an outlet for teachers' creativity and an opportunity to make lessons more relevant to students. On the flip side they can also be a giant time-drain and introduce uncertainty to students. Find out what you can use as materials, how to evaluate how useful they are and when it might just be better to stick to the course book.