The Motivated Classroom

In this episode we look at the research around parental beliefs, and the impact the words parents use have on the motivation for learning among their children. As always, lots of practical examples related to the language acquisition classroom and how we can use the findings from the parental beliefs research to inform how we speak to parents and ensure they are aiding us in the language acquisition journey.

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This episode explores some of the recent research about homework and how we can apply this to the language acquisition classroom. Should we even give homework in the first place? If so, how much and when? How can we ensure the homework we are providing is actually purposeful and not just 'busy work'? Have a listen to this episode and find out!

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In this episode we speak to the inspirational Dr. Florencia Henshaw about Second Language Acquisition theory, recent research in the area and how we can bring the classroom practice and the academic research together in a way that benefits all students. Dr. Henshaw shares her top tips for language acquisition teachers that stem directly from her research and are related to her forthcoming book entitled "Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory goes to the Classroom".

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This episode explores the current debates around implicit and explicit knowledge in the language classroom; should we be focusing on meaning or form, or a combination of both. The focus of this episode revolves mainly around the recent Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research in this area and what we, as language teachers, can do to ensure we maintain motivation whilst also boosting acquisition.

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In this Question & Answer episode the questions focus on girls v. boys motivation, how to structure a class with no textbook and how to align a more acquisition based approach within school vertical and horizontal alignment policies.

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This is another practical, classroom, based episode for language teachers looking for the best ways to set up their class for the year. This episode contains twelve easy steps to follow to ensure you save yourself time in the future and have all your students set up for success from Day 1! From technology, to routines to classroom expectations and materials. It's all in this episode!

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This episode is very much focused on your classroom and how to use classroom jobs to provide more interesting input whilst building bonds with your class. This is a step-by-step guide about to introduce these jobs based on listeners feedback including:

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Special Extended Episode! To mark episode 50 of The #MotivatedClassroom we have a special extended episode with Dr. Karen Lichtman and Dr. Bill VanPatten who discuss their research peer reviewed publication on 40 years of Second Language Acquisition research. This podcast was first aired as a livestream for the #CIreboot conference in June 2021. An absolute must-listen for all #worldlanguages and #mfl teachers!

This is the second part of two-part episode on motivational strategies. In this episode we build upon the research around motivational strategies that was discussed in Episode 48, paying particular attention to the role of the language teacher in the motivational matrix. There now exists robust and substantial evidence that the language teacher can impact student motivation, for better and for worse. This episode is full of tips from the research to ensure you maintain that motivated classroom.

Ep. 48 of The #MotivatedClassroom marks the podcast's 1-Year anniversary with a jam-packed programme on 'motivational strategies', the research behind them and how we can apply these strategies to our classrooms using minimum prep activities. This is an episode not to be missed for any languages teachers who want a more motivated classroom!