

99.8K
Downloads
97
Episodes
Want to teach more reactively and in line with what SLA research says? Join LYE founders Leo, Mike, and Andrew for monthly long-form interviews with language acquisition experts so you can throw that textbook away. Whether you’re building your own business, working for a school, or just love learning about trends in language teaching, this is your bridge between the research lab and practical classroom.
Episodes

Sunday Aug 29, 2021
Episode 34: Chris Jones
Sunday Aug 29, 2021
Sunday Aug 29, 2021
Want to teach less and earn more? Find out how.
Chris Jones joins us to talk conversation, strategies, and speaking.
Chris Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the University of Liverpool, UK. He has been involved in English language teaching for over twenty five years and holds the Cambridge CTEFLA and DTEFLA qualifications alongside an MA and PhD from the University of Nottingham. Chris' main research interests are related to spoken language.
He joins us to talk about that and his new book called "Conversation Strategies and Communicative Competence."
Specifically in this episode, he tackles:
- his early influences, including Ron Carter, Scott Thornbury, and Dave Willis
- his impetus for his new book "Conversation Strategies and Communicative Competence"
- his writing process
- the difference between speaking and conversation
- the difference between conversation strategies and communication strategies
- reasons why conversation strategies are often neglected in teaching
- how teachers can help their students with improving their spoken communication
More on Chris Jones:
Twitter: @ELTResearch
His talk to launch his new book
Details on his new book "Conversation strategies and communicative competence"
His University of Liverpool staff page
For more information on this episode, see our blog post about it.
Podcast Creation:
This episode was created with support from Thinkific & Podbean. If you're looking to launch a course or start a podcast, we highly recommend them - and use them ourselves.
As always, 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
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Join Our Teacher Development Membership
Join our Self-directed Learning Portal

Sunday Aug 08, 2021
Corrective Feedback 8: Exploring the Discourse with Dr. Miroslaw Pawlak
Sunday Aug 08, 2021
Sunday Aug 08, 2021
We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, to produce an 8-part mini series on the topic of Corrective Feedback. The series explores the area of corrective feedback through interviews with 8 scholars in the field. All interviews are conducted by students in Dr. Eva Kartchava's MA class at Carleton University as a means of assessment to connect researchers to their audience and have her students generate a greater level of understanding and investment in the research from the course. If you are interested in having a similar series produced for your class or institute, you can contact us: info@learnyourenglish.com
Producer's note: the internet was quite tired on the day of recording. While the interweb didn't put in its best effort, the humans involved sure did, and we hope all the great content in this episode comes through from Jewel, Meghana, and Dr. Pawlak.
Dr. Miroslaw Pawlak shares his thoughts in our final episode of our series on corrective feedback. Dr. Pawlak is the Head of the Department of English Studies and part of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts in Kalisz, Poland at Adam Mickiewicz University. Additionally, he is the editor-in chief of the journals Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, and Konin Language Studies, and the editor-in chief of the book series Second Language Learning and Teaching (Springer). His areas of research include form-focused instruction, corrective feedback, pronunciation teaching, classroom interaction, study abroad, and a range of individual difference factors such as motivation, willingness to communicate, language learning strategies and boredom. His most recent research article “Corrective Feedback, Developmental Readiness, and Language Proficiency” can be seen in The Cambridge Handbook of Corrective Feedback in Second Language Learning and Teaching.
In this episode Dr. Pawlak tells us:
- how to increase teacher interest in the topic of corrective feedback (CF)
- how CF affects the willingness of learners to communicate
- if it's preferable to over correct or under correct
- what we can learn from studying developmental readiness
- the role CF plays in form-focused instruction in comparison to more prescribed learner performance approaches
*This interview was conducted by Meghana Akavoor and Jewel Little.
Partnership with Carleton University:
Throughout the series, MA students from Dr. Kartchava's class will interview leading experts in the field of corrective feedback. We thank Dr. Kartchava for joining this episode and for spearheading this initiative.
For more information on this episode, this project, and those involved:
- view Carleton and Dr. Kartchava's website on Corrective Feedback
- view the LYE blog post on this episode
For more about Dr. Pawlak:
See his page from Adam Mickiewicz University
His Handbook on Corrective Feedback
His Google Scholar author page
As always, 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
For more on what we do at LYE:
Join Our Teacher Development Membership
Join our Self-directed Learning Portal

Thursday Jul 15, 2021
The Cult of Learning 15: The Three Essentials of Language Learning, Part III
Thursday Jul 15, 2021
Thursday Jul 15, 2021
CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of our Self-directed Learning Portal, which helps thousands of people around the world improve the English skills important to them.
Mike and Leo finalize our series on the three essentials of language learning. In part III, they briefly recap the first two of the three essentials - Exposure and Motivation - and introduce you to the last one of the tripartite - USE. They talk about why it is important to produce output (speaking and writing) and how it contributes to your language learning and development.
More specifically, Leo and Mike talk about:
- why input (listening and reading) is important when learning a language
- why communication is essential to improving your language skills
- the role of interaction
- how taking risks with your language use is a good idea
- what types of activities you should avoid when learning
If you are a learning a language, these episodes are for you!
For more information on our podcast, click here or go to: learnyourenglish.net/podcast
Also, check out our blog post for more information on today's episode for more information.
Thank you for listening! If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our FREE E-book on Learning. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Improve your English with our Self-directed Learning Portal - only $50/year

Monday Jun 28, 2021
Corrective Feedback 7: Exploring the Discourse with Dr. Shaofeng Li
Monday Jun 28, 2021
Monday Jun 28, 2021
We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, to produce an 8-part mini series on the topic of Corrective Feedback. The series explores the area of corrective feedback through interviews with 8 scholars in the field. All interviews are conducted by students in Dr. Eva Kartchava's MA class at Carleton University as a means of assessment to connect researchers to their audience and have her students generate a greater level of understanding and investment in the research from the course. If you are interested in having a similar series produced for your class or institute, you can contact us: info@learnyourenglish.com
In episode 7 of our series on corrective feedback, Dr. Shaofeng Li joins us. Dr. Li is a prominent scholar and award-winning researcher of second language acquisition, with a focus on corrective feedback. He is currently an associate professor in the School of Teacher Education at Florida State University. Prior to this, he was a senior lecturer in the department of Applied Language Studies at Auckland University. He has an extensive list of published works on areas such as corrective feedback, task-based language teaching/learning, cognitive variables of second language learning, second language learner beliefs & motivations, and much more. More recently, Dr. Li has a number of upcoming published works focusing more specifically on associations between anxiety, working memory and corrective feedback timing.
In this episode, Dr. Li discusses:
- learner and teacher beliefs on corrective feedback (CF)
- how his own beliefs of CF have evolved over time
- how teachers often view CF differently than learners and they impact that can have on learning gains
- why teachers should take learner beliefs on CF into account
- cognitive variables affecting CF
- how CF fits into a Task-based Learning and Teaching (TBLT) model
*This interview was conducted by Abdi Mohamed and Neal Power.
Partnership with Carleton University:
Throughout the series, MA students from Dr. Kartchava's class will interview leading experts in the field of corrective feedback. We thank Dr. Kartchava for joining this episode and for spearheading this initiative.
For more information on this episode, this project, and those involved:
- view Carleton and Dr. Kartchava's website on Corrective Feedback
- view the LYE blog post on this episode
More from Dr. Shaofeng Li:
See his:
As always, 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
For more on what we do at LYE:
Join Our Teacher Development Membership
Join our Self-directed Learning Portal

Monday Jun 14, 2021
The Cult of Learning 14: The Three Essentials of Language Learning - Part II
Monday Jun 14, 2021
Monday Jun 14, 2021
CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of our Self-directed Learning Portal, which helps thousands of people around the world improve the English skills important to them.
In part two of our three-part series on the "Essentials of Language Learning," Leo and Mike briefly recap the first of the three essentials - Exposure - and introduce you to the second one of the tripartite - Motivation. We will talk about what motivation is, how it works, different types of motivation and how you can use it to learn English.
Specifically, they wonder:
- what is motivation?
- common misconceptions about motivation
- different types of motivation
- how to get motivated and take action
If you are a learning a language, these episodes are for you!
Download the FREE Learn YOUR English Personalized Habit Tracker:
Click here or go to: learnyourenglish.net/podcast
Also, check out our blog post for more information on today's episode for more information.
Thank you for listening! If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our FREE E-book on Learning. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Improve your English with our Self-directed Learning Portal - only $5/month

Friday May 28, 2021
Corrective Feedback 6: Exploring the Discourse with Dr. Neomy Storch
Friday May 28, 2021
Friday May 28, 2021
We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, to produce an 8-part mini series on the topic of Corrective Feedback. The series explores the area of corrective feedback through interviews with 8 scholars in the field. All interviews are conducted by students in Dr. Eva Kartchava's MA class at Carleton University as a means of assessment to connect researchers to their audience and have her students generate a greater level of understanding and investment in the research from the course. If you are interested in having a similar series produced for your class or institute, you can contact us: info@learnyourenglish.com
This is episode 6 of our corrective feedback series, featuring Dr. Neomy Storch. Dr. Storch is an Associate Professor of applied linguistics at the University of Melbourne. She teaches a range of ESL and Applied Linguistics subjects and convenes the ESL program. She is world renowned for her work on second language acquisition, collaborative writing, and academic writing. She has over 100 scholarly works published on these topics, including her 2013 book "Collaborative Writing in L2 Classrooms" and a 2016 co-authored book called "Written Corrective Feedback for L2 Development."
In this episode, Dr. Storch shares:
- the drawbacks of looking at corrective feedback research in a vacuum
- examples of explicit and implicit feedback
- the differences between collaborative and cooperative writing
- the differences between feedback and uptake
- her optimism about the future of collaborative writing
*This interview was conducted by Zahra Azizi and Shrouk Abdelgafar
Partnership with Carleton University:
Throughout the series, MA students from Dr. Kartchava's class will interview leading experts in the field of corrective feedback. We thank Dr. Kartchava for joining this episode and for spearheading this initiative.
For more information on this episode, this project, and those involved:
- view Carleton and Dr. Kartchava's website on Corrective Feedback
- view the LYE blog post on this episode
More from Dr. Neomy Storch:
Her page at the University of Melbourne
As always, 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
For more on what we do at LYE:
Join Our Teacher Development Membership
Join our Self-directed Learning Portal

Wednesday May 19, 2021
The Cult of Learning 13: The Three Essentials of Language Learning - Part 1
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of our Self-directed Learning Portal, which helps thousands of people around the world improve the English skills important to them.
Leo and Mike bring you a brand new mini-series called "The Three Essentials of Language Learning." We will talk about what really helps folks out there learn a language - do you need a teacher? Do you need to be motivated? Should you listen to a lot of podcasts in the language you are trying to learn? What are the three essentials of learning a foreign language? The answer to these questions you will find in this new series of the Cult of Learning podcast.
In Part 1, they tackle the "first essential": exposure. When learning a foreign language, it is important to develop habits, but also to create an effective learning environment - not only inside the classroom but outside the classroom.
This episode will help you do that, and, specifically, they discuss:
- what exposure is and isn't
- how learners can expose themselves to language
- what kind of reading or listening you should do if you're a student
- is "less is more" or "more is more" more appropriate?
If you are a learning a language, these episodes are for you!
Download the FREE Learn YOUR English Personalized Habit Tracker:
Click here or go to: learnyourenglish.net/podcast
Also, check out our blog post for more information on today's episode for more information.
Thank you for listening! If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our FREE E-book on Learning. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Improve your English with our Self-directed Learning Portal - only $5/month

Sunday May 09, 2021
Sunday May 09, 2021
We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, to produce an 8-part mini series on the topic of Corrective Feedback. The series explores the area of corrective feedback through interviews with 8 scholars in the field. All interviews are conducted by students in Dr. Eva Kartchava's MA class at Carleton University as a means of assessment to connect researchers to their audience and have her students generate a greater level of understanding and investment in the research from the course. If you are interested in having a similar series produced for your class or institute, you can contact us: info@learnyourenglish.com
This is episode 5 in our series, featuring Dr. María del Pilar García Mayo. Dr. Maria del Pilar Garcia Mayo is the director of the research group Language in speech - a multidisciplinary group at the University of the Basque country in Spain. The group focuses on the acquisition of English as a foreign language. Dr. Mayo has a PhD in linguistics from the University of Iowa and is the director of the MA program Language Acquisition in MultiLingual Settings as well as the head of the department of English and German studies at the university of the Basque Country. Her publications span the area of second and third language acquisition of English, morphosyntax, and the study of conversational interaction in EFL. She is also the editor of journal Language Teaching Research.
In this episode, Dr. García Mayo discusses:
-
the Spanish EFL context
-
recent studies revolving around language learning and the high school context in Spain
-
the arguments for and against self-repair, recast, and implicit & explicit feedback
-
why there is such a research gap with children
-
teacher training and corrective feedback
-
the role of research - and researchers - in classroom application
*This interview was conducted by Jean Charlebois and Sarah Langridge
Partnership with Carleton University:
Throughout the series, MA students from Dr. Kartchava's class will interview leading experts in the field of corrective feedback. We thank Dr. Kartchava for joining this episode and for spearheading this initiative.
For more information on this episode, this project, and those involved:
- view Carleton and Dr. Kartchava's website on Corrective Feedback
- view the LYE blog post on this episode
More from Dr. María del Pilar García Mayo:
The Language and Speech Laboratory
Her latest volumes include:
Learning Foreign Languages in Primary School: Research Insights
Recent Perspectives on Task-based Language Learning and Teaching
Working Collaboratively in Second/Foreign Language Learning
As always, 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
For more on what we do at LYE:
Our Teacher Development Membership

Monday Apr 19, 2021
Corrective Feedback 4: Exploring the Discourse with Dr. Yucel Yilmaz
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 2021
We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, to produce an 8-part mini series on the topic of Corrective Feedback. The series explores the area of corrective feedback through interviews with 8 scholars in the field. All interviews are conducted by students in Dr. Eva Kartchava's MA class at Carleton University as a means of assessment to connect researchers to their audience and have her students generate a greater level of understanding and investment in the research from the course. If you are interested in having a similar series produced for your class or institute, you can contact us: info@learnyourenglish.com
This is episode 4 in our series, featuring Dr. Yucel Yilmaz. Dr. Yilmaz is a professor of Second Language Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. He teaches and researches several areas in second language acquisition, with a focus on how to offer effective (negative) feedback to language learners in both technology-mediated and in-person environments. He is also interested in the role of cognitive individual differences in the effectiveness of corrective feedback.
In this episode, Dr. Yilmaz discusses:
- the interactionist approach
- explicit correction versus recast
- why direct feedback being more effective needs to be taken with a grain of salt
- computer versus face-to-face mediated feedback
- how to implement oral and written feedback
- how teachers can learn about corrective feedback research and apply it to their own contexts
*This interview was conducted by Heather Shugart, Aria Rubinoff, and Fereshteh Khaffai Azar.
Partnership with Carleton University:
Throughout the series, MA students from Dr. Kartchava's class will interview leading experts in the field of corrective feedback. We thank Dr. Kartchava for joining this episode and for spearheading this initiative.
For more information on this episode, this project, and those involved:
- view Carleton and Dr. Kartchava's website on Corrective Feedback
- view the LYE blog post on this episode
More from Dr. Yilmaz:
Visit the Instructed SLA Lab at Indiana University
As always, 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
For more on what we do at LYE:
Our Teacher Development Membership

Sunday Apr 11, 2021
Sunday Apr 11, 2021
Want to win a free subscription to habit tracking app Habitica?
1. Review Teacher Talking Time in Apple Podcasts or on Google
2. Send us a screenshot of your review via Instagram: @learnyourenglish
3. That's it!
Many thanks to our friends at Habitica for their help with today's episode. Definitely check them out if you're looking for cool ways to track your habits.
CULT/K^LT/A fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people’s lives/The cult of learning encourages people to find and pursue what they are passionate about/
*”The Cult of Learning” are episodes for learners of languages. These episodes will discuss tools and strategies for learning and provide opportunities for effective listening practice. These episodes are also part of our Self-directed Learning Portal, which helps thousands of people around the world improve the English skills important to them.
Leo and Mike continue our mini series “What are Habits and the Science Behind Them.” In the third and final installment of this mini series, they discuss:
-
five benefits of habit tracking
-
what habits are worth tracking
-
how to respond when our habits and consistency breaks down
-
methods for tracking habits and actually being consistent with it
-
how to get a free subscription to tracking app Habitica!
If you are a learning a language, these episodes are for you!
Download the FREE Learn YOUR English Personalized Habit Tracker:
Click here or go to: learnyourenglish.net/podcast
Also, check out our blog post for more information on today's episode for more information.
Thank you for listening! If you have a comment or question about today's show, we'd love to hear from you: info@learnyourenglish.com
For more info on what we do at LYE, check out:
Our E-book for FREE on our website. We hope it helps you learn outside the classroom!
Our School of Learning for Teachers & Students - only $5/month