"How do you teach grammar in a motivational way?" is a question we all face as language teachers. In this episode we explore some of the research around explicit teaching of grammar and its impact on motivation . I then present some zero-prep classroom strategies we can use to introduce and develop understanding of grammar, but in a more autonomy-supportive, motivational style. For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and links to resear...
Apr 30, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Educational research consistently finds that motivation is the key factor in young people achieving their potential and succeeding at school. Demotivation, on the other hand, can be defined as “someone who was once motivated but has lost his/her commitment for some reason” (Dörnyei and Ushioda 2011). Even if we are struggling to understand how to motivate our learners, the very least we must ensure is that we are not actively engaged in activities that research has proven to be demotivating . Th...
Apr 23, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode I am delighted to be joined by the wonderful Diane Neubauer 杜雁子. Diane is a Mandarin Chinese teacher with over the 14 years experience across age groups. She currently teaches online part-time while working on her PhD in Foreign Language & ESL Education at the University of Iowa. She presents on a variety of language teaching topics at conferences and is involved in research relevant to comprehension-based language teaching and learning. She is currently chair of the ACTFL (U...
Apr 16, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Thank you to the listeners for this question about how we can maintain motivation whilst also grading and assessing for proficiency. In this episode we discuss some strategies for assessing and grading keeping the core psychological need of competence in mind. For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and links to research and resources at www.liamprinter.com/podcast . Are you a regular listener and enjoying The Motivated Classroom podcas...
Apr 02, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this question & answer episode we explore some great questions from listeners about: what to do with reluctant learners or school refusers , how we can adapt a comprehensible input & storytelling approach for younger learners and finally what key language structures we should concentrate on in a reimagined syllabus focused around students' interests. For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and links to research and resources ...
Mar 26, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 34
As language teachers, finding ways to move from comprehensible input to 'authentic output' or how to "foster an increase in natural, interpersonal language" , as one teacher wrote to me, is often our greatest challenge. In this episode I provide ten zero-prep, practical, strategies to increase spontaneous and enthusiastic speaking in the language classroom. Get in touch and let me know what you think! I'd love to know what strategies work in your classroom! For full details a list of these strat...
Mar 19, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 33
I'm delighted to be joined by the wonderful and highly knowledgeable Dr. Ed Stevens for this episode on teacher's professional identity . Ed is Manager of the Arts & Humanities Research Institute at King's College London having previously been Deputy Head of Public Engagement at the University of Bath. He has recently completed a professional doctorate in Education, where he explored how educators' professional identities may be transformed by, and transform, community engaged research. In t...
Mar 12, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Sometimes, to really change our practice we have to confront our deeply-rooted beliefs. The study of Language Teacher Beliefs or 'Language Teacher Cognition' is gaining momentum in the educational research. In this episode I talk about what the concept is all about and why it is essential for us to talk about it, reflect on our beliefs and ultimately to question whether or not we still value those beliefs we have inherently developed over decades of education both as a student and teacher. For f...
Mar 05, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 31
I'm delighted to be joined in this episode with Olly who goes by "Let's Transform MFL (Modern Foreign Languages)" on Twitter. Olly is a vocal and powerful advocate for reinvigorating the MFL curriculum in England so that we can reach more students and help more people achieve fluency. In this discussion, Olly shares his passion for MFL and argues convincingly for a re-imagined curriculum that focuses on the reasons "why" we learn foreign languages in the first place. Explaining beautifully why w...
Feb 26, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Teacher motivation: A hugely important topic we don't discuss nearly enough. In many countries around the world, teachers are leaving the profession in huge numbers. So what can school leadership do to ensure their teachers remain motivated? In this episode we delve into this thorny issue with a look at recent studies on teacher motivation and discuss what the research can teach us in terms of maintaining teacher motivation. This episode contains many practical, easy to implement, tips for schoo...
Feb 19, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Drawing on recent research around error correction and feedback , this episode provides six easy to implement strategies that allow the teacher to give meaningful feedback to students whilst ensuring it doesn't harm their basic psychological need of 'competence'. These strategies will hopefully give you some ideas about how we can ensure our feedback is timely, specific and meaningful to the student so that it helps them to move forward and not over analyse the errors that may be present. Most i...
Feb 12, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 28
We all have to teach the 'basics' like numbers, dates, colours and letters in one way or another... or do we? What if the students just naturally acquired all of this basic vocabulary through motivational strategies and activities in the classroom? In this episode I explain how I introduce these items and the various, zero-prep, activities I use to embed these key words in the students' long term memory without having them sit and rote-learn in lists of vocabulary. For full details a list of the...
Feb 05, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this question and answer episode, we look at the topics of teaching culture, the one important thing to change in our languages classrooms (from my perspective at least!), how to build confidence in our learners and how to adequately challenge our high achievers in each lesson. Thank you to all the lessons who submitted questions! For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and links to research and resources at www.liamprinter.com/podca...
Jan 29, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Episode 25 of The #MotivatedClassroom is all about Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) and the most common questions people have about it as a way to help learners acquire language more naturally. I go through some of the questions you have submitted about assessment, units, planning and many others! This is a very practical episode for language teachers who are trying out TPRS and still have lots of questions. For full details a list of these strategies, check out the p...
Jan 22, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Building on the interview with Adriana Ramirez in Episode 23 on using novels and reading to motivate our language students, this episode focuses on 11 zero-prep practical strategies for the languages classroom aimed at growing a love and passion for reading among your students: 1. Class novels 2. Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) 3. Embedded readings & extended readings 4. Volleyball reading 5. Read to parents and translate 6. The reading diary 7. Reading with laser and making new sentences 8. R...
Jan 15, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 24
The inspirational author and teacher, Adriana Ramirez , joins Liam Printer on The #MotivatedClassroom for this episode where they discuss how we can instill a love and passion for reading in the target language through the use of graded novels. These are novels that are specifically written for learners of the language and use a Comprehensible Input approach to ensure the students read lots of repetitions of the target language so they can acquire new vocabulary and structures naturally. Adriana...
Jan 08, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 23
So you listened to Episode 21 and you started your #TPRS story... but now what? This episode provides some detailed, zero-prep, practical, strategies you can implement in your language classes to build on and compliment the story asking process. I present comprehension techniques, homework tasks, formative assessment options. An overview of how the 'circling', questioning, strategy is done in a Comprehensible Input classroom is also provided. For full details a list of these strategies, check ou...
Dec 19, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Now that we understand the research behind #storytelling in the #languages classroom from episodes 19 & 20 and why it is so motivating for both teacher and students, its time to learn how we actually put it into practice! In this episode I explain how I set up my class for its first TPRS story . I go through the ground rules, the physical make-up of the classroom and the jobs students have to ensure the story goes to plan. This is a must listen episode for any teachers who have heard about t...
Dec 13, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 21
As a follow up to Episode 19 of the podcast , which provides an overview of the year long doctoral research into teaching languages through storytelling and its impact on student and teacher motivation, I am delighted to be joined in this episode by Chloé Lapierre who was the French teacher-participant during the longitudinal research study. Chloé described herself as a 'novice' teacher of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) or CI (comprehensible input) at the beginning ...
Dec 05, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 20
This episode provides a synopsis and summary of the findings from Doctorate research into the motivational impact of teaching languages through storytelling and reading . The episode begins with an overview of how the research was conducted using Self-Determination Theory and its basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness to measure changes in motivation. It then presents some of the quotes from both the teacher and her students regarding their motivation, need satisfactio...
Nov 27, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In this third interview of the series, the inspirational Beth Skelton shares with us her vast experience and expertise relating to teaching languages through compelling, cultural and historical content. Beth outlines how we can use language classroom to engage our learners via experiential learning with students immersed in fascinating cultural and historical content related to the target language. This one is an absolute must listen for all EAL and world languages teachers containing lots of pr...
Nov 20, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this second Q&A episode, some great questions from listeners get us talking about long-term motivation for learners as opposed to just dealing with the 'here and now' in our classrooms; how do we balance motivating activities with preparation for high stakes exams and finally some motivating classroom approaches for retrieval practice. Lots of practical classroom tips as well as important information about the current research around motivation and how to build it in our learners. For ful...
Nov 13, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 17
In this episode I explain how I build on those relationships built in the first few years of students' Spanish learning journey, taking those more advanced and older students to a new level as 'Government Ministers' in my (fake) country of Españoland. It provides them with autonomy and ownership over what we learn and the resources we will study together as a group. By empowering them to be members of your 'Government' it not only teaches them about democracy and leadership but also allows them ...
Nov 06, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 16
'The Star of the Week' also known as 'The Special Person Interview' is a wonderful, zero-prep, activity that provides your students with huge amounts of compelling, comprehensible input as they learn about and make connections to their classmates and to the teacher. A beautifully simple activity that raises autonomy and is all about building bonds and a sense of community in the classroom. For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and lin...
Oct 30, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 15
When we have active, enthusiastic, engaged participation, it has the potential to over-spill and feel chaotic. So how do we encourage this high level of participation in class without it reaching a stage that begins to impact on our classroom management and behaviour expectations? In this episode, using evidence from the research, I offer my three key elements for effective classroom management in the motivated classroom: Routines Relationships Repetitions For full details a list of these strate...
Oct 23, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 14
I had the pleasure to chat with the inspirational Joe Dale about three key apps and technology tips to boost motivation and engagement in the languages classroom. Joe is a globally renowned expert in language teaching and learning, with special interest in the use of technology as a means to develop proficiency and grow interest in learning the language. For full details a list of these strategies, check out the programme notes with further information and links to research and resources at www....
Oct 16, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Every subject, every syllabus, every curriculum has a story behind it. Its time we re-humanised the classroom and the curriculum. This episode focusses on how we can weave narrative back into our classes to engage our learners and have them come on a learning journey with us. During this episode I give a live example of how I take students into the curriculum using the 'four Ps' approach. Behind everything we teach in every subject there are: People Places Problems Possibilities When we focus on...
Oct 09, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 12
This episode is all about putting Comprehensible Input (CI) into practice in the classroom. Three practical, minimal prep, CI activities are presented that you can try out right away. These are activities that will really help your learners to feel a sense of belonging in the class, whilst also boosting their competence as they can follow along and understand all of your input. I really encourage you to give them a try! Calendar Chat: Essentially using the date and day to provide lots of interes...
Oct 02, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 11
This episode looks in detail at Stephen Krashen's Comprehensible Input (CI) hypothesis; where it comes from, the research behind it and why teaching with is so motivating for both students and teacher. This episode also aims to debunk and respond to some of the criticisms that have been leveled at Krashen's CI model, highlighting that his most fierce critics were writing in the 1980's just a few years after he published his ground-breaking "Principles and practice in second language acquisition"...
Sep 25, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 10
The first Question & Answer episode deals with a variety of questions mainly relating to teaching languages and motivation. Thank you to the listeners for these great questions. There were many others I did not have time to get to but will answer them in the next Q & A episode. Teaching/learning for young children in a virtual 1:1 setting with a view to maintaining interest and enthusiasm for the language. How do kids of different age groups respond to different motivational strategies o...
Sep 18, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 9
