By TESOL Pop
The mini podcast for busy teachers. Follow for short interviews on teaching, careers and trends in English Language Teaching that you can fit into your coffee break.
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The podcast currently has 104 episodes available.
Author Rachael Harris discusses her latest book, Activities for Developing Learning Strategies, and how her experience teaching teens and young learners inspired her to focus on inclusive practices and the importance of strategies to boost students' performance. The conversation explores examples from Rachael's book, emphasising direct and indirect learning strategies that can be applied in the classroom and beyond.
Watch with closed captions here.
Inspiration Behind the Book
Rachael shares how her experience with teens and young learners inspired her to write Activities for Developing Learning Strategies. She emphasises the importance of teaching students how to learn, which can significantly boost their performance and confidence.
Direct and Indirect Learning Strategies
Rachael outlines the two main types of strategies covered in the book: direct strategies (like vocabulary memorisation) and indirect strategies (such as goal setting and motivation). Both play a critical role in enhancing learning and can be applied across different subjects.
Goal Setting and Quick Wins
One of the most effective techniques Rachael uses is goal setting, where students break down large goals into manageable tasks. The “quick wins” strategy helps maintain motivation by encouraging students to complete small, easy tasks when they feel stuck or demotivated.
Scientific Basis for Learning Strategies
Rachael’s activities are grounded in research, particularly a meta-analysis that shows the most effective learning techniques. She encourages her students to focus on proven methods like spaced practice and self-testing, instead of relying on less effective techniques like re-reading and highlighting.
ABOUT
Rachael Harris has taught ELT, literature & current affairs in primary & secondary schools in Geneva for over 15 years. Up until recently, she was the joint coordinator for IATEFL Inclusive Practices & SEN special interest group. Her latest book Activities for Developing Learning Strategies is a collection of tried tested strategies, designed to help learners succeed in the language classroom and beyond.
REFERENCES
FOLLOW
Love what we do? Say thanks with a coffee.
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our wonderful guest, Rachael Harris.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Kirsten Holt, founder of Creativity Sown, talks about experiential learning in teacher development. In this episode, Kirsten shares practical tips for getting started and highlights the value of building a community to exchange ideas and support growth.
Watch this episode with closed captions here.
KEY TALKING POINTS
What is experiential learning?
Kirsten explains that experiential learning involves applying knowledge in a practical setting (e.g., a classroom), followed by reflection and adjustment. This process helps teachers improve their teaching methods by learning from both successes and mistakes.
Iterative Process of Learning
Teachers are encouraged to try new activities, reflect on their outcomes, and make adjustments. This cycle of testing, analysing, and repeating leads to deeper learning and continuous professional development.
Collaborative and Reflective Practice
Experiential learning thrives in a collaborative environment where teachers share ideas, reflect on their experiences, and help each other improve. It helps foster a positive, engaging staff room culture or even an online community for solo practitioners.
Practical Applications and Resources:
Kirsten highlights how experiential learning can be applied to new technologies, such as AI, by experimenting with different teaching tools and approaches. She also gives the example of Creativity Sown, where teachers can exchange ideas and receive feedback.
ABOUT
Kirsten is based in Brighton, UK where she runs Creativity Sown, a company providing editorial, writing, training and education consultancy services. This encapsulates her 30 years’ experience in education, first in teaching, teacher training and school management, then in publishing, with her passion in training and mentoring. She has written course material for kindergarten learners through to adults, blog content and classroom resources for teachers and teacher trainers; designed and run face-to-face conferences, events online and training programmes, and edited hundreds of books! She is also an international conference speaker, a British Council ELTons judge and has served on the IATEFL MaWSIG and PronSIG Committees.
FOLLOW
Love what we do? Say thanks with a coffee.
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our inspiring guest, Kirsten Holt.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
English language trainer Leo Wu shares insights into tasks he uses in his classes to support his Business English learners in developing essential soft skills for the workplace. In this episode, Leo explains why communication, rather than just language proficiency, is key to success in the business world.
Watch this episode with closed captions here.
KEY TALKING POINTS
Misconceptions in Business English Education
Leo discusses how many students, especially in Taiwan, see Business English as grammar and vocabulary-focused, rather than as a tool for effective communication in the workplace. Leo goes on to highlight the importance of building soft skills like confidence, teamwork, and interpersonal communication to succeed in real-world business environments.
Classroom Activities
Leo walks through tasks and activities he uses in classes, such as mock business meetings, writing appreciation emails, and icebreaker activities, that foster teamwork and improve students' ability to communicate effectively.
Test Preparation versus Communication Skills
Leo touches on the need to balance test-focused learning with practical language use to help students excel both academically and professionally.
ABOUT
Leo Wu, also known as Wuber on social media, is an ESL English teacher and trainer based in Taiwan. Over the past thirteen years, Leo has worked with learners of all ages in various online and offline settings. Currently, he is focused on teaching business-related content to professionals. He teaches at ILI Language Center(文化大學語言中心), and AMC English school, and also provides my private personalised English training lessons through his social media channels. He believes that everyone is capable of speaking languages beautifully and confidently - something that shines through in all the work he does.
FOLLOW LEO
Love what we do? Say thanks with a coffee.
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our lovely guest, Leo Wu.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Roger Hubmann, founder of Happy Students, talks about the evolving role of online learning platforms in language education. Roger shares how modern platforms can create dynamic, engaging, and personalised learning paths for students. He discusses the shift towards using digital tools to support pre and post-class activity, ensuring deeper learning engagement outside the classroom.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.
KEY TALKING POINTS
Evolution of Online Learning
Roger explains how platforms have evolved from static libraries to tools that support personalised and interactive learning paths. Online learning platforms can act as a digital frame that fosters communication and collaboration between learners and teachers.
A Practical Case Study
Medicus Linguae is a great example of how mobile technology and learning platforms can interlink. In the case of Happy Students, the smartphone-compatible platform enables students to upload audio and video assignments, thus increasing their opportunities to develop their skills outside the live class hours.
A Time-Saving Solution
Online or blended learning experiences can save time so that teachers and learners can focus more on meaningful live interactions. Roger also points out how AI tools can assist in creating teaching materials to support teachers in moving to an online or blended teaching model.
ABOUT
Roger Hubmann, Founder of Happy Students, is passionate about creating engaging digital learning interactions and developing digital ecosystems with experts and their knowledge.
With a background in economics, he has extensive experience in digital engagement, product development, and startup developments in virtual worlds and eCommerce. He’s Zurich-based, has lived over a decade in Spain, Berlin, and the UK. Roger believes that the education sector is undergoing similar digital transformations as banking and commerce, where innovation through digital means is key to differentiation.
REFERENCES
Love what we do? Say thanks with a coffee.
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our special guest, Roger Hubmann.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In our 100th episode, TESOL Pop's co-founders Laura Wilkes and Eve Conway dive into the evolving world of generative AI and its implications for education. The explores challenges and opportunities tools like ChatGPT present in learning, assessment, and plagiarism.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.
KEY TALKING POINTS
What is Generative AI?
Eve breaks down the basics of generative AI and provides examples of what's currently available on the market, from text to art-generating tools. ChatGPT is highlighted as a tool that is having a growing influence on teaching and learning.
AI and Academic Integrity
The ease with which students can use AI to generate essays and assignments has raised concerns about plagiarism. Eve shares real examples of challenges teachers are facing now when it comes to coursework and assessment.
Future of Assessment
As AI continues to evolve, educators must rethink assessment methods. Eve and Laura discuss the shift towards externally assessed exams and question whether timed assessments are effective, especially for students needing extra support.
Classroom Strategies for AI Integration
Eve shares practical classroom strategies, such as comparing AI-generated texts with student work and using AI as a springboard for critical thinking. These strategies can help educators embrace AI while ensuring students develop their own ideas.
ABOUT
Eve Conway is a co-founder of TESOL Pop and has a wide range of experience in education. She taught internationally for over ten years during which time she specialised as a young learner-teacher trainer. In more recent years, Eve has moved into a career in educational publishing and assessment design, where she tries to use her experience in the classroom to design meaningful learning materials.
REFERENCES
Love what we do? Say thanks with coffee.
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to fellow co-founder and special guest, Eve Conway.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Basma Abd Elhamied (أبلة بسمة), founder of TEFLship, talks about the importance of having a personal brand, how teachers can start, and how video can help in the process. Basma also shares practical tips so you can start creating videos.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.
KEY TALKING POINTS
What is Personal Branding?
Branding is like the story people know about you. Basma emphasises how teachers can enhance their visibility and access more opportunities by building their professional brand.
Role of Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for personal branding. It allows teachers to connect beyond their local network and gain wider recognition. Creating videos that you can post on social platforms can help create a strong professional image.
Starting with Video Creation
Begin with what you have; you don’t need expensive equipment. If videos seem intimidating initially, write articles or blog posts and transition to video content as confidence grows.
Practical Tips for Video Creation
Simplify the process to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Basma recommends using familiar tools and collaborating with others to ease the workload. Embracing mistakes is part of the learning journey.
ABOUT
Basma Abd Elhamied (أبلة بسمة) is a Teacher Trainer, Education Consultant, Team Leader and English Instructor. She has been teaching since 2011 and has worked at the American University in Cairo, among other universities and organisations.
Basma founded TEFLship, the first community for English teachers in Egypt and the Middle East. TEFLship is a startup aiming at social impact and helping qualify thousands of teachers. TEFLship over a hundred online courses reached more than 1.7 Million views and over 40,000 watching hours from different countries in the Arab world and the world.
REFERENCES
Say thanks
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our inspiring guest, Basma Abd Elhamied.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Gemma Archer shares insights from her latest book: Teaching English Pronunciation for a Global World co-authored with Robin Walker. In this episode, Gemma talks about prioritising intelligibility over native-likeness in language learning, setting realistic learning goals, as well as shares techniques we can use to develop learners’ pronunciation.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.
KEY TALKING POINTS
Prioritising Intelligibility
Gemma stresses the importance of focusing on students' intelligibility rather than aiming for native-like pronunciation, ensuring they can be understood in international contexts.
Needs Analysis and Student Goals
Teachers can conduct a needs analysis by observing students' speech or collecting speech samples to identify specific pronunciation issues. Understanding students' goals and requirements is crucial.
Challenging Prestige Models
The dominance of marketed native-speaker accents, particularly from Southeast England and general American English, in teaching materials, media, and marketing shapes students' perceptions. Teachers should address and challenge these notions, emphasising the value of diverse English accents.
Techniques for Teaching Pronunciation
Simple, low-preparation techniques are recommended. Visual aids, gestures, and using students' language examples are effective. Emphasising sound differences and durations, such as using elastic bands to show vowel length, helps students grasp pronunciation better.
ABOUT
Gemma is an EAP teacher and programme co-ordinator in the ELT unit at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She is also a pronunciation specialist, teacher trainer, and is joint-coordinator of IATEFL Pronunciation special interest group (PronSIG) and former editor of the SIG’s biannual journal Speak Out! (2017-2023). She is co-author of Teaching English Pronunciation for a Global World (OUP, 2024) and her research interests lie in the field of pronunciation pedagogy and accent, and the issues which can arise when students and teachers of English are confronted with diverse regional and global varieties of English.
REFERENCES
Say thanks
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our fab guest, Gemma Archer.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Emily Bryson shares how visual templates can enhance learning by providing a creative way for students to brainstorm and plan projects, such as podcasts. This episode includes practical demonstrations and tips on incorporating visual templates and graphic facilitation into classrooms.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.
KEY TALKING POINTS
Visual Templates versus Graphic Organisers
Emily explains how visual templates differ from graphic organisers which tend to centre on tables and diagrams that students fill in or label. Visual templates often incorporate a backstory or metaphor, making them more engaging and story-driven.
Playfulness in Visual Learning
Visual templates add a playful, creative element to learning, inspiring students to think outside the box by using doodles, words and phrases to populate the template. Emily emphasises how doodling can make the planning process less intimidating and more accessible.
Practical Application in Classrooms
Emily suggests how teachers can use visual templates for brainstorming and project planning. Suggestions for interactive classroom activities, such as pitching podcast ideas and using them to scaffold speaking activities.
ABOUT
Emily Bryson is an ELT professional with over 20 years of experience in the classroom. She has written various print and digital materials, including National Geographic Learning’s Voices series, 50 Ways to Teach Life Skills and the A-Z of ESOL. She is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and uses visual tools and graphic facilitation strategies to make learning more engaging, accessible and fun. She is a resident blogger for Ellii Learning and frequently delivers teacher development sessions for various ELT organisations. Her teacher development courses with a visual twist have been described as ‘the nicest corner of the internet’, and her sketch notes are extremely popular on socials.
Visit Emily’s website here to learn more.
REFERENCES
Use the visual templates featured in this episode. Download The Fun Podcast Planner here.
Say thanks
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our creative guest, Emily Bryson.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant Dr Amina Douidi talks about racial basis in teaching, materials, and assessment in the context of the language classroom and shares actions we can take to address the problem.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.
KEY TALKING POINTS
Identifying Bias
Amina explains that racial bias in the classroom often manifests through disciplinary issues. Teachers might disproportionately describe students with negative characteristics based on their race or ethnicity. These biases are rooted in societal and historical hierarchies.
Decolonising Materials
To decolonise the curriculum, Amina suggests diversifying teaching materials. Highlighting contributions from minority groups to society can make the curriculum more representative and relevant.
Inclusive Language
Teachers should identify and eliminate problematic language, including sexist, racist, ableist, or ageist terms. Reflecting on biases in both the languages used in the classroom and students' home languages is crucial.
Assessment Practices
Amina shares an example from Orlene Badu's book "How to Build Your Anti-Racist Classroom," where integrating relatable literature for black Caribbean students improved their reading and writing skills.
Sustainable Change
Amina emphasises the importance of collaborative efforts among teachers to review and revise curriculum and practices. Long-term, sustainable changes, rather than quick fixes, are necessary for meaningful impact.
Dr Amina Douidi is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Intercultural Communication consultant in English Language Teaching (ELT). She collaborates with publishers and education providers as a trainer, reviewer, and researcher, focusing on promoting anti-racist, decolonial, and inclusive practices. She earned her PhD from the University of Southampton, where she researched the intercultural potential of Algerian English textbooks and their use in the classroom. She speaks Arabic, French, Spanish and English and is an amateur volleyball player.
Visit Amina's website or LinkedIn to learn more.
REFERENCES
1. Badu, O. (2023) How to Build Your Antiracist Classroom. SAGE Publications.
2. An Open Letter from the ELT Community in Solidarity with Palestine (March 2024). Available here.
3. ELT Professionals for Palestine LinkedIn page.
Say thanks
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our lovely guest, Dr Amina Douidi.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Communications Coach Shweta Ramkumar shares insights into teaching active listening skills to healthcare professionals. In this episode, Shweta explains what active listening is, why it's important and how we can develop this skill in the ESL classroom.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.
Defining Active Listening
Shweta talks about being present in the moment, holding space, and empathising as just a few characteristics that differentiate active listening from other types. Shweta shares insights into working with healthcare professionals and how active listening is crucial to their work.
Active Listening in the Classroom
Shweta reflects on why active listening is so challenging to apply in teaching and other professions due to the multiple tasks we have to manage. Pulling on her own experience, Shweta shares the negative consequences of not practising active listening in our classrooms and workplaces.
Active Listening Training
Shweta shares how she introduces active listening to her clients by getting them to reflect on what they miss in a conversation. By starting with a short warmer of sharing about herself, Shweta encourages her clients to reflect on what they can recall and what they missed as a first step.
Paraphrasing as a Tool
Shweta suggests paraphrasing in the classroom to help learners feel seen and heard. Paraphrasing can be used to replace parroting and asking each other to repeat.
Shweta Ramkumar is a communications coach for healthcare professionals. Her coaching sessions focus on developing her clients' language and skills so they can build stronger relationships, credibility and trust with their patients and the wider community. Shweta shares practical tips and insights on communication skills via her website, YouTube channel and social media channels where you can find her at Healthy Dynamics.
Visit Shweta's website here to learn more.
REFERENCES
Say thanks with coffee
https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop
CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our inspiring guest, Shweta Ramkumar.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The podcast currently has 104 episodes available.
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