Teacher Talking Time

*This launches the beginning of a new series of our show: education entrepreneurship. We'll release an additional episode monthly, highlighting entrepreneurial voices in our industry doing great things.

Want to chat with us? Book a free meeting here. 

In this episode, we introduce the series and discuss what it takes to start and run your own business. Specifically, we explore the transition from traditional teaching roles to entrepreneurial ventures.

We chat about:

• Why waiting until you're uncomfortable might be too late to start your business
• The real difference between commitment and consistency and why one matters more
• How teachers can build businesses without a one-size-fits-all model
• What Andrew's beach business (and Bob the Book) taught him about resourcefulness, scrappiness, and getting started
• Why belief in yourself is the most underrated strategy in entrepreneurship
• Who this series is for and who it’s not for

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

 

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. Follow the LYE YouTube Channel

3. Learn how to monetize your teaching skills with TAP 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

5. Connect with us on our Substack.

50% off our CPD courses for podcast listeners - click here and use the code "TTT"

 

Does the grammar that is normally taught match the evidence corpus linguistics shows? Dr. Graham Burton helps us dissect the big beasts of English grammar.

Dr. Graham Burton is assistant professor at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). His main research interests are applications of corpus linguistics to language teaching, materials development, pedagogic grammar, academic writing and multilingualism.

He has two recent book publications, Grammar in ELT and ELT Materials: Evaluating its History and Current Practice and The Big Beasts of English Grammar: An Exploration of Form and Function in Conversations

*Discount codes:

• 40% off Grammar in ELT using code ELT40 (valid until the end of July, 2025)
• 25% on ebook of The Big Beasts of English Grammar via Payhip only, using code bigbeasts25 (valid for 10 downloads only)

 

In this episode, Graham discusses:

• Corpus Linguistics in Language Teaching
• Benefits of Corpus for Learners
• The Big Beasts of English Grammar
• Example-Driven Grammar Teaching
• What Teachers Should Unlearn about Grammar
• Challenges in Teaching Grammar
• Prototypical vs. Natural Grammar Usage
• Misconceptions in Grammar Teaching
• The Evolution of Grammar Teaching
• What the CELTA Should Do to "Re-do" Grammar
• The History of Pedagogical Grammar
• Why the word "grammar" was negative (and "structure" was used instead)

 

FOR MORE FROM GRAHAM BURTON:

1. The Big Beasts of English Grammar: An Exploration of Form and Function in Conversations

Discount of 25% on ebook via Payhip only, using code bigbeasts25 (valid for 10 downloads only)

2. Grammar in ELT and ELT Materials: Evaluating its History and Current Practice

Discount of 40% on hardbook or ebook, using code ELT40 (valid until the end of July, 2025)

3. Connect with Graham on LinkedIn

 

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

 

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. Follow the LYE YouTube Channel

3. Learn how to monetize your teaching skills with TAP 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

Want to move away from 1:1 and build your teaching business? Book a free 1:1 with us to see if we can help.  

"Don't teach at the students. Teach off them." Scott Thornbury becomes our first repeat guest and helps us dissect this and more. 

Scott Thornbury is a teacher, teacher trainer, and award-winning author in English language education. He has taught and trained teachers around the world, including on the MA TESOL program at The New School in New York, and is widely recognized for his contributions to ELT methodology and teacher development.

He co-authored Teaching Unplugged (2009) and Dogme in Practice (2025), both with Luke Meddings. His latest book is called Scott Thornbury's 66 Essentials of Lesson Design.

 

In our chat, Scott delves into:

• tensions between planning & spontaneity
• what an effective lesson design process looks like
• if the communicative approach can be rehabilitated
• shifting from surface-level communication to meaningful interaction
• adapting teacher training and institutional expectations 
• the role of technology in education

 

FOR MORE FROM SCOTT THORNBURY:

1. Visit his website

2. Book: Domge in Practice 

3. Book: 66 Essentials of Lesson Design

4. Connect on LinkedIn 

 

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

 

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business 

2. Follow the LYE YouTube Channel

3. Learn how to monetize your teaching skills with TAP 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs 

5. Join our Substack community 

Want to monetize your skills as a teacher? Book a free 1:1 with us to see if we can help.  

Learner autonomy is something that happens INSIDE the classroom, not out of it. Teachers can't sit back and wait for their students to become autonomous.

This is part of what the esteemed Dr. David Little shared with us in our conversation. 

David Little is Fellow Emeritus at Trinity College Dublin and a leading scholar in learner autonomy, linguistic diversity, and the application of the CEFR in language education. He played a key role in developing the European Language Portfolio and has led several national and international projects focused on language support for migrants and refugees. He currently coordinates the Council of Europe’s Romani–Plurilingual Policy Experimentation and is the author of influential works on educational inclusion and language learning.

 

In this episode, David discusses:

• Understanding Language Learner Autonomy

• Defining Autonomy in Language Learning

• Pedagogical Models for Autonomy

• Autonomy in Diverse Educational Contexts

• Challenges and Collaborative Solutions for Teachers

• Language Learner Autonomy and Writing

• Developing Reflective Dialogue in Classrooms

• Practical Advice for Fostering Learner Autonomy

   

FOR MORE FROM DR. DAVID LITTLE:

1. His page at Trinity College, Dublin

2. His Research Gate page 

3. Language Learner Autonomy: Theory, Practice, and Research

 

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

 

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. Follow the LYE YouTube Channel

3. Learn how to monetize your teaching skills with TAP 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

Want to monetize your skills as a teacher? Book a free 1:1 with us to see if we can help.  

"It's  such social injustice to expect people to use English like native English speakers, whichever country they're in." We dive into this and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) with Jennifer Jenkins. 

Jennifer Jenkins is a British linguist and academic. She was Chair Professor of Global Englishes at the University of Southampton until her retirement in 2019. She is a leading figure in the study of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), and is an expert on communication in English between non-native speakers. She has published and lectured widely and is a founder editor of the Journal of English as a Lingua Franca.

In this episode, Jennifer tackles:

• what English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is
• native speakers vs local speakers
• why she was shunned from many rooms for her views
• the cultural and linguistic bias in language testing 
• how tests are not predictive of academic success
• the myth that ELF lowers English standards
• the role of adjusting language rather than mimicking it 
• having a pioneer mindset even when people dismiss you
• how international universities have hypocritical linguistic standards 
• the future of English as a global language 

 

FOR MORE FROM JENNIFER JENKINS:

1. Her Google Scholar page

2. Her page at the University of Southampton 

3. Accommodation in ELF: Where from? Where now? Where next?

 

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

 

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. Follow the LYE YouTube Channel

3. Learn how to monetize your teaching skills with TAP 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

Book a complimentary meeting with us to help grow your business. 

Learners can think a native teacher is a vaccine against poor pronunciation. Equally, native teachers can be misinformed in thinking that students should just follow them.

We dive into pronunciation, intelligibility, and teacher effects on learner performance with the great John Levis. 

John is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Technology at Iowa State University. He is founding editor of the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation and the founder of the annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. His research focuses on pronunciation, intelligibility, pronunciation, and accent. John has received university awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching, for Career Achievement in Research, and was named Angela B. Pavitt Professor of English in 2018.

In our conversation, John talks about:

• accent vs pronunciation
• the nativeness principle vs the intelligibility principle
• how he coined "the intelligibility principle"
• high and low value features of pronunciation 
• why some vowel sounds don't matter
• native and non-native teacher effects on learner performance
• learners viewing native speakers as a vaccine for poor pronunciation
• some native teachers believing learners should just follow them
• getting "caught" with accent

For more from John Levis:

1. Pronunciation for Teachers

2. His faculty page

3. His publications 

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

Ways we can help you right now:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. 5in30: Get 5 clients in the next 30 days

3. Just starting your business? Get free guidance in our support group. 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

Book a free 1:1 to strategize your goals for your teaching business. 

Native speaker or non-native speaker? Monolingual or plurilingual? Why do we have a binary bias in modern society?

These are some of the questions we tackled with Dr. Angelica Galante. 

Dr. Angelica Galante is an Associate Professor in Second Language Education and Applied Linguistics, and William Dawson Scholar at McGill University. As the Director of the Plurilingual Lab, Dr. Galante conducts studies with language learners, teachers and educational leaders in the areas of plurilingual education, language teaching and learning, linguistic discrimination and justice, teacher education, and curriculum design. She speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish, and a bit of French and Italian.

In our conversation, Dr. Galante talks about:

• Linguistic and Cultural Discrimination
• Strategies to Combat Prejudice in Education
• Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence
• Navigating Binary Bias in Language Discussions
• Exploring Common Ground in Controversial Topics
• The Role of Language in Identity and Mental Health
• Practical Applications of Plurilingualism in Education
• Balancing Plurilingualism and Language Acquisition
• Challenges and Facilitators of Plurilingualism

For more from Angelica Galante:

1. Her professional page

2. McGill's Plurilingual Lab

3. Her publications 

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

Ways we can help you right now:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. 5in30: Get 5 clients in the next 30 days

3. Just starting your business? Get free guidance in our support group. 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

Book a free 1:1 to strategize your goals for your teaching business. 

Escaping precarity in ELT? Join our free support group here.  

Why do some teachers thrive as entrepreneurs while others struggle? We dissect this question. 

Many teachers want to earn more, teach online, and gain more clients - but struggle to implement a sustainable strategy. We go over seven "Cs" to help. 

In this episode, we dive into the "seven Cs of success for teacher entrepreneurship" and discuss:

• confidence as a skill rather than a feeling
• getting granular on goals
• strategizing goal achievement at both the macro and the micro
• reflecting on why having a business is (or isn't) a priority 
• how consistency compounds over time
• why getting more clients is nearly impossible if you have nothing to sell
• normalizing struggle and self doubt
• first steps to starting your business in 2025

Your Action Plan from this Episode:

1. 1. Pick one “C” to focus on this week.
   2. Journal daily to track your progress and reflect on your journey.
   3. Share your experience in our community to inspire and be inspired.

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

Ways we can help you right now:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. 5in30: Get 5 clients in the next 30 days

3. Just starting your business? Get free guidance in our support group. 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

Book a free 1:1 to strategize your teaching business goals. 

Black Friday 2024: 50% off CPD (click here). 

Escaping precarity in ELT? Join our free support group here.  

If you use vocabulary and grammar tests, you don't teach communicatively.  Audrey Rousse-Malpat tells us why. 

Audrey Rousse-Malpat is an assistant professor in second language acquisition at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She is also an entrepreneur and leads a teacher training company called Project Frans specializing in usage-based pedagogies for French as second language. She hosts the "Je suis #profdeFLE" ("I am a French language teacher") podcast. 

Her research focuses on the AIM method: the Accelerative Integrated Method. In our conversation, she argues why it's a method education should adopt.

In our conversation, Audrey talks about:

• thinking like a scientist
• schools as factories
• AIM (Accelerative Integrated Method) and how it works
• feeling like the Marry Poppins of error correction 
• structure-based teaching vs Dynamic usage
• why teachers need to relinquish control
• what went wrong with the communicative approach
• tips for implementing AIM
• multilingual approaches in higher education 

For more from Audrey Rousse-Malpat:

1. Project Frans 

2. Connect on LinkedIn

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

Ways we can help you right now:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat to strategize your teaching business. 

2. 5in30: Get 5 clients in the next 30 days

3. Just starting your business? Get free guidance in our support group. 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs. 

Book a free 1:1 to strategize your teaching business goals. 

Escaping precarity in ELT? Join our free support group here.  

Education is designed around focusing on the learner first and the teacher as a medium to support the learner. Sarah Mercer tells us why this leads to unhealthy teachers. 

Sarah Mercer is a Professor of foreign language teaching at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research interests include all aspects of the psychology surrounding the foreign language learning experience. She is co-editor of Multilingual Matters’ Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching book series, currently vice-president of IAPLL, and ambassador for IATEFL.

In this episode, Sarah expounds on:

• why connecting with learners is fundamental
• cell phone addiction and what we CAN'T do about it
• re-framing what "student-led" means
• defining "engagement" and pedagogical caring
• students faking engagement out of respect for their teacher
• burnout and stress are the result of the systemic element of teacher well-being

For more from Sarah Mercer:

1. Visit her website

2. Read her publications 

3. Her handbook "Teacher Wellbeing"

Thank you for listening. Your support has been overwhelming and we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope this podcast serves as an effective CPD tool for you.

If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com 

Ways we can help you right now:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat to strategize your teaching business. 

2. 5in30: Get 5 clients in the next 30 days

3. Just starting your business? Get free guidance in our support group. 

4. Download our free guides for teacherpreneurs.