Blog

Welcome back to #LangChat! Our summaries have been taking a siesta due to staff changes, but we are now back in full swing once again! Last week on LangChat our participants enjoyed a fast-paced discussion about grammar: debating when, why, and how to teach it, and whether or not to do so explicitly. Teaching Grammar […]

Welcome back, everyone! Last Thursday we had a dynamic and well-balanced discussion about the use of online tools in language teaching, and how they can support instruction and student engagement – or not. The Purpose of Online Tools in the Classroom We started out by talking about the purpose of online tools in the classroom […]

On June 7, participants were asked, “Which kinds of activities foster good class routines?” Participants shared how they like to begin and end their classes with certain activities, as well as how they smooth out the transition between activities during class. Everyone came away with lots of great ideas! Let’s see what some participants had […]

On May 31st, LangChat participants were asked, “What role does the L1 play in the L2 classroom?” L1 use in the classroom is a controversial subject among language teachers, so this topic made for a great debate! We heard opinions from all sides: from those who use L1 when necessary to those who feel that […]

On May 24th, our LangChat participants tackled an important topic: What pre-reading/listening strategies help students better comprehend authentic materials? Everyone had a lot to share! Setting the Stage Participants shared a variety of tools that they have found helpful in setting the stage for their students before tackling authentic materials. @CoLeeSensei tries to provide context […]

Welcome back! On May 17th, our participants were asked, “How do we maximize use of the target language in our classes?” Everyone shared a wealth of great ideas for keeping both their students and themselves on task and engaged in the target language. Target Language from Day 1? Staying in the target language can be […]

Hello again! As promised, here is the summary of a thought-provoking LangChat that took place back in May. Our moderators asked, How do you connect your students to target language speakers? Finding Target Language Speakers at Home Nothing can totally replace face-to-face human interaction, and participants had lots of great ideas for getting students interacting […]

As language educators, we know that language and culture are inseparable. During our recent #langchat twitter conversation, we explored what we can do to overcome resistance from students to learning about the culture of target language people groups. To start off the conversation, we all acknowledged that culture in the world language classroom is important. […]

Welcome back to #langchat everyone! Our last discussion on Thursday led us into an exciting chat about reading in novice language classes. With so much focus on listening and speaking, novice learners might feel overwhelmed when presented with a block of foreign text. How do we ease them into recognition and understanding? All of our […]

We had a fantastic and informative chat via Twitter this past Thursday as our educators discussed oral participation in language classrooms for novice students. More specifically, how much participation should we expect, and how do we assess oral capabilities? Thanks to all of our participants of the discussion, and a special thanks to Kristy Placido […]