black box
May 22, 2017
I’m betting you hear this as much as I do: “Oh, you’re a language teacher? I wish I could speak (X). But I’m just no good at learning languages.” I’m also betting many of you have answered the way I have. It’s not about being “good” at languages. If you’ve acquired a first language, you’ve proven […]
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September 8, 2016
Missing the Black Box videocasts? This newest research-based videocast about language learning and teaching was completed months ago and I’ve been quite remiss in not blogging about it yet. This one is quite different: the whole team divvied up the work of bringing you a Throwback ThurSLAy version of our videocast. Normally we review articles […]
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December 15, 2015
Voice and choice! Right? Well, if the sheer volume of content under my “choice” tag is any indication, I believe so. I’m convinced by research on autonomy and purpose that if we can give students options that speak to their inner motivation, then and only then will we end up with significant percentages of proficient speakers out […]
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November 24, 2015
We’ve been talking for a long time about how we should infuse language classes with language that communicates meaning. We’ve also been talking about how we can make sure the meanings we’re choosing are the ones students actually need and want to communicate in the real world. When meaningful language meets meaningful purposes, whether you realize […]
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October 15, 2015
Disclaimer: No red pens were harmed in the making of this episode. Here we confront a continual dilemma in language teaching. As language teachers who are good at the languages we teach, every error grates on our ears and eyes. We want to correct. We want to cross out the masculine ending and write the […]
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October 3, 2015
When I tell you that the topic of this episode of the Musicuentos Black Box videocast is an article entitled “Overcoming Resistance to 90% Target Language Use” you probably think what I thought, that it was about getting your students on board with everyone speaking more TL in the classroom. You’ll learn something about that […]
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What if a prominent teacher and researcher told you that you couldn’t possibly teach your students what they need to know in order to understand authentic target language and incorporate what they understand into their own language production? But don’t lose hope; Waring (and the presenter of this Black Box Videocast, Justin Slocum Bailey) helps […]
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August 1, 2015
Can language that’s learned be used in spontaneous communication? Yes. No. Maybe. It’s a big debate in the field of Second Language Acquisition research, and the authors of this article want to encourage all sides to take a more nuanced view of the issue. This question is really complex (when I was unpacking the article […]
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Here’s a deeply interesting question for us: why is my language ability even in interpersonal skills measured by what I can do alone, when what I can do with you, my conversation partner who can meet me in my “zone of proximal development,” is a lot more? If you’re not familiar with Vygotsky and sociocultural […]
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July 1, 2015
We know that students need comprehensible input in order to acquire language. Is that all we need? Learn more in this Black Box videocast. Here’s the info. It is hard to find a research model that has influenced the direction of language more than Stephen Krashen’s five-pronged hypotheses first published in the late 1970’s. Still, […]
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June 15, 2015
Did you know grammar is not a skill you can practice? Read on. And watch this. It’s already time for the second videocast of the Musicuentos Black Box. Here’s the info. Ready to watch? This eight minutes (+) will help you understand what it really means to know a language and remind you in […]
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If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the world language teaching profession recently, it’s that we’re plagued with arguments about why one method trumps another. As it turns out, we’re wasting our time on that argument, and we should be asking a different question altogether. I know, I’ve dropped off the internet a bit lately and […]
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