The Motivated Classroom

A potentially controversial topic for some listeners but an important one nonetheless: Is Comprehensible Input enough on its own? What about output, grammar and practice ? Is there a role in the language acquisition class for these too? In this episode, I discuss my take on this argument and hopefully provide some thought-provoking questions for everyone to consider as we talk to colleagues who ma...

One of the most frequently asked questions in the month of May is "have you any tips for keeping up the motivation at the end of the year... I'm struggling!". I hear you loud and clear. This episode focuses on how to maintain motivation, for both the students and you as the teacher, right until the end of the school year. I give an overview of some of the activities I have found to keep the motiva...

In this episode, we have the pleasure of listening to renowned expert on multilingualism, Dr. Eowyn Crisfield . Dr. Crisfield shares valuable insights from the research on supporting multilingualism and also helps us to dispel some of the myths around bilingual children. This episode is full of vitally important nuggets of important for all educators, not just language acquisition teachers. A core...

In this episode 100, I am delighted and honoured to be joined by esteemed researcher, psychologist and co-founder of Self-Determination Theory , Dr. Richard Ryan . Dr. Ryan's work has been cited over 510,000 times and his work with Edward Deci on intrinsic motivation and Self-Determination Theory has changed the way educators understand raising motivation in the classroom. Dr. Ryan provides us wit...

This episode features the influential and renowned language learner motivation researcher, Dr. Kimberly Noels . Dr. Noels is a full professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta, Canada where she focuses on motivation and second language acquisition. Dr. Noels provides us with insightful perspectives on the current research around raising intrinsic motivation in the langua...

The second episode with a direct focus on the core premise of this podcast: language learner motivation . In this episode I look in detail at three case studies shared by the listeners on demotivation and how we can turn this into intrinsic motivation in the language acquisition classroom over the last two years. Thank you to all the podcast patrons and supporters for sharing their scenarios and c...

In this episode we are going back to the roots and core premise of this podcast: language learner motivation . This episode focuses on what we have learned together about raising intrinsic motivation in the language acquisition classroom over the last two years of this podcast. In particular, we look at the research around building motivation and my take on what I'm calling the 'motivation-engagem...

In this episode we are joined by the wonderful and inspiring educator, Abelardo Almazán-Vázquez. Abelardo shares with us his journey and testimony as a cisgender male who is actively trying to interrupt and take apart the toxic masculinity and misogyny we experience in schools. This episode is full of excellent tips, advice and experiences to help us to work towards a more equitable and inclusive...

This episode features one of the most impactful & inspiring interviews I've ever done, by far! The inspirational educator, Janique Vanderstocken, tells us about how she goes about doing trauma-informed teaching with her groups of illiterate students. Janique gives us a host of concrete tips, techniques and approaches to help students with very low literacy levels as well as those who are total...

Teachers frequently ask about how we can continue to use a compelling, comprehensible inputs, approach with advanced learners . The key is to relinquish some of our own power in the classroom and provide increased autonomy to students, allowing them to plan, design and deliver their own classes. This episode explores one such approach with a group of advanced students of Spanish and how this incre...

Following up on the extended episode 92 on maximising our target language use in class, this episode goes a little deeper and discusses how an over-emphasis on grammar instruction and accuracy is killing natural acquisition . Touching on key issues in our field, the goal of this episode is to open up professional debate about how we continue to emphasise grammar instruction , even in our beginner...

A special, extended, episode focusing on the why and how of target language use in the language acquisition classroom with the brilliant Alina Filipescu and Jason Fritze . This episode was first aired as a livestream for the #CIReboot conference in summer 2022. Alina and Jason share lots of fantastic practical examples from their primary and secondary classrooms in order to help us all to use the...

Error correction in the language acquisition classroom is one of those topics that always results in divided opinion. So what can the research tell us about it? In this episode we explore the role of error correction in writing, speaking and most importantly on learner motivation. How much is too much? When should we correct students and when should we say nothing? The answers, as always with lang...

The second in a two-part series focusing on equity and access to learning for all. Following up on Episode 89 on 'Universal Design for Learning' (UDL) , this episodes looks more at differentiation ; what we can and should be doing inside our language acquisition classrooms in order to support all learners and ensure they all have the tools needed to access the learning. I provide a list of some of...

In this first of a two-part series focusing on differentiation, equity and how to ensure all learners have access to the learning, we look at the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its applications in the language acquisition classroom. This episode goes over the 3 main priorities of UDL and their 9 principles, using an example from the world languages classroom to show how we can apply some...

This question and answer episode features some great questions from listeners about: What we do when new students come into our CI or acquisition focused classes when they're coming from what may be considered a much more 'traditional' learning environment? How do we adapt our lessons for adult learners and what about those 'difficult' classes, what suggestions are there to make them run smoothly?...

This episode of The Motivated Classroom podcast focuses on going back to school. I go through eight of my top strategies or goals to ensure both we, the teachers, and our students have a motivated year. Most importantly, there is a particular focus in these strategies on teacher and student well-being. Let me know what you think of them and what your goals are for a motivated year in school! Build...

This episode focuses on eight of my favourite activities designed to instil a love of reading among your language acquisition students, including a particular emphasis on the much requested "reading diary". Reading is the central and key element in language acquisition, yet many teachers are unsure about strategies to use in order to motivate our students into eager readers. Hopefully these eight,...

The wonderfully talent teacher, presenter and author of easy-to-read literature , Margarita Pérez García , joins us in the episode of The Motivated Classroom to talk us through how she uses novels in her classroom to motivate and engage beginner language students . As we know from decades of research, reading is a crucial and central element to language acquisition, yet teachers are often unsure h...

As a follow-up to the interview with Dr. Stephen Krashen , in this episode we look at a very common question among language teachers: Can we use a Comprehensible Input approach or with 'Acquisition Driven Instruction (ADI)' when it comes to intermediate or more advanced learners ? This episode takes a slightly different angle as I demonstrate what CI would look like in my classroom for both beginn...

Professor Emeritus Dr. Stephen Krashen is one of the most important and influential language acquisition researchers in history. His research over 40 years has completely revolutionised our understanding of how languages are acquired. Dr. Krashen has been cited in over 23,000 peer reviewed research journals and has authored more than 560 publications. The ' Input Hypothesis ', which showed us how...

The third episode in the mini-series on " Teaching with Comprehensible Input (CI) " is a Q&A episode with some great questions from you wonderful listeners on CI being more inclusive than grammar teaching, what we talk to parents about when we teach with CI and what do we do when students miss lots of inputs through absence. As always, please keep in touch and share widely! Full programme note...

In this second episode in the mini-series on " Teaching with Comprehensible Input (CI) ", we discuss the big debates around CI teaching: Whether it is inherently more inclusive but often perceived as less authentic? What do we even mean by 'authentic' and 'inclusive' in the language classroom in the first place? Join me to find out my take on all this! As always, please keep in touch and share wid...

The first in a five-part series on " Teaching with Comprehensible Input (CI) ", focuses on the obstacles and resistance many of us face in our journey to become more acquisition centred educators. I discuss six of the obstacles I've had in my practice and those I've seen and heard about from other language teachers.  As always, please keep in touch and share widely! Full programme notes are availa...

In this episode of The Motivated Classroom podcast from 2022, Gianfranco Conti discusses acquiring languages through 'Extensive Processing Instruction' (EPI) and how it links to motivation and engagement. As with all episodes, listeners are encouraged to engage critically with the ideas presented and to consider how the principles may be applied to their own unique pedagogical context. As...