'Read aloud' - Utilising engaging activities that spark excitement
As the 'newish kid on the block' in terms of the new GCSE MFL specification in England, incorporating read-aloud activities in the modern...
top of page
WELCOME
"Reflections of a language teacher.
Always learning."
Silvia Bastow
- Mar 17
- 5 min
"Unpicking Engagement: Strategies for Reaching Middle-Attaining, Disengaged Boys in the Language Classroom"
In the domain of language teaching, teachers often find themselves faced with the challenge of engaging students who seem disinterested...
Silvia Bastow
- Feb 18
- 4 min
Unveiling the Power of "Less" in the Language Classroom: A Cognitive Approach to Teaching and Learning
In the dynamic landscape of modern language education, the quest for effective teaching methodologies that enhance students' ability to...
Silvia Bastow
- Jan 14
- 6 min
Unlocking success: Supporting students with the lowest prior attainment in their GCSE exam
Achieving success in GCSE exams is a challenging journey for all students, but those with the lowest prior attainment often face unique...
Silvia Bastow
- Dec 10, 2023
- 4 min
"The Harmonious Approach": Using Songs for Teaching Languages
This year (March, 2023), I attended Eva Lamb's session at the Language World Conference organised by the Association for Language...
Silvia Bastow
- Nov 25, 2023
- 4 min
Making learning stick: Strategies for lasting knowledge
Learning a language is a cumulative and dynamic process that involves acquiring, processing, and retaining vocabulary and structures....
Silvia Bastow
- Oct 22, 2023
- 4 min
Stretching our high attaining students
I decided to write this blog post because too often, when I chat to my fellow colleagues either at conferences, subject meetings, or...
Silvia Bastow
- Apr 16, 2023
- 3 min
Worked examples in the Language classroom
One of the most effective teaching strategy for languages classroom are worked examples. As a type of instructional method, they provide...
Silvia Bastow
- Mar 4, 2023
- 4 min
Mini whiteboards – the number 1 classroom tool?
With recent publications of various edu-books, mini whiteboards seem to be experiencing some kind of ‘re-birth’ in the world of...
Silvia Bastow
- Dec 10, 2022
- 5 min
This one in on motivation
“Motivation is complex and invisible which makes it hard to understand.” Peps Mccrea: Motivated Teaching Human beings have always been...
Silvia Bastow
- Nov 19, 2022
- 5 min
Does practice really make 'perfect'?
“If challenge, explaining, modelling & questioning are the ingredients for learning, practice is the oven in which it is baked.” ...
Silvia Bastow
- Oct 9, 2022
- 5 min
Lexical approach and chunking
Recently, I have been looking more closely at the research analysing the ‘lexical approach’ of language teaching. Here are some key facts...
Silvia Bastow
- Sep 10, 2022
- 3 min
Pronunciation and phonics
Both pronunciation and phonics instruction relate to sounds. Phonics are used to teach reading to learners and pronunciation is about...
Silvia Bastow
- Jul 3, 2022
- 5 min
Teaching grammar implicitly vs explicitly
The discussion about what is the best approach when teaching grammar in MFL is always a ‘hot seat’ topic and at times many of us will...
Silvia Bastow
- Apr 18, 2022
- 4 min
Challenge – the underpinning principle!
The underpinning principle of effective teaching is challenge! Students rise or fall according to the level of expectation that we set...
Silvia Bastow
- Mar 6, 2022
- 3 min
Show Calling
One of the six pedagogical principles of expert teaching is modelling, a research-informed strategy demonstrating to our students how to...
Silvia Bastow
- Jan 23, 2022
- 4 min
Trying to increase your GCSE uptake? This is what we are trying…
With the languages uptake in British schools and universities on the decline, what can we do to reverse the trend? The British Council in...
Silvia Bastow
- Jan 3, 2022
- 6 min
Learning vocabulary – passive vs. active
Learning and building students’ vocabulary to develop fluency and eventually mastery of the studied language requires a lot of effort,...
Silvia Bastow
- Dec 11, 2021
- 2 min
Live modelling
Live modelling is considered to be one of the most powerful strategies in the teacher’s toolkit and I absolutely agree! Through live...
Silvia Bastow
- Nov 7, 2021
- 4 min
Are soft skills useful for language learning?
On social media, I often see posts about the importance of creating the right school culture – routines, students’ behaviour and attitude...
bottom of page