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"Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on both research and classroom & online language teaching. If you like thinking deeply about issues of classroom language teaching and how those relate to research and theory, this podcast might be for you.
Reed & Diane, the hosts, base our knowledge of language teaching on research we've read & done, theoretical views of language acquisition, our experiences as language teachers and learners, and our observations of language teaching in the US and elsewhere. We like to help build bridges among teachers and researchers and view ourselves as part of both communities. We collaborate on projects & like talking about language teaching & learning, and decided to have some of those conversations in a podcast format. Here it is!
A transcripted, video version of the podcast is on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
More about Diane: https://sites.google.com/view/dianen/home
More about Reed: http://www.reedriggs.com
46 Episodes
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Send a text Episode 45: Impactful Teacher Training Show notes: Diane mentioned this article: Neubauer, D., & Wesely, P. (2023). K-12 world language teachers’ use of conferences as professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 124, 104042. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X23000306 The ACTFL Past President who spoke at ACTFL Convention 2025 is Milton Alan Turner. Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo S...
Send a text Episode 44: Fools Rush In: Individual Pathways Reed started the conversation with a quote from the book The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do by Judith Rich Harris https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Nurture-Assumption/Judith-Rich-Harris/9781439101650 Diane mentioned the book Quiet by Susan Cain https://susancain.net/book/quiet/ Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about La...
Send a text Episode 42: Do different levels of language learners need different things? Show Notes Mitten CI language teaching conference April 17 & 18, 2026: https://mittenci.weebly.com/ Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about Language Teaching Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD "Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on both research and cla...
Send a text Thank you to our guest, Dan Call, who joined us for this episode! Information about Dan's award as Pacific Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year: https://www.actfl.org/career-development/actfl-awards/teacher-of-the-year-program/hall-of-fame-2026/dan-call Dan's LinkedIn Profile is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-call-377256179 Show notes: Funds of knowledge is a term initially created by Gloria Ladson-Billings (information here: https://www.clrn.org/how-to-use-fun...
Send a text Show Notes: Diane mentioned studies that have found children process language more slowly than adults. One such study is here: Nip, I. S. B., & Green, J. R. (2013). Increases in Cognitive and Linguistic Processing Primarily Account for Increases in Speaking Rate With Age. Child Development, 84(4), 1324–1337. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23469381 Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about Languag...
Send a text Episode 38: ACTFL Language Teacher Awards as Professional Development Show Notes Guest: Ngan-Ha Ta, PhD Ngan's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nganhata ACTFL Convention & World Languages Expo information: https://www.actfl.org/convention-and-expo Our previous episode with Ngan: Episode 9: Teacher Training https://www.buzzsprout.com/2325378/episodes/15292383 Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show...
Send a text Show Notes: Episode 37: "Listen & Do" in language teaching Reed mentioned: Ellis, R., & He, X. (1999). The roles of modified input and output in the incidental acquisition of word meanings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 285-301. https://www.scribd.com/document/359925425/10-0000-www-cambridge-org-3B026C16F7E59E3458121D43E055741D We also mentioned: Shintani, N. (2012). Input-based tasks and the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar: A process-product s...
Send a text Episode 33: Introducing Vocabulary Show Notes Diane mentioned the book Vocabulary Myths by Keith Folse. Here is the publisher's site about it: https://press.umich.edu/Books/V/Vocabulary-Myths2 Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about Language Teaching Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD "Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on bo...
Send a text Show Notes: Episode 31 (season 4) show notes: Child language development & implications for teachers Conversations about Language Teaching Episode 7 was about Conversation Analysis: YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zny0LLUh3TM Audio-only podcast episode https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/2325378/episodes/15229325-episode-7-learning-about-language-classroom-interaction-through-conversation-analysis Reed mentioned this presentation by Lourdes Orte...
Send a text Episode 29 Show Notes - Rethinking Authenticity Hasegawa, A. (2018). Understanding task‐in‐process through the lens of laughter: Activity designs, instructional materials, learner orientations, and interpersonal relationships. The Modern Language Journal, 102(1), 142-161. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12448 Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about Language Teaching Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD ...
Send a text This episode is in Mandarin Chinese. Reed & Diane talk about their experiences as non-native learners, users, and teachers of Mandarin Chinese. Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about Language Teaching Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD "Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on both research and classroom & online langua...
Send a text No show notes this time! Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about Language Teaching Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD "Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on both research and classroom & online language teaching. If you like thinking deeply about issues of classroom language teaching and how those relate to research and the...
Send a text Episode 26: Children’s Books & Reading for Vocabulary Growth Show Notes The Mandarin Companion blog has concise & helpful information about Extensive reading (ER) and 98% known language. This post also describes why children’s books are not necessarily suitable for second language learners: https://mandarincompanion.com/7-mistakes-about-extensive-reading/ Intensive reading & extensive reading compared in a concise post by Mandarin Companion: https:/...
Send a text Episode 25: There Is No Best Method–Why? Discussing Prabhu (1990) Show Notes We discussed this article: Prabhu, N. S. (1990). There is no best method—Why?. TESOL Quarterly, 24(2), 161-176. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586897 It is freely available online at the link above. Diane missed the number of times it has been cited – “only” 1666 citations as of Feb. 28, 2025. That is still quite a lot in the field of applied linguistics/language teaching and learning. Needs ana...
Send a text Episode 24 - Pronunciation development Reed’s grad school classmate's study: https://www.hawaii.edu/sls/phd-student-wenyi-ling-2018-research-award/ The full dissertation: Ling, W. (2021). The Perception, Processing and Learning of Mandarin Lexical Tone by Second Language Speakers. University of Hawai'i at Manoa. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/4e749171-1747-4236-b40e-5430a912d442/content Here's Schmidt info, including a mention of ...
Send a text Episode 23: AI Chatbots Show Notes Dr. Rachel Mamiya Hernandez-relevant link about using AI chatbots for language learning: https://clt.manoa.hawaii.edu/blog/event/ai-chatbots-2/ Billie Eilish AI interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0c94ghBS4A Magic School AI tool, where Reed & Diane have both prompted chatbots to work with Chinese language learners: https://www.magicschool.ai/ There are many other AI-generated options within the app. Diane’s recently tested...
Send a text Conversations about Language Teaching Episode 20: The Silent Period Show Notes Search results on Google Scholar for “silent period second language acquisition” https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C15&q=silent+period+second+language+acquisition&oq=%22silent+period%22+ Diane quoted from this document: Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition. Second Language Learning, 3(7), 19-39. https://www.academia.edu/download/3523886...
Send a text Conversations about Language Teaching Episode 19: Listening comprehension as a goal Show Notes We welcome questions and topics to address! We're aiming for episode 21 to be responding to questions. Write to us at conversationsaboutlanguage@gmail.com. Lichtman, K. (2019). Research on TPR Storytelling (TPRS). Fluency through TPR storytelling, 299-323. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen-Lichtman/publication/335240603_Research_on_TPR_Storytelling_2019/links/5d5aa3fb92851c...
Send a text Episode 17 Show notes Lichtman, K., & VanPatten, B. (2021). Was Krashen right? Forty years later. Foreign Language Annals, 54(2), 283-305. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/flan.12552 Note: ACTFL members have access to that full article through your membership after logging in. There are also several response articles, and a final response from Lichtman & VanPatten, in the same issue. Diane mentioned the English language test from the US cal...
Send a text Season 3 Episode 16: Using Authentic Texts Show Notes: Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the show Conversations about Language Teaching Diane Neubauer, PhD & Reed Riggs, PhD "Conversations about Language Teaching" is a podcast of unscripted discussions of language teaching, drawing on both research and classroom & online language teaching. If you like thinking deeply about issues of classroom language teaching and ho...
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