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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.
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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
Walker, R. and Archer, G. (2024) Teaching English Pronunciation for a Global World. Oxford University Press.Walker, R. (2020) ‘L’ is for the Lingua Franca Core. What else? Available at English Global Communication here.The Scottish Sound School.IATEFL PronSIG.
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CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our fab guest, Gemma Archer.

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
ABOUTDr 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.
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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.
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KEY TALKING POINTSDefining 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.

ABOUTShweta 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
Healthy Dynamics (2023). The Do's and Don'ts of Active Listening. YouTube. Available here. Accessed on 04.06.2024
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CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our inspiring guest, Shweta Ramkumar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Jane Willis answers your questions about task-based learning (TBL). In this episode, Jane provides examples of TBL in practice, explores the difference between task-based and task-supported learning, and closes with suggestions on how the latest technology can fit into a TBL framework.
Click here to watch this episode with closed captions.

KEY TALKING POINTSDefining Task-Based Learning
Jane simplifies TBL with practical examples, such as "describe and draw" tasks and planning school rules. She emphasises the following features of TBL: clear purpose, focus on meaning, and freedom to utilise their language.
Common Misinterpretations
Jane clarifies the difference between task-supported learning, which integrates tasks within traditional methods, and task-based learning, which starts with and focuses on tasks. She explains the three-part task cycle— planning, task, and reporting—and highlights the importance of planning to boost learner confidence and extend language use.
Integrating Technology with TBL
Jane discusses using technology, such as Zoom, to record and review lessons and transcription software to analyse language use. She also talks about using AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance tasks, such as refining story prompts and generating dialogues.
Future of Education
Jane talks about the possibilities AI and technology bring to TBL while also stressing the importance of cautious and informed use of new technologies.

ABOUTJane worked extensively overseas (Ghana, Cyprus, Iran, Singapore) as an English teacher and trainer. In the 1980s, she and her late husband, Dave, met Prabhu and began experimenting with Task-based Language Teaching, writing several prize-winning books. She also taught for 12 years on the TESOL Masters programs at Aston University in UK. Jane now lives in the English Lake District and enjoys fell-walking. She teaches tai chi and is still quite active on the TBLT scene. In 2022, she received the inaugural Distinguished Practitioner Award from the International Association of Task-based Language Teaching. Visit Jane's website here to learn more.
REFERENCES
Willis - ELT. Task-Based Lesson Plans are available here.Willis, D. and Willis, J. (2007) Doing Task-based Teaching. OUP   Willis, D. (2003). Rules, Patterns and Words: Grammar and Lexis in English Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press (illustrates how to teach grammar through TBL)Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Ebook edition 2012 Intrinsic publications available on Google Play and Rakuten Koko.
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CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our kind guest, Jane Willis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natasha Costello, co-author of Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers and a legal English educator, discusses career pathways to teaching legal English. In this episode, Natasha shares insights into learners' needs, lesson content, and resources for anyone interested in exploring teaching legal English as a career.

KEY TALKING POINTSGetting into teaching
Natasha recounts her transition from a solicitor to a senior lecturer, where she taught law and legal skills. Relocating to France, she discovered a niche in teaching English communication skills to French lawyers, leading to her legal English education career.
Relevance of English for French lawyers
Natasha explains the growing necessity for lawyers to use English, mainly when dealing with international clients where English serves as a lingua franca. This necessity is driven by global business interactions and international legal practices.
Paths into teaching
Natasha identifies two main groups of legal English learners: legal professionals and university law students. She explains that educators can come from various backgrounds, including law, business English teaching, linguistics, or even translation.
What Legal English involves
For legal professionals, lessons may focus on preparing for client meetings, writing emails, contract drafting, and other specific legal tasks. University students may focus more on vocabulary and grammar, but practical scenarios and elements of legal systems, history, and politics are also integrated.
Lesson example
Natasha describes a lesson focused on contract law. She teaches the vocabulary of contracts and the grammar needed for giving legal advice, using real-life scenarios to help students practice this language.

ABOUTNatasha Costello is a legal English educator based in Paris. She has over 20 years of experience teaching law students and legal professionals. Natasha is passionate about bringing the real world of legal practice into the classroom. She recently co-wrote, with Louise Kulbicki, the book ‘Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers: Improving Your Legal English’, which helps students practise language and workplace skills simultaneously. Natasha regularly presents at conferences about teaching legal English and is on the Board of EULETA, the European Legal English Teachers’ Association.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
European Legal English Teachers Association (EULETA) Costello, N. and Kulbicki, L. (2023) Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers Improving Your Legal English. RoutledgeHaigh, R. (2021) International Legal English. A Practical Introduction for Students and Professionals. RoutledgeStudy Legal English Podcast with Louis KulbickiTest of Legal English Skills (TOLES)
TRANSCRIPT
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CREDITS
Producer Laura Wilkes
Editor Haven Tsang
Thanks to our inspiring guest, Natasha Costello.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.