The Speaking Corner Cambridge University Press

The Speaking Corner is a five-part podcast series for English language teachers on techniques and tips that can help you teach speaking confidently. In each episode we'll be chatting to teachers and English language experts from around the world about the most effective ways to teach speaking skills to adult learners. Look out for episode one coming soon!

Episode 1 of The Speaking Corner is here! In every classroom teachers have to make choices. We know that students often identify speaking in English as the skill they find most difficult so the choices that we make around how speaking is approached in the classroom are important. In this episode we discuss giving feedback on speaking in the English language classroom, specifically, how much feedback should you give? Niall Curry, Louisa Kiwana and Rafael Bastos from Cambridge University Press, chat to teacher trainer and materials writer Philip Kerr about his latest whitepaper ‘Giving feedback on speaking’.

Many students measure their progress in English through their confidence and ability to speak in English in ‘real-world’ situations. But giving fluency practice the classroom time it needs can be difficult. In this episode, ELT experts and material writers Philip Kerr and Ceri Jones share their ideas on how much time we should be giving to speaking practice in class. They join Niall Curry, Louisa Kiwana and Rafael Bastos from Cambridge University Press to discuss the topic.

Our third podcast, entitled ‘The power of near peer models’ which features Ceri Jones, is all about motivation and near peer role models. If this is a new concept to you, essentially the idea is that a near peer role model is a person who represents a more realistic, tangible and accessible goal for you. In the podcast, we discuss practical examples of where the near peer has worked, how we can use it and what we need to do to bring into the culture of our classrooms. Niall Curry and Louisa Kiwana from Cambridge University Press, chat to teacher trainer and materials writer Ceri Jones about near peer role models.

Our fourth podcast, entitled ‘Mobile learning in and out of the classroom’ which features Graham Skerritt, is all about technology and language learning. In the podcast, we discuss blended learning and flipped classrooms and how to best manage these for language learning. More specifically, we talk about mobile learning and how we can use mobiles to keep in touch with language beyond the walls of the classroom. Niall Curry and Louisa Kiwana from Cambridge University Press, chat to teacher trainer and materials writer Graham Skerritt about the place of technology in the classroom.

Our fifth and final podcast, entitled ‘Teacher Development matters’, featuring Craig Thaine, focuses on the idea of embedded continued professional development (CPD). In our discussion we try to bring our research to life by looking at practical examples of embedded CPD and once again strive to demonstrate research informed practices. Niall Curry and Louisa Kiwana from Cambridge University Press, chat to teacher trainer and materials writer Craig Thaine about why teacher development matters.