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
Thanks to Karen Rowan and the online language teacher conference, CI Reboot 2026 https://fluencyfast.com/cireboot/ for bringing us together with a favorite podcast, SLAyyy!
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcas...
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"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 lan...
Episode 47 - Teacher evaluations
Bryce Hedstrom’s observation checklist: https://www.brycehedstrom.com/wp-content/uploads/Checklist-for-Observing-a-WL-Classroom-2.pdf
Reed mentioned two books about use of translation in language teaching:
Kerr, P. (2014). Translation and own-language activities. Cambridge University Press. https://a.co/d/0b4fjY57
Cook, G. (2010). Translation in language teaching: An arg...
Episode 46: Word Repetition -- Show Notes
We discussed TCI Oregon, June 29-July 1, 2026: https://cocc.edu/departments/community-ed/tci
Diane mentioned several "button using" animal accounts on social media: ElsieWants, Flounder_Meatloaf, What about Bunny, and Pixel and Friends
Diane also mentioned:
Glisan, E. W., & Donato, R. (2017). Enacting the Work of Language Instruction: High-Leverage Teaching Practi...
Episode 45: Impactful Teacher Training
Show notes:
Diane mentioned this article:
Neubauer, D., & Wesely, P. (2023). K-12 world language teachers’ use of conferences as professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 124, 104042. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X23000306
The ACTFL Past President who spoke at ACTFL Convention 2025 is Milton A...
Episode 44: Fools Rush In: Individual Pathways
Reed started the conversation with a quote from the book The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do by Judith Rich Harris https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Nurture-Assumption/Judith-Rich-Harris/9781439101650
Diane mentioned the book Quiet by Susan Cain https://susancain.net/book/quiet/
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" ...
Show notes:
The video clip we watched & discussed is on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/VlZESXSvi-Q
Adriana Ramírez's website: https://www.adrianaramirez.ca/
Adriana has a podcast co-hosted with Margarita Pérez García, in Spanish: Armando Bochinche
Diane mentioned Paul Seedhouse's work, & paraphrased from his book The Interactional Architecture of the Language Classroom (2004). Seedhouse, P. (2004...
Episode 42: Do different levels of language learners need different things?
Show Notes
Mitten CI language teaching conference April 17 & 18, 2026: https://mittenci.weebly.com/
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"Conversations about Language Teaching" is a po...
Episode 41 Show Notes:
Diane mentioned this episode of the Mel Robbins podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHpFwHYDnKE
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teach...
Thank you to our guest, Dan Call, who joined us for this episode! Information about Dan's award as Pacific Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year: https://www.actfl.org/career-development/actfl-awards/teacher-of-the-year-program/hall-of-fame-2026/dan-call
Dan's LinkedIn Profile is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-call-377256179
Show notes:
Funds of knowledge is a term initially created by Gloria Ladson-...
Show Notes:
Diane mentioned studies that have found children process language more slowly than adults. One such study is here:
Nip, I. S. B., & Green, J. R. (2013). Increases in Cognitive and Linguistic Processing Primarily Account for Increases in Speaking Rate With Age. Child Development, 84(4), 1324–1337. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23469381
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPaz...
Episode 38: ACTFL Language Teacher Awards as Professional Development
Show Notes
Guest: Ngan-Ha Ta, PhD
Ngan's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nganhata
ACTFL Convention & World Languages Expo information: https://www.actfl.org/convention-and-expo
Our previous episode with Ngan: Episode 9: Teacher Training
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2325378/episodes/1529...
Show Notes: Episode 37: "Listen & Do" in language teaching
Reed mentioned:
Ellis, R., & He, X. (1999). The roles of modified input and output in the incidental acquisition of word meanings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 285-301. https://www.scribd.com/document/359925425/10-0000-www-cambridge-org-3B026C16F7E59E3458121D43E055741D
We also mentioned:
Shintani, N. (2012). Input-based tasks ...
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"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 lan...
Menken & Garcia, 2010 ch. 16
Johnson, 2013
ACTFL 90%+ TL use position statement
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on both research and classroom &a...
Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"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 lan...
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
Conversations about Language Teaching
Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD
"Conversations about Language Te...
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-lan...
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