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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
47 Episodes
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Send us Fan Mail Episode 46: Word Repetition -- Show Notes We discussed TCI Oregon, June 29-July 1, 2026: https://cocc.edu/departments/community-ed/tci Diane mentioned several "button using" animal accounts on social media: ElsieWants, Flounder_Meatloaf, What about Bunny, and Pixel and Friends Diane also mentioned: Glisan, E. W., & Donato, R. (2017). Enacting the Work of Language Instruction: High-Leverage Teaching Practices. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 10...
Send us Fan Mail 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 CavalloPaz...
Send us Fan Mail 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 abo...
Send us Fan Mail 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 an...
Send us Fan Mail 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-us...
Send us Fan Mail 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 La...
Send us Fan Mail 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...
Send us Fan Mail 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-prod...
Send us Fan Mail 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 ...
Send us Fan Mail 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...
Send us Fan Mail 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,...
Send us Fan Mail 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 l...
Send us Fan Mail 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 an...
Send us Fan Mail 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: ht...
Send us Fan Mail 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. Need...
Send us Fan Mail 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 mentio...
Send us Fan Mail 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 t...
Send us Fan Mail 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/35...
Send us Fan Mail 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/5d5aa3fb9...
Send us Fan Mail 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 U...
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