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 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

read less
EducationEducation

Episodes

Episode 13: Culture and Language Teaching
Sep 19 2024
Episode 13: Culture and Language Teaching
Send us a textEpisode 13: Culture and Language TeachingShow NotesClaire Kramsch: https://german.berkeley.edu/people/claire-kramsch/ A book chapter she co-authored, including interculturality and “third space”: Kramsch, C., & Uryu, M. (2020). Intercultural contact, hybridity, and third space. In The Routledge handbook of language and intercultural communication (pp. 204-218). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003036210-16/intercultural-contact-hybridity-third-space-claire-kramsch-michiko-uryu Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity: https://organizingengagement.org/models/developmental-model-of-intercultural-sensitivity/ Byram’s model of Intercultural Communicative Competence:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282504595_Enhancing_intercultural_communicative_competence_in_an_online_collaborative_assessment_environment_CEFcult_project/figures?lo=1 Deardorff’s Intercultural Competence model: https://www.education.uw.edu/cirge/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Darla-INTERCULTURAL-COMPETENCE-MODELS-deardorff-09.pdfAnother prominent scholar on intercultural competence/interculturality is Fantini. ACTFL’s framework for intercultural learning is described if you scroll down in the standards site here: https://www.actfl.org/educator-resources/world-readiness-standards-for-learning-languages/standards-summary More about development of intercultural learning within ACTFL’s framework is found on pp. 15-16 of this open access document: https://www.actfl.org/uploads/files/general/Resources-Publications/Novice-Can-Do_Statements.pdfIntercultural Can-Dos and reflection guides for students can be found open access here: https://www.actfl.org/uploads/files/general/Resources-Publications/Intercultural-Can-Dos_Reflections-Scenarios.pdf Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the showThanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching. Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
Episode 12: Communicative Purpose
Sep 5 2024
Episode 12: Communicative Purpose
Send us a textShow Notes: Things mentioned in the podcast with links when available:SLAyyy podcast (Ben Fisher-Rodriguez, Bill Langley, and Bryan Smith) https://slayyy.buzzsprout.com/VanPatten, B. (2017). While We're on the Topic: BVP on Language, Acquisition, and Classroom Practice. ACTFL.VanPatten, B. (2019). The Nature of Language: A Short Guide to What's in Our Heads. ACTFL.VanPatten, B. (2022). Language Acquisition in a Nutshell. ACTFL.Goodreads reviews of those 3 books:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35817467-while-we-re-on-the-topichttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50659798-the-nature-of-languagehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123176535-language-acquisition-in-a-nutshellDiane's 2022 dissertation, which used topic development as a way to consider qualities of target language use in novice Chinese language classrooms: https://www.proquest.com/openview/4404f8257451ba7a5d4999aa1718c590/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=yDe Bot, K. (2015). A history of applied linguistics: From 1980 to the present. Routledge. See around p. 130 for Reed’s references regarding Krashen and his interpretation by many language teachers. The book gets into the people and the activities within the profession. A review here: https://tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume19/ej76/ej76r4/ Liam Printer's podcast, The Motivated Classroom, which includes several episodes about Self-Determination Theory and motivation:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-motivated-classroom/id1525120086Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the showThanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching. Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
Episode 7: Learning about language classroom interaction through Conversation Analysis
Jun 27 2024
Episode 7: Learning about language classroom interaction through Conversation Analysis
Send us a textEpisode 7: Carefully observing language classroom interaction through Conversation AnalysisShow notes: Harvey Sacks and Emmanuel Schlegoff        Their 1973 study, which more or less became a standard for Conversation Analysis as a research approach and methodology:   Schegloff, E. A., & Sacks, H. (1973). Opening up closings. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/semi.1973.8.4.289/pdf?casa_token=43RDsMKs_5oAAAAA:Jy-8YLnSq1q62HsoHqXvozp4_E32PaP5q0f6qKyj43KC99eWiyXXG8CWltMqiCmURz7dVcy-dO6ORQ IB (International Baccalaureate) schools final examination: Sustaining interaction: Criterion C is mentioned in this overview of IB schooling: https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/brochures-and-infographics/pdfs/myp-brief-language-acquisition-2020-en.pdf Heritage & Clayman (2010) article (Reed left out two of the authors’ names when he spoke, apologies): Clayman, S. E., Elliott, M. N., Heritage, J., & Beckett, M. K. (2010). A watershed in White House journalism: Explaining the post-1968 rise of aggressive presidential news. Political Communication, 27(3), 229-247. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10584609.2010.496712 Olcay Sert (2015) book: Sert, O. (2015). Social interaction and L2 classroom discourse. Edinburgh University Press. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JBIlDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=olcay+sert+2015&ots=DLVDZV8frV&sig=2Go1dqUTwVfh5rxgr6IDs3YvWY0#v=onepage&q=olcay%20sert%202015&f=false Paul Seedhouse book that Diane has a lot of places marked with tabs, and which she read from sections of pp. 58-59 and p. 62: Seedhouse, P. (2004). The Interactional Architecture of the Language Classroom: A Conversation Analysis Perspective. Language Learning, 54(Suppl1), x–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2004.00266.xMy dissertation:  Neubauer, D. (2022). Chinese language instruction with novice learners: target language topic development, engagement, and comprehension in online and hybrid classrooms (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Iowa). https://iro.uiowa.edu/view/pdfCoverPage?instCode=01IOWA_INST&filePid=13851224420002771&download=true Study related to language play by Diane & Reed: Neubauer, D., & Riggs, R. (2024). Pedagogical language play in a beginning L2 Chinese classroom. Heteroglossia and Language Play in Multilingual Speech: Pedagogical and Theoretical Implications, ch. 9, 91-116. https://wwIntro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the showThanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching. Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
Episode 6: Planning: "Communication for language" versus "language for communication"
Jun 13 2024
Episode 6: Planning: "Communication for language" versus "language for communication"
Send us a textEpisode 6: Planning: "Communication for language" versus "language for communication" Show Notes: Reed mentioned a research study we did related to language play at the Agen Workshop. That is here:Neubauer, D., & Riggs, R. (2024). Chapter 5 Pedagogical language play in a beginning L2 Chinese classroom. In L. Darren & T. Elaine (Eds.), Heteroglossia and Language Play in Multilingual Speech (pp. 91-116). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. (Did you know you can ask researchers directly for a copy of their published research? conversationsaboutlanguage at gmail.com) Laurie Clarcq, Spanish teacher & teacher trainer: http://www.heartsforteaching.com/ Claudia Elliott and her podcast, Growing with Proficiency: https://growingwithproficiency.com/growing-with-proficiency-the-podcast/ We mentioned the Present, Practice, Produce model of instruction (we are not recommending this), Skill Acquisition Theory (Robert DeKeyser), and Behaviorism Season 1, Episode 4 was about Diane & Reed teacher experiences and trajectory: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2325378/episodes/14822099 Reed’s article in Hawai`i TESOL:Riggs, R. (2023). Natural re-use of language through open topic spaces. The Word, 32(2), 15-17. Hawai‘i TESOL. https://hawaiitesol.org/news/newsletter/newsletter-archive/​Diane’s parents learning Mandarin Chinese (the audio quality is low, that was impromptu recording): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCaX8Z4AkGZrmMNMTNomuJiJpl8y3xB_p Paul Seedhouse book 2004 mentions a Form-and-accuracy context and a Meaning-and-fluency context in language classroom interaction: Seedhouse, P. (2004). The interactional architecture of the language classroom: A conversation analysis perspective. Language Learning.On psychosocial & cognitive informational purposes for communication: VanPatten, B. (2017). While We're on the Topic: BVP on Language, Acquisition, and Classroom Practice. ACTFL. Ngan Ta, teacher educator and Mandarin Chinese language teacher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nganhata Intro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the showThanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching. Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage
Episode 0: Bonus episode deciding the podcast scope & title
Apr 11 2024
Episode 0: Bonus episode deciding the podcast scope & title
Send us a textBonus episode 0 of Conversations about Language Teaching.SHOW NOTES: Our actual notes for planning this podcast episode & the podcast overall.1. Deciding on a title for the show: Conversations about language teaching with Diane Neubauer and Reed Riggs2. Blurbs about us:- Diane came from being a language learner, then a language teacher, then PhD program in teacher education, then teacher education - Both learned Chinese in China, living there for several years. Both have taught K-12 Chinese in schools in the United States. Both have been involved in language teacher training for ten years.- Diane: PhD in Language education, taught 10 years K-12 Chinese in the United States- Reed: PhD in Chinese linguistics and Language Development, currently teaching IB Mandarin to 9-12 students3. The podcast purpose and scope:- New YouTube account, title of show- Post promo video to own YouTube channels- Post references to research, literature in show notes as linksTo talk through big and little ideas related to language teachingHow the field as a whole is talking about these issues, and our thoughts about that How those can be viewed in researchHow our own experience informs our thinking about them4. Final pointsIntro & outro music selected from "23 Light Years" by CavalloPazzo Support the showThanks for listening to Conversations about Language Teaching. Watch on YouTube where episodes are captioned: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsaboutLanguage