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)
Ross Thorburn
Episode 200! Best and Worst Common and Uncommon ...

We talk to friends and experts and ask two questions about changes they’d like to see in classrooms: what common teaching practices would you like to see less? And, which less common teaching practices would you like to see more? Guests include Penny Ur, Karin Xie, Ian McGrath, Kathleen Baily, Donald Freeman, Rod Bolitho, Anne Burns and Tessa Woodward.

Episode 200! Best and Worst Common and Uncommon Teaching Practices

lesson planning

5th Anniversary Podcast: The Best Language Learning Activities Known To Mankind

5th Anniversary Podcast: The Best Language Learning Activities Known To Mankind

We break our record for the most guests on one show ever! Hear experts from the TEFL industry with over 200 years of collective experience share their favorite language learning activities. We speak with Edmund Dudley, John Hughes, Matt Courtois, Brian Tomlinson, Ben Beaumont, Dave Weller, Wendy Arnold, Debbie Hepplewhite, Ray Davila and Diederik Van Gorp and ask them all the same question: “What’s your favorite language teaching activity?”

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

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

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

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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.