Conversations about Language Teaching
"Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on both research and classroom & online language teaching. If you like thinking deeply about issues of classroom language teaching and how those relate to research and theory, this podcast might be for you. Reed & Diane, the hosts, base our knowledge of language teaching on research we've read & done, theoretical views of language acquisition, our experiences as language teachers and learners, and our observations of language teaching in the US and elsewhere. We like to help build bridges among teachers and researchers and view ourselves as part of both communities. We collaborate on projects & like talking about language teaching & learning, and decided to have some of those conversations in a podcast format. Here it is! A transcripted, video version of the podcast is on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage More about Diane: https://sites.google.com/view/dianen/home More about Reed: http://www.reedriggs.com
Episodes
Episode 33: Introducing Vocabulary Show Notes
Diane mentioned the book Vocabulary Myths by Keith Folse. Here is the publisher's site about it: https://press.umich.edu/Books/V/Vocabulary-Myths2
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Thanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching.
Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned:
https:/...
Episode 32 Show notes - Focus on Form
Michael Long’s thinking about “focus on meaning,” “focus on form,’ and “focus on forms” in language teaching, for example:
Long, M. (2008). Focus on form in task-based language teaching. In Language policy and pedagogy (pp. 179-192). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/82ddd5f2-57ca-4d9e-91ed-5b65b5483395/content
Show Notes: Episode 31 (season 4) show notes: Child language development & implications for teachers
Conversations about Language Teaching Episode 7 was about Conversation Analysis:
YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zny0LLUh3TM
Audio-only podcast episode https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/2325378/episodes/15229325-episode-7-learning-about-language-classroom-interaction-through-conversation-analysis
Episode 30 Show Notes -- Purposes for Picture Talk
Link to Cheng & Tsui webinar (mentioned by Diane as included Picture Talk): https://youtu.be/HinXS0n762g
eBook (includes both ‘levels’ of Picture Talk Diane described) https://cheng-tsui.publishercart.com/product/comprehension-based-chinese-ebook/
Hawaii Department of Education https://learningdesign.hawaiipublicschools.org/standards-based-content/world-langu...
Episode 29 Show Notes - Rethinking Authenticity
Hasegawa, A. (2018). Understanding task‐in‐process through the lens of laughter: Activity designs, instructional materials, learner orientations, and interpersonal relationships. The Modern Language Journal, 102(1), 142-161. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12448
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
This episode is in Mandarin Chinese. Reed & Diane talk about their experiences as non-native learners, users, and teachers of Mandarin Chinese.
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Thanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching.
Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned:
https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
No show notes this time!
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Thanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching.
Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned:
https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
We welcome support for the podcasting costs. See "Support" here: https://conversationsaboutlanguage.buzzsprout.com/2325378...
Episode 26: Children’s Books & Reading for Vocabulary Growth
Show Notes
The Mandarin Companion blog has concise & helpful information about Extensive reading (ER) and 98% known language. This post also describes why children’s books are not necessarily suitable for second language learners:
https://mandarincompanion.com/7-mistakes-about-extensive-reading/
Episode 25: There Is No Best Method–Why? Discussing Prabhu (1990)
Show Notes
We discussed this article:
Prabhu, N. S. (1990). There is no best method—Why?. TESOL Quarterly, 24(2), 161-176. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586897
It is freely available online at the link above. Diane missed the number of times it has been cited – “only” 1666 citations as of Feb. 28, 2025. That is still quite a lot in the field of applied lin...
Episode 24 - Pronunciation development
Reed’s grad school classmate's study:
https://www.hawaii.edu/sls/phd-student-wenyi-ling-2018-research-award/
The full dissertation:
Ling, W. (2021). The Perception, Processing and Learning of Mandarin Lexical Tone by Second Language Speakers. University of Hawai'i at Manoa. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/4e749171-1747-4236-b40e-5430a9...
Episode 23: AI Chatbots
Show Notes
Dr. Rachel Mamiya Hernandez-relevant link about using AI chatbots for language learning: https://clt.manoa.hawaii.edu/blog/event/ai-chatbots-2/
Billie Eilish AI interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0c94ghBS4A
Magic School AI tool, where Reed & Diane have both prompted chatbots to work with Chinese language learners: https://www.magicschool.ai/ There are many other A...
Episode 22 Show Notes
Michael Long quote is on pp. 6-7 of the following, available freely online at the link:
Long, M. H. (2016). In defense of tasks and TBLT: Nonissues and real issues. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 5-33. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/ED5590DB727AE82E0A98AC05264B83E1/S0267190515000057a.pdf/div-class-title-in-defense-of-tasks-and-tblt-noni...
Show Notes:
Video examples of comprehension-based communicative language teaching:
Hawai`i Association of Language Teacher (HALT) conference presentation recording:
Overview of CCLT (descriptive rather than a demo): https://youtu.be/h0Xd6zVSlxU?si=dIdenoWArOmYlW-q
Teachers from Hawai`i developed a website including descriptions of different teaching strategies, including video clips in many language classroom...
Conversations about Language Teaching
Episode 20: The Silent Period
Show Notes
Search results on Google Scholar for “silent period second language acquisition”
Diane quoted from this document:
Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition. Second Language Learning, ...
Conversations about Language Teaching
Episode 19: Listening comprehension as a goal
Show Notes
We welcome questions and topics to address! We're aiming for episode 21 to be responding to questions. Write to us at conversationsaboutlanguage@gmail.com.
Lichtman, K. (2019). Research on TPR Storytelling (TPRS). Fluency through TPR storytelling, 299-323. https://www.researchgate.ne...
Episode 18: Instructional Activities
Seedhouse, P. (2010). Locusts, snowflakes and recasts: complexity theory and spoken interaction. Classroom Discourse, 1(1), 4–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463011003750624
Neubauer, D. (2022). Chinese Language Instruction with Novice Learners: Target Language Topic Development, Engagement, and Comprehension in Online and Hybrid Classrooms. In: The University of Iowa. https://se...
Episode 17 Show notes
Lichtman, K., & VanPatten, B. (2021). Was Krashen right? Forty years later. Foreign Language Annals, 54(2), 283-305. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/flan.12552
Note: ACTFL members have access to that full article through your membership after logging in. There are also several response articles, and a final response from Lichtman & VanPatten, in the sa...
Season 3 Episode 16: Using Authentic Texts
Show Notes:
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Thanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching.
Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned:
https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
We welcome support for the podcasting costs. See "Support" here: htt...
Season 2 Episode 15: Language Learner Strategies
Show Notes
The chapter is chapter 34 in this book:
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., & Snow, M. A., Eds. (2014). Teaching English as a Second Or Foreign Language. National Geographic Learning. 4th edition.
A free PDF of the 3rd edition (the 2001 edition) is available free here. You can browse parts of the most recent edition (the 2013 4t...
Episode 14 Being a New Teacher at a School
Show Notes
Ngan-Ha Ta https://www.linkedin.com/in/nganhata
GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) https://begladtraining.com/about
Our trainer in GLAD pedagogy was Luis Pelayo Zepeda.
Diane’s PowerPoint with quotes from research and about language is shared freely (and you may use it with students and/or others, crediting your source): https://docs.google.com/p...
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