Episode 109: Building Connections and Competence: Exploring Language Acquisition and Motivation with Dr. Liam Printer

Growing With Proficiency The Podcast

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This is our first collaboration episode with the outstanding Dr. Liam Printer, host of the Motivated Classroom Podcast. In this episode, we dive into the heart of language acquisition, motivation, and community-building in the classroom. We share practical strategies to inspire your students, enhance comprehensible input, and create a learning environment where every student feels empowered. Regardless of your context of teaching, this episode offers valuable insights into how motivation and acquisition are connected.
Check out the main highlights of this conversation.
-Understanding Context in Language Teaching: Liam and Claudia discuss the importance of contextually appropriate pedagogies and how these principles can be applied in various teaching environments.
- Navigating Upper-Level Language Classes: Strategies for maintaining high levels of comprehension and motivation in upper-level courses, including the integration of authentic resources.
- Building Community and Connections: How getting to know your students on a personal level can transform classroom dynamics and enhance learning outcomes.
- Practical Activities for Engaging Students: Dr. Liam Printer and Claudia share engaging classroom activities like the “Know your classmates”, "Off-Topic Challenge" and the "Mentira" game to keep students motivated and involved.
Dr. Liam Printer
Dr. Liam Printer hosts The Motivated Classroom podcast and is currently an Instructional Coach at the International School of Lausanne in Switzerland, where he works with teachers to improve their practice. Prior to this role, Liam was the Leader of Pedagogical Innovation and Approaches to Learning at the school. Liam has been a teacher of additional languages for the past 17 years. He currently teaches Spanish and English in the middle and high school as part of the International Baccalaureate. His Motivated Classroom podcast was listed in the Top 5% of all downloaded podcasts worldwide in 2022 with over 400,000 listens to date. His Doctorate in Education focussed on motivation and teaching languages through storytelling and his research has been published in various peer reviewed journals and it has been cited over 30 times in the past 3 years in other academic research. Liam also holds a Masters in French, a Postgraduate Diploma in teaching of modern languages, a Bachelor's degree in Business and languages, and he is currently working on a Masters in Applied Linguistics and Teaching of English. His book with Oxford Hachette publishing, on motivation and language teaching, will be published in 2025. Liam has been invited as the Keynote speaker at more than 10 international language teaching conferences and he continues to work with a wide range of schools and districts around the world on raising motivation in the language classroom. If you'd like to learn directly from Liam, check out his upcoming online workshops on his website www.liamprinter.com.
Links and resources!

Comprehensible and Communicative Language Education: Free Teacher Guide

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This teacher guide, available in English and Spanish, will give you clarity about how our students acquire the language and develop proficiency and the shifts I made to move from a traditional approach to a more comprehensible and communicative teaching approach.
Click here to download now https://growing-with-proficiency.mykajabi.com/teacherguide