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This post was prompted by a post by Ian Astbury on LinkedIn . I often find myself reflecting on what truly transforms a language lesson from “just another class” into an experience that sticks. Over nearly twenty years in the classroom - teaching, observing and mentoring - I’ve noticed that the lessons students remember aren’t necessarily the ones that look perfect on paper. They’re the lessons where students are actively using the language, taking risks and seeing it as a tool, not just a subject. A great MFL lesson isn’t about ticking objectives or completing exercises; it’s about creating moments where language comes alive . It’s about building confidence, encouraging curiosity, and connecting words and structures to meaningful communication. It’s when the classroom feels a little chaotic, a little unpredictable, and a lot alive because students are discovering how to make the language their own. In this post, I’ll explore the elements that make language teaching effective, practical ways to bring them to life, and the subtle shifts that separate “good” lessons from truly great ones. I have to agree with Ian's reflections. So below I am looking at some of the points he raises in his post and more. 1. Students Must Speak More Than the Teacher One of the most common traps in language teaching is indeed letting the teacher dominate the target language . Even the most fluent French, Spanish, or German sounds beautiful, but if students are silent, learning isn’t happening. The hallmark of a great lesson is when learners are producing the language themselves, making mistakes, correcting each other, and gradually gaining fluency. To achieve this, structured opportunities for speaking are essential. Practical examples: Classroom routines Speed-dating conversations:  Students rotate partners every few minutes, asking and answering questions on familiar topics like hobbies, weekend plans, or school life. Each interaction is short but intensive, giving everyone a chance to speak repeatedly building spontaneity and fluency. Information gap activities:  One student has information that their partner needs. For example, student A has a timetable, student B has a list of questions. They must communicate to complete the task. This mirrors real-life use and encourages authentic dialogue. The teacher’s role is to facilitate, scaffold, and model tricky vocabulary or phrases, not to dominate . When students’ voices fill the room, learning is happening organically. 2. Real Communication Outweighs Worksheet Practice Worksheets, exercises, and drills are not without value, especially for consolidation. However, language becomes memorable when it’s used with purpose . Repetition alone is insufficient; repetition with meaning  makes language stick. Practical examples: Role-plays with stakes:  Students act out a scenario such as ordering food at a café, booking a hotel, or asking for directions. The unpredictability of real interaction forces them to think on their feet and use structures meaningfully. Problem-solving tasks:   Students might plan a weekend trip in TL, negotiate who will do what, or decide on an itinerary. They are compelled to use vocabulary and grammar in context, making the learning relevant and memorable. “Find someone who…” activities:  Instead of merely reciting sentences, students search for peers who meet certain criteria (e.g., “Find someone who has visited Germany”), creating genuine communication. The key is purpose. When language is connected to a task or problem, students are far more engaged. 3. Grammar Needs Clarity, Not Mystery Grammar often divides opinion in MFL teaching. Some believe students should “discover” patterns themselves, while others advocate explicit instruction. In my experience, clarity always wins and a careful balance between the implicit and explicit is needed. We teach in many different context and very diverse classes, so our approach should be also adapted to the students in front of us. My higher attaining students definitely want to know the WHY . Students learn best when rules are explained concisely and immediately applied . This doesn’t mean dumping endless tables of verb endings; it means short, clear explanations , illustrated in context , followed by purposeful practice to ensure transfer and application , so grammar doesn't exist in isolation. Practical examples: Mini-grammar focus:  A five-minute explanation of the difference between passé composé  and imparfait  in French, followed by a short storytelling exercise using both tenses. Embedded grammar practice:  Students describe images or sequences of events in Spanish using new verb forms, integrating grammar directly into meaningful communication. Lexico-grammar - see my previous post on this here and here . The goal is automaticity. Grammar becomes a tool, not a barrier. 4. Vocabulary and Grammar Should Be Interwoven Too often, lessons treat vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, listening, and speaking as separate strands. But fluency grows when these elements are integrated. Students retain words and structures more effectively when they encounter them in multiple contexts . Practical examples: Dictogloss:  The teacher reads a short text, students take notes, then reconstruct it in small groups. This simultaneously reinforces vocabulary, grammar, and listening skills. Thematic projects:  For example, a “My Ideal City” project in German where students research, write, and present. They learn vocabulary for places, use adjectives, practice prepositions, and speak about their city. Integration encourages students to see language as a system , not isolated parts, which strengthens fluency and recall. 5. Culture and Creativity Are Essential Language is inseparable from culture. Lessons that ignore context risk producing students who can recite grammar and vocabulary but cannot communicate meaningfully in real life. Embedding culture increases motivation, retention, and engagement . Practical examples: Authentic resources:   Newspaper articles, song lyrics, podcasts, and YouTube clips provide exposure to natural language and real-life context. Analysing a French rap song or a Spanish travel vlog, for instance, can spark discussions about culture, identity, and language use. The caveat here is to make sure the authentic resource is accessible , in other words, adapted in a way, students can understand and use it. Creative projects:  Students produce short videos, podcasts, or blog posts in the target language about a festival, tradition, or local event. They apply language skills in authentic, creative ways. Cultural comparisons:   Lessons can explore differences and similarities between countries. For example, comparing school routines in Germany and the UK encourages discussion in the target language while broadening cultural awareness. My students love listening to the cultural differences and the discussions we have (not necessarily in TL) are always very rich. Culture is not an optional “add-on” ; it gives language meaning and makes learning memorable. 6. Judging Lesson Quality I have to agree with Ian here too, I also rarely assess lesson quality based on objectives on the board. Instead, I look for impact and evidence of genuine engagement. Indicators of a strong lesson include: Students speaking more and working harder than the teacher. Communication is meaningful - not just repetition or recitation of pre-learnt chunks. Structures and vocabulary appear naturally in students’ output. Students can still use the language after the lesson and in consecutive lessons. Risk-taking is encouraged: learners experiment with new words or phrases, even imperfectly. They learn from mistakes and have the 'I can' attitude. All four skills - listening, speaking, reading, writing - are integrated meaningfully (however, this doesn't mean they have to listen to a recording every lesson for example). Cultural content is integrated and encountered, it is not just about content coverage. Students are engaged and experiencing success. As he says, the best lessons often feel slightly messy. Mistakes are frequent, and the teacher doesn’t control every moment (this can be difficult for many of us, not controlling everything) - but that is precisely where learning flourishes. 7. Designing Lessons with Purpose To translate these principles into practice, I always consider the following framework for lesson planning: Set a communicative goal:   I start with a clear purpose, e.g., “Students will plan a weekend trip in Spain and present it to a partner.” Activate prior knowledge:   I begin with a quick retrieval practice task, using a quiz. Introduce new language clearly:  I highlight key vocabulary and structures in context. Move from guided and deliberate practice:  I begin with structured exercises, then progress to independent or paired practice. Monitor and feedback:   I circulate, listen, prompt, and correct constructively. Embed creativity and culture:  I try to include tasks that also require personal choice or cultural awareness. Conclude with reflection:  I have students demonstrate their learning or summarise key points. This framework helps ensure lessons are engaging, meaningful, and sustainable for GCSE preparation and beyond. Please, note that this is a framework for a sequence of lessons not just one lesson. 8. The Heart of a Great MFL Lesson A great MFL lesson is student-centred, purposeful , and connected to real-world communication. It balances input, practice, and creativity; it integrates grammar, vocabulary, and skills; it normalises mistakes as learning opportunities. Most importantly, it leaves learners feeling capable, curious, and confident in another language. I’ve witnessed lessons where students could speak continuously, create their own content, and laugh at their mistakes - and the learning stuck. These lessons may not look perfectly tidy, but they are effective in ways that exam scores and objectives alone cannot capture. As GCSE season approaches, remember: a truly great lesson isn’t about “covering the syllabus” - it’s about helping students use the language in ways that matter . I’d love to hear from other language teachers: How do you make your lessons purposeful? What strategies help students speak spontaneously? How do you balance explicit grammar teaching with communicative freedom? Language learning is too valuable to be passive. Great lessons make it active, creative and alive.

This blog post was written by Céline Courenq. About the author of the post: Céline Courenq is Head of World Languages (MFL and Home Languages) at a British international school in Bangkok, leading language pathways across KS3–IB She previously taught in comprehensive secondary schools in the UK, which continues to shape her commitment to inclusive practice and strong foundations. She has led the implementation of the EPI model across KS3 and KS4, is EPI accredited, and is also an IB examiner. Celine has organised EPI/Dr Conti-focused workshops through FOBISIA and has welcomed colleagues from other international schools for collaborative curriculum and practice-sharing. Her interests include curriculum coherence, cumulative retrieval, and the link between KS3 foundations and external assessment outcomes. In an inclusive, high-performing international context, language learning can look fine on the surface. Students are articulate, confident, and often multilingual. They participate readily and generally cope well with demanding tasks. Yet in our context, despite strong academic ambition, (I)GCSE outcomes began to reveal something we could no longer ignore: students were reaching Key Stage 4 with gaps in sentence-level control, grammatical accuracy, and spontaneous fluency . When confidence masks fragility Our student body includes a wide range of learner profiles. Behaviour is excellent, motivation is generally high, and verbal reasoning skills are often strong. Many students have experience of more than one language. But confidence is not the same thing as control . Students could infer meaning from context, sound fluent in familiar routines, and produce work that looked “successful” in the moment, yet lacked automatisation of high-frequency language . Over time, that created a gap between what they understood and what they could reliably produce , especially under pressure. What finally made it undeniable was Year 10: students arriving with shaky control of verbs you simply can’t do without. We kept seeing the same thing, students who had apparently been “fine” for years, but who could not manipulate core verbs such as avoir with confidence. That isn’t a KS4 problem but a foundation issue that has been allowed to sit quietly for too long. Rethinking what KS3 is for KS3 had drifted into “exposure and enjoyment”: lots of content, lots of reassurance, not enough cumulative security. Curriculum time was at times irregular, contact was sometimes non-consecutive, and there was a natural tendency to prioritise confidence over precision, particularly in contexts where everyone wants students to feel good about learning. Confidence built on insecure language doesn’t survive exam conditions. Without systematic recycling, retrieval, and sentence-level practice, early misconceptions fossilise. Students move forward with a sense of fluency that is, in reality, fragile. Once (I)GCSE introduces clearer success criteria and external benchmarking, those weaknesses can’t be smoothed over. What changed in practice At curriculum level, we have adopted an evidence-informed instructional framework (EPI) , moving from topic-led schemes to skill- and structure-driven sequencing. Each unit is built around a small number of core sentence patterns and grammatical features , selected for frequency and long-term utility . These are treated as non-negotiables : students are expected to retrieve them fluently before moving on. At both KS3 and KS4, sentence builders and knowledge organisers became central as a way of making the taught language concrete and retrievable . Examination board specifications provide vocabulary and grammar lists, but those lists are reference points, not an instructional plan. In practice, we introduced vocabulary through carefully selected sentence-level constructions , chosen for frequency, transferability, and grammatical leverage, and revisited them systematically over time. Rather than presenting lexis as isolated lists, we embedded vocabulary in chunks that students could immediately manipulate. Knowledge organisers stabilised this core language across units and year groups, so learning didn’t “reset” after an end-of-unit test. The goal was not to cover more content but to make fewer structures usable under pressure. Pronunciation , previously an inconsistent area in French, also had to be tackled properly . We embedded a structured phonics approach from KS3 onwards, because if students can’t reliably map sound to spelling (and vice versa), everything else becomes harder: listening, reading, and the confidence to speak. Assessment practices shifted too. Instead of relying mainly on summative judgements, we built in frequent low-stakes checks and formative checkpoints to make learning visible early. That meant gaps were identified while they were still fixable, rather than being discovered at the point where they start damaging KS4 outcomes. PHOTO 1-Sentence builders used to secure a small set of high-frequency constructions PHOTO 2 -extract from a Knowledge Organiser for Year 7 French Coherence across the key stage: non-negotiables and cumulative retrieval To sustain consistency across classes and year groups, each year group worked with a small set of clearly defined non-negotiables . These articulated the core language and structures that all students were expected to retrieve fluently by the end of the year. Importantly, these were not treated as one-off endpoints. They were deliberately revisited and retrieved across subsequent units and year groups . That shifted progression from linear “coverage” to cumulative security . Language introduced in Year 7 did not disappear once assessed. It stayed active through systematic retrieval in Year 8 and beyond. Teachers retained autonomy over pacing and classroom decision-making, but the non-negotiables provided a shared reference point that reduced drift, made gaps visible early, and ensured continuity. A KS3–KS4 causality example The clearest evidence for the impact of earlier curriculum decisions showed up not in headline grades, but in the types of errors students made under exam pressure. Patterns that looked like “KS4 issues” were often the predictable outcome of gaps in automatisation at KS3, especially where French structures don’t map neatly onto English. A simple but revealing example is the French perfect tense. Historically, many students defaulted to an English-transfer model-treating the past as either a direct translation ( je jouer ) or as a single “have + verb” pattern, without securely controlling auxiliary choice, past participle formation, and agreement. Under pressure, this produced predictable errors such as je jouer instead of j’ai joué, j’ai allé / je allé instead of je suis allé(e) , and inconsistent participle endings even when students could recognise the correct forms receptively. By securing the underlying constructions earlier, high-frequency avoir verbs in the perfect tense, the limited set of verbs that take être , and the agreement logic, students became markedly more reliable in both accuracy and fluency . The difference was not increased exam practice in KS4, but earlier automatisation of structures that do not map neatly onto English. This kind of error pattern is not a knowledge gap so much as a control gap and exam conditions are designed to expose control. In other words, underperformance was rarely caused by a lack of ambition or vocabulary, but by a lack of control of high-frequency structures when scaffolds fell away. Success criteria snippet showing focus on completion and complexity/range Impact and emerging evidence The change has been visible in students' written work, in speaking , and in the kind of mistakes that have all but disappeared . Notably, the impact has been most immediately visible among students who previously relied heavily on confidence, memory, or teacher scaffolding to “get by”. As expectations became clearer and retrieval routines more consistent, these learners showed particularly strong gains in accuracy and independence, suggesting that the approach reduced hidden barriers and made success more attainable for a wider range of students. More broadly, students show greater consistency in written work, increased confidence in spontaneous speaking, and a clearer grasp of the structures they are using. Importantly, they can explain why a sentence works, not simply whether it “sounds right”. (I)GCSE outcomes over the past two years have reflected this increased security, with more consistent performance across cohorts . Many variables influence results, but the alignment between KS3 foundations and KS4 demands has become markedly stronger . Equally significant has been the impact on teacher practice . Shared frameworks and clear non-negotiables improved coherence across the department, reduced variability, and strengthened collective accountability without undermining professional judgement. Reflections for similar contexts In high-performing international settings, it is tempting to assume language learning will take care of itself. Our experience suggests the opposite. Precisely because students are articulate and confident, gaps can remain hidden until external assessment makes demands explicit. By prioritising depth over breadth, and automatisation over exposure, we have been able to support learners more effectively while maintaining high expectations . This approach is not about lowering demands or over-structuring learning. It is about recognising the cognitive realities of language acquisition and designing a curriculum that respect them. In doing so, we have begun to reposition language learning as a serious academic discipline, rather than a subject that relies on confidence and presentation. Looking ahead Our next steps involve further embedding sentence builders and knowledge organisers at KS4, refining assessment alignment, and continuing to use evidence to inform intervention. Although the examples in this piece are drawn from French, we are now adapting the same principles across other languages in our department. The approach transfers, but the points of difficulty differ by language: French demands systematic attention to sound–spelling relationships; German often exposes gaps through case and word order; and languages such as Japanese and Mandarin introduce additional challenges around script, phonology, and how learners segment and retrieve language. For that reason, the methodology is being applied consistently, while the linguistic focus is tailored. When KS3 is treated as intellectually rigorous and structurally sound, KS4 outcomes follow. EPI provided the framework to make that connection explicit and, most importantly, effective.

From a GCSE examiner’s point of view, I believe most students do not underperform in writing because they lack ideas, motivation or effort. Much more often, they underperform because they have been taught a version of GCSE writing that does not reflect how writing is actually assessed. Year after year, the same issues surface in exam papers. Students rely heavily on scaffolds , they misunderstand what “complex language” really means and accuracy at sentence level is sacrificed in the pursuit of ambition . These problems are not separate; they are deeply interconnected. Unless we address them together, we risk systematically undermining students’ chances of success. Why students underperform in GCSE writing When I mark GCSE writing, I rarely think, “This student just doesn’t know enough vocabulary.”  Far more often, I think, “This student knows things, but cannot - what I call - control them.” In real exam scripts, this lack of control shows itself very clearly. Verb endings collapse under pressure, tenses are mixed unintentionally, high-frequency structures become inaccurate and errors multiply as the response goes on. A typical example might look like this: Ich habe letztes Jahr nach Spanien gefahren und ich habe viel Spaß und ich esse Paella jeden Tag. (Last year I travelled to Spain [wrong auxilliary verb] and I have lots of fun and I eat paella every day.) The student is clearly ambitious. There is a time marker, an attempt at the perfect tense, an opinion and some added detail. However, the message is undermined by a lack of grammatical control (accuracy) : bin gefahren , hatte viel Spaß , and consistent tense use are all missing. The intended meaning would require: Ich bin letztes Jahr nach Spanien gefahren und hatte viel Spaß und habe jeden Tag Paella gegessen. (Last year I travelled to Spain, had lots of fun and ate paella every day.) Examiners don't reward marks for spotting ambition. They reward marks for successful communication and accurate language . Ambition only helps when it is supported by control. What I believe works better is a narrower but deeper approach. Students need fewer structures, practised more often and in more contexts. Ten sentences that students can manipulate accurately will always outperform fifty phrases they half-remember under exam pressure of any GCSE exam board. The danger of over-scaffolding in GCSE preparation We all understand why we scaffold. Writing is cognitively demanding and as teachers we want students to feel successful . However, I believe over-scaffolding creates a false sense of security. When students always write with sentence starters, model paragraphs, sentence builders / substitution tables and pre-written chunks, they are rarely required to make real linguistic decisions for themselves. The thinking has already been done. Then the exam arrives. The scaffold disappears, cognitive load spikes and accuracy collapses. This pattern appears every year. In lessons, a student might confidently produce something like: Meiner Meinung nach ist meine Schule sehr gut, weil sie modern ist und die Lehrer freundlich sind. (In m y opinion, my school is very good because it is modern and the teachers are friendly.) But this response was created with sentence starters on the board, adjectives provided and connectives highlighted. In the exam, the same student writes: Meiner Meinung nach meine Schule ist sehr gut weil modern und Lehrer freundlich. (In my opinion my school is very good because modern and teachers friendly.) The issue here is not a lack of knowledge. It is dependency. Students have learned to rely on external support rather than internalised control. For this reason, I believe we need to rethink what we scaffold. Scaffolding should fade deliberately , focus on thinking rather than copying and build independence at sentence level. That might mean removing sentence starters but keeping verbs, removing adjectives but keeping structures, or asking students to adapt language rather than reproduce it wholesale. What “complex language” actually means at GCSE One of the most persistent myths in GCSE MFL is that complex language means long sentences and always some kind of sophisticated vocabulary. However, that simply is not true. Complexity is about control, not length . Ambition is valuable and some exam boards may reward the attempt , but when we consider language learning beyond GCSE, this approach is not enough. In my view, true best practice focuses on controlled, accurate use of language. A sentence such as: Obwohl ich hätte gehen sollen, ich bin geblieben weil es war interessant. (Although I should have gone. I stayed because it was interesting.) is not impressive if it is inaccurate. In this case, the intended meaning is clear, but the German word order and verb forms are incorrect. Often, such phrases are memorised by rote and inserted into writing to appear “complex,” yet students do not truly understand them, nor can they use or manipulate them correctly . Yes, this approach might be sufficient if the goal is simply to pass the exam - provided the phrase or structure can be recalled accurately - but in terms of genuine language learning, it falls short. By contrast: Ich habe nicht nur Sport gemacht, sondern auch neue Freunde kennengelernt. (I not only did sport, but also made new friends.) is more impressive precisely because it is controlled. The structure is clear, verb forms are accurate and the language has been successfully manipulated. Some of the most effective complexity in GCSE writing comes from relatively simpl e features used well: correct tense changes, justified opinions, negatives and accurate word order after connectives. For example: Früher habe ich Fußball gespielt, aber jetzt habe ich keine Zeit, weil ich viel lernen muss. (I used to play football, but now I don't havr any time because I have to study more.) This is not “fancy” language, but it is controlled and that is what earns marks. I tell students explicitly: “Complex means you can control it under pressure.”  If they cannot explain why a sentence works, they probably should not be using it in the exam. Bringing it all together in the classroom I believe strong GCSE writing grows out of sentence-level mastery, the deliberate removal of scaffolds and explicit teaching about what examiners actually reward. In practical terms, this means prioritising strategies such as rewriting the same sentence in multiple tenses, error-spotting using examiner-style mistakes and setting narrow but deep writing tasks. It also means introducing timed writing with no support much earlier in KS4 than we often feel comfortable with. Most importantly, I stopped praising writing that merely looks impressive but would not survive real exam conditions. What this means for KS3: prevention, not repair I believe GCSE writing success is largely decided long before Year 10. By the time students reach KS4, habits around accuracy, independence and risk-taking are already deeply embedded. When KS3 writing is dominated by heavy scaffolding, one-off creative tasks and a tolerance of inaccuracy, KS4 teachers are forced into repair mode rather than refinement . At KS3, students are often praised for length rather than accuracy, encouraged to “have a go” without correction, given writing frames that do all the thinking and moved on too quickly from insecure structures. Over time, this creates damaging beliefs: that writing is about filling gaps, that longer is always better and that mistakes do not really matter. These beliefs are extremely difficult to undo later. What I believe KS3 should prioritise instead First, KS3 writing should focus on sentence-level mastery rather than extended tasks. A smaller number of high-frequency structures should be practised repeatedly across topics and constantly rewritten, adapted and manipulated . Rather than asking for a full paragraph about school, I would much rather students can confidently adapt: Ich mag meine Schule, weil sie interessant ist. (I like my school because it is interesting.) into different forms: Ich mochte meine Schule, weil sie interessant war.(I liked my school because it was interesting.) Ich werde meine Schule mögen, weil sie interessant sein wird.(I will like my school because it will be interesting.) Ich mag meine Schule nicht, weil sie langweilig ist.(I don’t like my school because it is boring.) This builds exactly the control GCSE writing demands. Second, scaffolds at KS3 should be temporary and visible , not permanent and invisible. This means modelling a sentence, practising together and then removing support quickly. By Year 9, students should regularly experience unsupported writing, even if it is brief. Third, grammatical accuracy should become a non-negotiable habit. KS3 is where accuracy norms are set. This does not require endless red-pen correction, but it does require revisiting the same errors, analysing mistakes as a class and asking students to explain why one sentence works better than anothe r regardless of their prior attainment or PP / SEND / EAL or HA status - same high expectations for all. For example: ❌ Ich spiele Fußball gestern. (I play football yesterday.) ✔ Ich habe gestern Fußball gespielt. (Yesterday I played football.) Students should expect to explain why the second sentence is better. Finally, we need to redefine what challenge looks like at KS3. Challenge is not longer writing, more vocabulary or greater creativity. Real challenge lies in manipulating known language accurately, using one tense correctly in multiple contexts and justifying opinions clearly . A Year 8 student who can accurately write: Letztes Wochenende habe ich meine Freunde getroffen, weil ich Zeit hatte. is far better prepared for GCSE than one who produces a page of inaccurate writing. Why this matters for GCSE outcomes When KS3 gets this right, KS4 becomes about refinement rather than re-teaching, confidence rather than panic and independence rather than dependency. Students who are used to writing without scaffolds, valuing accuracy and controlling a "limited" repertoire of language (less really well is more) are far more resilient under exam pressure. Final thought I believe GCSE writing does not need to be “fixed” in Year 11. It needs to be built carefully from Year 7. When KS3 prioritises sentence control, fading scaffolds and accuracy as a habit, GCSE writing stops feeling like a cliff edge and starts to feel like the natural outcome of a well-designed curriculum .

One of the most powerful ways to build confidence, fluency and motivation in the MFL classroom is through purposful games. I believe that well-chosen, low-prep activities can transform the energy of a lesson while driving serious progress in retrieval, phonics, grammar and spontaneous use of the target language. Below is a bumper list of 30+ tried-and-tested MFL games  you can use across key stages. They work brilliantly in German, French, Spanish and beyond. ⭐ Retrieval & Memory Games 1. Kim’s Game A classic. Display around nine target words randomly on the board. Give pupils 30 seconds to memorise them. Hide the words and students recreate the layout on mini-whiteboards. Increase the number to raise challenge. Brilliant for retrieval, memory training and healthy competition. 2. Simon Says (Jacques a dit / Simon sagt ) Use commands in the TL. Great for imperatives, listening and high engagement. 3. Backwards Reading Write a sentence on the board and ask students to read it backwards fluently. Helps them slow down, notice detail and improve decoding. 4. Sound/Vocab Chain One student says a vocab item; the next must say a new one beginning with the last letter/sound of the previous word. Great for phonics and thinking on their feet. 5. Faulty Echo Read aloud a series of words or sentences. Students repeat but ONLY if you read it correctly. Introduce sneaky mistakes to encourage focused listening. 🎲 Vocabulary & Phonics Games 6. Karamba! Write vocab on lollipop sticks: English on one side, TL on the other. Students work in teams, pulling out sticks and saying the translation on the hidden side. Correct: keep the stick and go again. Incorrect: put it back. Pull a Karamba  stick? Return all  sticks! Fantastic for repetition, phonics and anticipation. (idea Elaine Gelder) 7. Bingo Use numbers, vocab sets or sentence starters. Students must listen carefully to win. I also practise it in TL first - SSC, then in English, students have to find the matching in TL and cross out if they have the number of the sentence. 8. Hangman A great spelling and phonics warm-up. You can swap the scaffold (e.g., parachute, rocket blast-off) to keep it fresh. 9. Scrabble / Word Builder Give students a set of letters to create as many TL words as possible. Award bonus points for tricky phonemes or longer words. 10. Twist and Speak Ask students to stand back to back with their partner - one facing the board, one facing away. A German sentence and its English translation will appear. The student facing the board says the German aloud; the other gives the English meaning without looking. If correct, they twist to swap roles and move to the next sentence. Challenge them to work as fast as they can! 📖 Reading-Focused Games 11. Dice Reading Put six sentences on the board. Students roll a dice to decide which sentence to read. Extension: roll again and translate TL → English or English → TL. Perfect for structure drilling. 12. Reading Train Students work in groups of four: Pupil 1 reads sentence 1 Pupil 2 reads sentences 1 + 2 Pupil 3 reads 1 + 2 + 3…and so on. Time each group and let others try to beat the total. Great for fluency and confidence. 13. Snake Reading Each student reads one sentence before “passing” to the next student. If someone hesitates or mispronounces, they get support from their partner or the teacher. 14. Blockbuster Create a grid of letters. Students answer questions or translate items beginning with those letters to make a path across the board. 🎤 Speaking Games 15. Hot Seat One student sits facing away from the board while others give clues (in TL!) to help them guess the missing word or phrase. 16. Soft Toy Game Throw a soft toy from one student to another. Whoever catches must answer a question or use a given structure. 17. James Bond Game Ask one student to leave the room - they are James Bond. The class chooses a spy  and an action . When James Bond returns, the class chants the vocabulary and only changes to the next word when the spy performs the action. James Bond must work out who the spy is - with three guesses ! 18. Guessing Game One student thinks of a vocab item; others ask yes/no questions in the TL to work it out. Another version could be: The teacher secretly chooses and writes one sentence from the list on the MWB. Students take turns guessing by putting their hand up and reading/saying a sentence aloud. Keep going until someone identifies the correct one! 19. Bob Up Ask students to split into two groups and give each person a number. When the teacher calls a number, the student with that number must bob up  and be the first to read the sentence aloud in the target language. For a bonus point, they can also give the English translation. (idea from Jake Hunton) ✏️ Sentence-Building & Grammar Games 20. Trapdoor Give several versions of a sentence. Students choose their secret versions and partner must guess. Great for repeated production and noticing patterns. 21. Sentence Stealers Give groups a list of complex sentences. When a student uses one correctly in speaking, they “steal” it for points. (idea G. Conti) 22. Box Game The teacher asks questions on the topic students have been studying. They need to answer correctly to claim a space in the grid. Once all spaces are full, they answer correctly to choose which space they take. After 5 minutes, the four students left in the grid  are the winners! 23. Twister (Grammar Edition) Adapt classic Twister: each circle contains a word category or ending. Students create sentences based on the colours they touch. 🚀 Movement & Whole-Class Games 24. Treasure Hunt Hide words or sentences around the room. Students search, decode and record answers. 25. Shopping Trolley Start with “In meinem Einkaufswagen habe ich…” Each student adds an item, repeating all previous ones. Fantastic for memory and fun. 26. Battleships Still a favourite. Students use coordinates to form TL sentences and “sink” each other’s squares. 27. Tic-Tac-Toe / Noughts and Crosses Each square contains a TL question or task. To place their X or O, students must answer correctly. . 🔁 Interaction & Retrieval Games 28. Quiz Quiz Trade Each student holds a small card with a TL sentence on one side and the English on the other. Students pair up, read aloud and translate. They swap cards. They find a new partner. Rapid repetition, lots of reading aloud and low stakes. 29. Box Guess Hide an object, word, sentence under cups/boxes. Students use TL to name it or translate it or if it is a question to answer it. 30. Kim’s Extended Memory Add pictures, synonyms or endings to boost complexity. Students reconstruct the lot . 31. Sentence Scramble Students race to reorder words to form correct TL sentences. 32. The Guess Game (TL Version) Write a sentence frame; students fill in with their own idea. Others guess which one belongs to who. 33. Line Bingo Ask students to draw four lines on their paper strip to create five boxes. They should write one vocabulary item in each box. When a word on either end  of their strip is called out, they may rip it off. The winner is the first to have all five words  called! 34. Snakes and Ladders Two players compete with a referee holding the answer sheet. The youngest player starts and translates the sentence into German. If correct, they move their counter one space. If incorrect, they stay put, and the referee reads the correct answer for them to remember. The first player to reach the end wins ! 35. Connect 4 Students Connect 4 by answering 4 questions correctly in a row, this task could be scaffolded or provide a challenge by allowing students answer in a short (or even scripted) or extended response based on student's proficiency. Final Thoughts I believe that games are not  an add-on, they’re powerful pedagogical tools. They foster retrieval, collaboration, phonics awareness, automaticity and, most importantly, joy. What ever language you teach, these 30+ activities can bring high-impact, low-prep sparkle into any lesson. Please, comment and share your favourite classroom games.

There’s a lot of talk everywhere about the new 2026 GCSE MFL exams and for good reason! The updates are designed to make language learning more meaningful, focusing on real communication rather than memorised scripts and let's hope they will! The part, I would like to focus on in this post is the Role-Play  section in the speaking exam. If you’ve ever taught GCSE languages, you’ll know role-plays have always been around in some form but the new version asks students to use their language in much more real  ways in real life transactional settings students are likely to encounter when travelling in TL countries. It’s less about reciting a perfect answer and more about understanding a situation and responding naturally, just like they might have to do abroad, online, or even in their future job. So, what exactly is changing, why does it matter and how can we help our students feel more confident? Let’s dig into what the new role-plays look like, what can make them tricky and how we can practise them in everyday lessons without anyone breaking into a sweat. What the New Role-Play Looks Like In the new 2026 GCSE, every student will do a short role-play as part of the speaking exam. The idea is to test how well they can use the language in practical situations ; for example, ordering food, booking a hotel room, or asking for information. Students get a stimulus card  written in English . It sets the scene (“You are in a restaurant”) and lists a few things they need to do - five bullet points. These might say things like say what you want to eat , ask a question about drinks , say if you are happy with the food , etc. One of the points (two in the higher paper) will always ask them to ask a question , so they need to be ready to turn the tables and keep the conversation flowing. The teacher or examiner has a matching card with their side of the dialogue and any follow-on questions. The whole thing lasts about a minute or so and marks are awarded for communication - not for linguistic accuracy or giving long, complicated speeches. However, one word responses will not be enough!!! In other words, it’s not about sounding like a native speaker; it’s about sounding like someone who can cope  and communicate . Designed by Drazen Zigic at Freepik Why Role-Plays Matter I think role-plays are one of the most useful speaking tasks we can do. They build confidence, promote real interaction and show students that language isn’t just something for the classroom - it’s for real life. In the new GCSE, they’re also more aligned with what we actually want learners to achieve: the ability to hold a short, functional conversation. That means fewer rehearsed monologues and more natural dialogue. It also fits perfectly with what the NCLE* have been emphasising lately: resilience in language learning . If students can stay calm, listen carefully and respond even when they’re unsure, that’s a huge win. The Challenges Of course, even the best-prepared students can find role-plays nerve-wracking. Over the years, I’ve noticed the same few hurdles cropping up again and again and these are especially relevant for the exam setup. Here are ten common challenges (and how we can tackle them): Misreading the card  – Students misunderstand what they have to do, especially when it says “ask a question.” Tip:  Practise highlighting or underlining the verbs on the card - say, ask before they start speaking. Missing bullet points or details  – They might give lovely responses but skip one of the tasks. Tip:  Use a simple checklist or tick-box during practice so students get used to covering everything. Introduce scripting as a form of scaffolding at the start. Adding too much  – Some go off on a tangent, trying to sound complex but losing focus and becoming ambiguous. Tip:  Encourage “clear and short” at least two word or full sentence answers. Forgetting to ask a question  – A classic! Tip:  Make “question of the day” a regular routine so asking questions becomes automatic. Model how to form questions (in German). Rushing or running out of time  – They speak too fast or pause too long. Tip:  Use timers in class to get a feel for pacing. Freezing with nerves  – Speaking exams can be scary. Tip:  Normalise mistakes. Celebrate effort. The more they practise short, informal role-plays, the less intimidating it feels. Not knowing high frequency key chunks  – Students might not have the words they need for simple things like “I’d like…” or “Could I have…?”. Tip:  Teach high-frequency chunks and reusable phrases early and often. Sounding robotic or over-rehearsed  – Memorised answers make conversations feel flat. Tip:  Use drama and pair swaps so students practise sounding natural. Not reacting to follow-ons  – They stick to their scripted notes instead of listening to what’s said. Tip:  During practice, throw in surprise questions so they have to respond spontaneously. Not knowing what earns marks  – Some think longer = better. Not always! Tip:  Go through a simplified mark scheme together so they know what matters: covering the task, showing understanding and communicating clearly. Classroom activities that actually work Now for the fun part - the how . These activities are simple, adaptable and easy to slot into normal lessons. They help students build up the exact skills needed for the 2026 role-play without it feeling like exam prep every time. 1. Role-Play Carousel Set up different role-play stations around the room (restaurant, shop, hotel, school). Students work in pairs, spending a few minutes at each before moving on. Each time, they get a new scenario.This is great for building stamina and covering lots of vocabulary in a short time. Variation:  Colour-code cards for Foundation and Higher tiers so students can pick their challenge level. 2. The Examiner Swap One student plays the examiner, the other the candidate. After each round, they switch roles. Give “examiners” a few optional follow-on questions to make it feel real.This helps students understand both sides of the conversation and improves their listening. Bonus idea:  Let students write one of the follow-on questions themselves. 3. Mystery Role-Play Here, the student only sees their  card. They don’t know exactly what the examiner will say. This forces them to listen carefully and think on their feet. It’s a brilliant way to build resilience and spontaneity and it mirrors what the real exam will feel like. 4. Role-Play Bingo Give each student a bingo grid with boxes like: “give an opinion”, “ask a question”, “express a preference”. Every time they include one of these in their dialogue, they tick it off. First to complete a line wins. It’s light-hearted, but it also reinforces functional language and range. 5. Question Ladder On the board, write increasingly complex question stems: Where…?  → When…?  → What time…?  → Could you tell me when…? Students practise forming each one in context. This helps them move from basic to more natural-sounding questions without fear. 6. Speed Role-Plays Give pairs a set of quick scenario cards. They have 45 seconds to act each one out before moving on. Short, energetic and great for fluency; it keeps students thinking fast and responding without over-preparing. 7. Peer Feedback Circles After each role-play, students use a simple feedback slip: ✓ Covered all bullet points ✓ Asked a question ✓ Used an opinion ✓ Spoke clearly They share one “glow” and one “grow” with their partner. It keeps feedback positive and focused. 8. Record and Reflect Ask students to record themselves doing a role-play on their phones or tablets. Then they listen back and identify one thing they did well and one thing to improve. It’s a great way to get them listening critically to their own pronunciation and fluency and it works brilliantly for progress evidence too. 9. Two-Detail Challenge - Higher In this game, every time a prompt asks for a “detail,” students must give two . For example:“I will got to the cinema with my friend  and we will watch a comedy .” This helps them build slightly longer, more detailed answers (please, note this is not needed based on the spec) without overdoing it, however this could be a good practice and spring board to prepare for the conversation element of the exam. 10. Mock Exam Rotation Set up three short speaking tasks: a role-play, a photo card and a short conversation. Students rotate every few minutes, just like in the real exam. It gives them a sense of pacing and helps reduce nerves when the real thing comes around. Building a Supportive Speaking Culture The best way to help students with role-plays is to make speaking a normal part of every lesson , not something saved for the exam season. Even a read aloud, a 90-second pair task or a quick chat starter can help reduce anxiety and boost confidence. Create a classroom where mistakes are expected and accepted . I like to tell my classes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning anything new.” When they see that even you, the teacher, sometimes slips up and laughs it off, they’re much more willing to take risks. It’s also worth praising effort over perfection . A hesitant but brave attempt is worth celebrating - it’s the foundation of fluency. Final Thoughts The new GCSE 2026 role-play doesn't have to be something to fear - it’s a chance to bring real communication  back to the heart of language learning. With the right culture, consistent low-stakes practice and plenty of fun, students can approach it with confidence rather than dread. These short, everyday activities build the skills they need naturally: listening carefully, responding appropriately, asking questions and using the language in real ways. If we can make role-plays feel like an ordinary part of learning, the exam itself becomes just another conversation and that’s exactly what it’s meant to be. *NCLE - National Consortium for Language Education

In the world of MFL, book looks can sometimes feel like a tick-box exercise or a stressful scrutiny. Too often - and this can be the case for other subjects, they risk becoming about neat presentation, perfect colour-coding or aesthetically pleasing layouts rather than genuine evidence of learning. But a neat and beautifully organised book is not always a reflection of knowledge learned, retained or crucially, applied in communication. This might sound a little controversial, because in MFL, the ultimate aim is communication – and language is spoken. Many essential elements of language learning (spontaneous speaking, listening strategies, pronunciation, confidence in interaction) will never be fully captured in an exercise book. That said, if we as subject leaders are tasked with quality assuring teaching and learning practice, book looks still have a role to play. The key is to know what we can  and cannot  reasonably expect to see. What’s the purpose of a Book Look in MFL? Unlike subjects such as English or History, where extended writing or detailed annotation are common, MFL books often show a balance of input and output: vocabulary building, grammar modelling, translation practice, retrieval and preparation for speaking. I believe, that a good book look in MFL should therefore aim to: Provide insight into curriculum sequencing  and how pupils are progressing through it. Show evidence of interleaving and retrieval practice  over time. Reflect feedback   and pupil response to it. Demonstrate student understanding   of key concepts (grammar, structures, vocabulary). Identify consistency  across classes and year groups. What should an effective Book Look look for ? This might look different from school to school / Trust to Trust, depending on expectations and policies that you follow in your setting. Here are some key questions I use when guiding or conducting MFL book (or workbooklet ) looks: 1. Curriculum coherence Can I see  the curriculum journey ? Is there logical sequencing from lesson to lesson? Is there a clear balance of : vocabulary, grammar and phonics? Are tasks building towards meaningful language use (e.g. dialogues, short written pieces, scaffolded translations)? 2. Progress over time Is there progression in complexity (e.g. moving from simple present to using multiple tenses)? Do tasks show a shift from guided to more independent work ? Are high-frequency words and structures being recycled and retrieved ? 3. Feedback and student response Is feedback regular, specific and actionable, in line with department feedback policy? Are students responding to feedback (correcting errors, re-drafting, re-practising)? Does feedback target key misconceptions (e.g. verb endings, word order, gender agreements)? 4. Quality and quantity of work Are students being given sufficient opportunities to produce   language ? Is the standard of work appropriate to the stage of learning? Does the amount of written output match the intended learning objectives ? 5. Inclusion of listening and speaking evidence Can I see evidence of speaking preparation , such as practice dialogues or scripts to guide? Are listening activities linked to taught structures and vocabulary? Is there space allocated for phonics modelling or transcript work? This could be annotated sentence builders. Students are allowed to annotate read aloud tasks for their GCSE speaking exam so getting them used to this practice from KS3 is certainly valuable and not a waste of time. What doesn’t  need to be in MFL books? Let’s be realistic and subject-specific. In MFL, not everything should be in a book. Here's what I don’t expect to see: Learning objectives copied out for the sake of it. I believe this is wasting of our teaching time. Explanations of grammar rules copied off the board or copied out - this could be a printed handout, so time is not wasted. Books filled mainly with stuck-in photocopied sheets rather than student-produced work. Art projects, poster work, or design-focused tasks with minimal language output . Pages of endless writing and grammar drills – if this dominates, where is the speaking practice? (I explored how to spot this balance in my February post on effective Learning Walks ) . What can we prove  through Book Looks? An effective book look in MFL should provide evidence for: Compliance with expectations around the appearance of MFL exercise books. Are students taking pride in their work? While this may seem less important, it sets the tone for classroom culture and communicates clear expectations for how we work together. Curriculum intent and implementation  in action: how the long-term plan plays out in day-to-day learning. Student engagement  with key structures and themes. Consistency and equity : Are all students getting access to high-quality MFL teaching across classes? Learning, not just teaching : is there evidence that pupils are internalising and applying  language, not just completing tasks? Final thoughts A book look is just one piece of the puzzle! It must sit alongside lesson drop ins , assessment outcomes , student voice , and teacher dialogue . In MFL, a well-conducted book look  can give insight into curriculum impact, retrieval practice and students’ developing confidence in language learning – but it cannot and should not attempt to capture everything, especially the spoken, interactive heart of our subject. When I lead MFL book looks, I always ask: “Is this book a reflection of a well-thought-out, progressive and purposeful curriculum that is helping students become better language learners and communicators?” If the answer is yes, even if the pages aren’t Instagram-perfect, I know we’re on the right track. I recognise that we often have to follow expectations set by our Trust or school policy, which may not always align with what we believe is most impactful for our subject. In these situations, it’s important to work collaboratively with senior leaders and provide evidence to support our professional judgment about what is purposeful and effective for our language learners.

When we talk about language learning, “speaking” often feels like the ultimate goal. It’s what learners and parents usually see as success: Can you have a conversation? Can you speak the language?  But what we often fail to acknowledge is just how demanding  speaking actually is; especially in a language we’re still learning. Oracy - defined as the ability to express oneself fluently and grammatically in speech, is much more than parroting rehearsed sentences. It’s an intricate dance of cognitive, social and linguistic processes that stretch even our first language abilities. When we expect our students to speak fluently in a new language too soon, we risk overloading their cognitive systems and causing them to disengage. To foster oracy effectively in the languages classroom, we must first understand the complexity of what we’re asking our students to do. What happens in the brain when we speak? Speaking is one of the most complex motor tasks humans perform, it is a physiological feat involving over 100 muscles across the abdomen, throat and mouth. But that’s only the beginning. Before the words ever leave our lips, the brain is doing a remarkable amount of behind-the-scenes work: pictures what we want to say. organises those ideas into meaningful chunks. finds the right vocabulary and structures. sends signals to initiate movement. monitors and adjusts speech in real time. And whilst doing all of this, we’re also: listening to others interpreting social and contextual cues adjusting tone, register and speed to suit the situation We’re doing all of this every time  we speak, often without noticing it in our native tongue. But when we ask our novice students to do the same in a foreign  language, we’re asking their brains to carry an even heavier load. Here is what I mean: The Cognitive Load of speaking another language Now imagine layering on the following challenges: Retrieving unfamiliar vocabulary Applying grammatical rules that aren’t yet automatised Getting the pronunciation right Suppressing first-language interference Navigating unfamiliar cultural conventions and rules All of this has to happen at roughly 100 words per minute . No wonder students often freeze, hesitate, or default to silence. It's not a lack of effort! It’s a system overload like trying to carry too many shopping bags at once and struggling to move without dropping something. What this means for the languages classroom Recognising this complexity has profound implications for how we teach speaking in world languages: 1. Prioritise Listening before Speaking Just as babies listen for hundreds of hours before uttering their first words, our students need ample exposure to comprehensible input  before being expected to speak. Hearing vocabulary and structures in meaningful contexts helps build the mental representations they’ll later draw on when speaking. 2. Create low-stakes speaking opportunities Rather than jumping into full-blown dialogues, start with structured output: Sentence builders Repetition drills Dialogic reading Choral response Mini role plays with visual scaffolds Gradually increase complexity as students gain fluency and confidence. 3. Celebrate accuracy and  risk-taking Too often, students are afraid to speak for fear of “getting it wrong.” Normalise errors as part of learning. Encourage students to take risks while giving them feedback that nudges them toward accuracy over time. Create the classroom culture of low threat. 4. Build in thinking time Allow time to prepare thoughts before speaking through planning prompts, writing first, or using speaking frames. Fluency is built through retrieval and rehearsal, not pressure. 5. Rehearse routinely Like any motor skill, speaking improves through repetition. Frequent, meaningful practice helps transfer language from working memory into long-term memory, reducing cognitive load over time. Activities ideas to support oracy: Low-stakes warm-up activities: Ideal for lowering the affective filter and building speaking stamina. Silent Rehearsal → Whisper → Speak - Students first rehearse a sentence silently, then whisper it, then say it aloud. Helps students ease into speaking, especially those who are reluctant and we have seen a lot more of that in our classrooms since the pandemic. They could practise in pairs or groups - using Think - Pair - Share technique, this could be scaffolded further by using Think - Write - Pair - Share. Choral Repetition with Variation - Use different voices (robotic, slow motion, excited) for repeated speaking practice to reduce pressure. Echo Chains - One student says a word or sentence, another repeats it and adds something new, forming a growing chain. Structured speaking frames: Use scaffolds that support fluency and reduce cognitive load. Speaking Cards - Provide question cards with sentence starters (e.g. Was isst du gern? Ich esse gern… ) to guide output. Information Gap activities - Partner A has part of the information; Partner B has the other half. They must speak to complete the task (e.g. find the differences , complete the timetable ). Find Someone Who… (in TL) - Use a simple grid: "Find someone who… spielt gern Fußball / hat ein Haustier / mag Pizza ". Encourages repeated use of simple Q&A. Performance-based oracy tasks: Great for motivation, fluency and prosody. Mini Role-Plays with prompts - Contexts: at a café, in a shop, meeting someone new. Use cue cards or visuals to guide. ‘I’m the Expert’ Speaking Circle - Students sit in inner and outer circles. The inner circle explains something (e.g. their hobbies, their weekend) to rotating partners. Language Theatre - Students write short skits or dialogues using target vocab structures. Focus is on performance, not perfection. Listening–speaking integration: Supports auditory processing and active speaking. Dictogloss - Students hear a short text twice. They reconstruct it together, speaking aloud. Forces collaboration and accurate output. Walking Dictation - One partner reads a text on the wall and relays it to the other who writes it down. Later, they read it out together. Shadow Speaking - Students repeat what they hear a second or two behind the audio or the teacher (like an echo), improving fluency and pronunciation. Games that encourage spontaneous talk: Fun and engaging ways to reduce anxiety. Talk Dice - Roll a die to get a question type: 1 = Wie heißt du? 2 = Wo wohnst du? 3 = Was machst du gern? (Can be tailored by topic.) Speed Chatting / Dating - Set up short 1-minute “chats / dates” to discuss simple topics before rotating partners. Describe & Draw - One student describes a picture in the target language; the other draws it. Cognitive-aware speaking practice: Recognises the load on learners’ brains. Tiered Speaking Tasks - Start with sentence-level speaking, then scaffold toward free-flowing conversation. Example: word → sentence → question → follow-up. Think Time + Speaking Buddies - Give time to prepare ideas silently, then rehearse with a buddy before speaking aloud to the class. Language ‘Recycling’ Challenge - Set a challenge to reuse key vocabulary from previous lessons in current discussions. Final Thoughts Speaking is not just “talking.” It’s a high-order, whole-brain task that takes immense energy, especially in another language. If our students struggle to speak fluently early on, it’s not because they’re not capable. It’s because their brains are doing something extraordinary. Be patient. Be structured. Be encouraging. The ultimate goal is for speaking a new language to feel as natural and effortless as the first - but let's be realistic, that takes time, practice and a lot of compassion for the beautiful complexity of oracy and our students need to know this! It doesn't happen over night!

Back in January, I shared a blog on Improving GCSE Performance Post-Mocks  (link here ). Yesterday, I came across a LinkedIn post from Tom Rogers highlighting how many of us are now turning our attention to GCSE results. It inspired me to write this piece, aimed mainly at subject leaders who are preparing to analyse and reflect on their results and to plan the next steps for the year ahead. Results Day is approaching fast. Whether you’ve been through it many times before or this is your very first time as a Subject Leader, Head of Languages, or Curriculum Lead, you’ll soon be diving into the data, analysing the outcomes and reporting them to your Headteacher, Principal and Progress Manager. If you’ve been in the role for a while, you’ll know the drill; the systems, the spreadsheets, the conversations, the key figures to pull out. But if you’re new to the role, it can feel overwhelming. Where do you even start? What’s important? Over the years, I’ve developed a process that helps me make sense of the results and turn them into actionable next steps for my team and my department. credit: freepik Here’s how I approach it: Step 1: Start with the basics Before diving deeper, I work out the fundamental figures for every language taught at the Academy / school. What happened and what was expected to happen? How many 4+ , 5+ and 7-9  grades did the cohort achieve? What are the SPIs and residuals Which students are with 1 mark off the next grade Break these down for each language. Next, I look at significant groups. Depending on your context, this might include: Male vs female Pupil Premium (PP) EAL (English as an Additional Language) SEND High Attainers (HA) If you’re new to the school, I recommend analysing all significant groups at first to get an idea about your new department's current situation. If you have a Department Development Plan (DDP), you might focus particularly on the groups linked to your last academic year's targets first. Then I compare them with: The previous year’s results The national JCQ grade distribution by subject  (once released) Trust-wide data (if you’re part of a MAT and it’s available) This year and next year, there’s no need to look at Progress 8, but I will check our internal tracking and predictions to see how accurate they were. Step 2: Use your systems and processes At my academy, we use SISRA Analytics , which calculates a lot of these figures automatically. Hopefully, your school has a similar system - it will save hours. I still break the data down by class and specific target groups to spot trends more clearly. What were the positives? What strategies worked well and had a positive impact? What will you continue to implement? Step 3: Go beyond the headline data Headline numbers are useful, but they don’t tell the whole story. The real value comes when you drill into the why . Read the examiners’ reports  for each paper. If you’re with Edexcel, Results Plus is invaluable as it breaks down performance by paper, by class, by student, even by question. AQA will have its own equivalent, if you are with AQA. Results Plus link: https://www.resultsplusdirect.co.uk/ResultsPlus/Default.aspx . You should have your own log in, if not, speak to your exam officer. From there, I carry out a Question-Level Analysis (QLA) : Which paper caused the most difficulty? What types of questions tripped students up? Were there specific knowledge (grammar), skills or topics (vocabulary) that repeatedly caused issues? I break the averages down by class, then feed this into our instructional coaching programme or department meeting's agenda. This allows me to work with teachers on: Identifying their own development priorities Linking these to curriculum or pedagogy targets (these could be a part of their appraisal for the academic year) Supporting them to apply this learning with their new groups starting in September I also compare these figures to last year’s averages and the targets we set for the year just gone. Have we improved? If so, where? What are the negatives? Do we know why? What strategies didn't work? What new strategies do we need to implemeny to address the issues or concerns? Step 4: Dig deeper – grade boundaries, feedback & scripts Once I’ve looked at the question-level breakdown, I check the feedback on the papers   - were they generally considered easier or more difficult this year? Then I look at the grade boundaries . Have they shifted significantly compared to last year? Next, I identify the stand-out performances: Students who achieved full marks or the highest scores on the most challenging questions in Listening and Reading Students who achieved the highest or full marks in Speaking and Writing If the results in these areas are not what we expected, particularly if they’re worse than anticipated, I would request the papers back from the exam board. Yes, you may end up requesting a few, but it’s definitely worthwhile. Seeing these responses first-hand will be invaluable when planning your department’s development and improvement actions for the year ahead. Step 5: Set action points – Quick Wins & Long-Term Goals When it comes to my DDP, I always think in two categories: Quick Wins  – strategies we can implement and see an impact within one, two or three terms. Examples: Explicit teaching of pronunciation/phonics More effective structures for picture description Improving prediction skills in listening and reading Long-Term Goals  – strategies that need to be built over years, often useful starting in KS3. Examples: Improving listening comprehension Building fluency in speaking Choose 2–3 short-term  strategies and 1–2 long-term  priorities. Don’t overload, spreading too thin means achieving little. Map out long-term goals over 1–2 years and envision what progress will look like at midpoints. Step 6: Lead with empathy As leaders, we must remember that for teachers, results feel personal. Each grade represents a student they’ve supported, worried about and championed. Listen to how your team is feeling. Celebrate successes. Value their insights and ideas. Finally, and this is important: Grades are only part of the picture; the bigger story is the journey behind them . Languages are more than grades and results. They’re culture, connection and a way of seeing the world. Good grades are worth celebrating, but so are the many intangible wins your students and department has achieved this year. If we view Results Day not solely as a verdict but as a chance to learn, reflect, and refine our practice, we can ensure that each year both our students and our teaching move forward. Returning to the LinkedIn post and the very real anxiety this day can bring, I want to close with a comment from Maud Waret that will strike a chord with many of us: "... My duty was to teach them throughout the year and give them the help they needed. After that, they are flying on their own, I can’t flap their wings for them." Download your Subject Leader's checklist:

When we talk about teaching languages, it’s easy to get caught up in the grammar structures, the tenses, or the ever-growing pressure of exam specifications. But again and again, I find myself coming back to something more fundamental: words . Vocabulary isn’t just a list at the back of the textbook – it’s the bedrock of everything our learners need to do with language. Recently, I had the chance to join a webinar (organised and hosted by Wendy Adeniji) with Professor Emeritus Paul Nation – a giant in the field of vocabulary research. I’ve followed his work for a number of years, but hearing him speak live brought a new layer of clarity to ideas I thought I already understood. His calm, practical explanations reminded me of why vocabulary deserves more space – not just in the classroom, but in curriculum planning, CPD and teacher training too. Professor Emeritus Paul Nation Not All Words Are Created Equal Nation began with something deceptively simple: not all words matter in the same way. We often talk about how many words learners need to know, but the type of word  makes all the difference. He unpacked the terminology we often hear – tokens , types , word families  – and explained it all in a way that made immediate sense. For example, if ' the'  appears ten times, that’s ten tokens, but only one type. Then you zoom out again and think about word families : ' book , books , booking , bookish'  – all connected. It reminded me how often we throw around these terms in CPD without making sure everyone is on the same page. Nation brought us back to the basics, but without ever talking down to us. It was refreshing. The Power of High-Frequency Vocabulary Here’s the statistic that stopped me in my tracks: just 10 word types  make up 25%  of written English. The top 100? 50% . And the top 1,000? Around 75% . That has serious implications for us as teachers. If we want our learners to understand what they’re reading or hearing, we need to focus on the right words  first, not the obscure or fancy ones, but the ones they’ll actually encounter again and again. Nation says that about 3,000 word families  give learners 95% coverage of typical texts and around 9,000  is the sweet spot for real reading fluency (98% coverage – the threshold for comprehensible input). That figure sounds high, but it makes sense: without that vocabulary base, everything else is harder. Nation suggests aiming for around 1,000 word families per year, that’s just five words per hour of instruction. But in the UK system, where curriculum time is tight and exposure is limited, the challenge is clear: how can we realistically make that happen? Zipf’s Law and Why Frequency Matters Nation also revisited Zipf’s Law which basically tells us that a few words occur very frequently and most words appear very rarely. In fact, even in huge text corpora, half the different words will show up only once . This is where things get practical again. If learners spend their time on low-frequency words, they won’t see them again for ages, meaning they won’t retain them. But high-frequency words show up all the time and that means learners get repetition, reinforcement and a chance to use what they’ve learned. It really drove home the idea that vocabulary learning is a battle against Zipf’s Law . Exposure is everything. Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dofBw9r0P4 Seeing It In Action One of the most powerful moments in the webinar was when Nation showed us a real text, broken down by word frequency. You could see  how much of it was made up of those first 3,000 word families and how just a handful of low-frequency words were enough to block comprehension. His point? We need to build materials, lessons and curricula around those core words, not because it’s limiting, but because it opens the door to everything else. This is just as true in German, French, or Japanese as it is in English. As a German teacher, that really resonated. We all know what it’s like to juggle curriculum content and what we instinctively know learners need. Nation gave us the research to back up what I’ve felt for a long time: get the core vocabulary in early, often and in meaningful contexts. The Impact of Socioeconomic Background on Vocabulary Acquisition Research, particularly from the U.S., shows that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds  tend to have a vocabulary 1,000 to 2,000 words smaller  than their peers from higher-income families. This gap is linked to fewer opportunities for rich language exposure - such as reading, museum visits and discussions. For foreign language learners, vocabulary growth is slower than for native speakers. While children acquiring a language naturally can learn over 1,000 words per year , foreign language learners in schools typically learn at a rate of 500 to 1,000 words annually . This would depend on curriculum time and learners motivation. Nation's advice for course design: Language courses should aim for at least 1,000 word families per year  to ensure meaningful progress. How vocabulary is Learned: The Four Strands Approach One of the things I love most about Nation’s work is how practical it is. His Four Strands  model offers a simple but powerful way to balance language learning: Meaning-Focused Input  – learners need lots of accessible listening and reading where they understand most of the words (98% known vocabulary is the ideal = CI). Meaning-Focused Output  – speaking and writing to communicate real messages, not just practising forms. Language-Focused Learning  – deliberate pronunciation practice, vocabulary drills and grammar learning. Nation strongly supports the use of bilingual word cards , where learners write a foreign word on one side and its translation on the other. Research spanning over 120 years  confirms their effectiveness. Contrary to misconceptions, words learned through deliberate study are not easily forgotten  and become readily available for real communication. While learning phrases and collocations is useful, Nation cautions against focusing too much on true idioms , where meaning cannot be inferred from the individual words (e.g., kick the bucket ). In English, fewer than 100 true idioms  exist, meaning that systematic vocabulary learning should prioritise individual words over idiomatic expressions. Fluency Development  – helping learners get faster and more confident using what they already know , across all four skills. One story that stuck with me was when Nation talked about his time in Japan. He knew  the numbers in Japanese – had learned them – but couldn’t understand them when they were spoken quickly - he wasn't able to retrieve them quickly enough . It wasn’t until he had a few sessions focused purely on fluency (the teacher would say a number and he would point to it - faster and faster) that it finally clicked: he could understand “120 yen” at the post office. It wasn’t about learning new words – it was about speeding up access to the words he already knew . The fluency development is about familiarity, getting faster at retrieving what you already know. That reminder really hit home for me: if we want learners to make progress, we need to give them space not just to learn new vocabulary, but to use  it fluently. Each of these strands matters and each one gives vocabulary its rightful place. This isn’t about cramming word lists. It’s about building a deep, usable bank of language knowledge that supports fluency, confidence and independence. High, Mid, and Low Frequency Words Another useful distinction Nation made is between high-, mid-, and low-frequency vocabulary: High frequency  (1000 - 3000 words): essential for daily communication; should be heavily prioritised , these need to be taught explicitly and recycled constantly. Mid frequency  (3000 - 9000 words): here, learners start to use independent strategies – like guessing from context, recognising word parts, spotting prefixes and suffixes, or using dictionaries effectively. Low frequency (9000+ words): these are picked up incidentally through wide reading, listening and meaningful input. Technical vocabulary might need direct teaching, but the rest comes with time and exposure. It’s a useful framework when selecting texts, designing tasks, or supporting learners who feel overwhelmed by long word lists. The Case for Graded Readers This is one area where English has a head start. Nation praised the use of graded readers  – books written using controlled vocabulary as one of the best ways to give learners meaningful, accessible reading experiences. Even with just 90 word families , learners can begin to read real stories. That’s powerful and it’s motivating. For other languages, these kinds of resources are less common but they do exist and we need more. Without vocabulary-controlled texts, learners are often thrown into material that’s too hard. And if you only know 500 words, but the text demands 9000, it’s not going to help; it’s going to frustrate. So , What Does This Mean for Us - Teachers? The biggest takeaway for me? We need to be far more intentional about which  words we teach, how  often we recycle them and why  they matter. Language learners don’t need to know every word - they need to know the right  words first. High frequency vocabulary should be the foundation of everything: curriculum design, reading selections, assessment planning and resource creation. It also made me reflect on how we scaffold reading and listening. Are we giving learners enough input at the right level? Are we introducing enough of the high frequency vocabulary early on and making it stick through repetition, variation and real use? If you ever get the chance to hear Paul Nation speak - or better yet, read his work - do it . His combination of clarity, research grounding and practical implications is second to none. I left the webinar buzzing with ideas for my own learners and a renewed sense of purpose when it comes to vocabulary. Let’s teach fewer words - but teach them better. Further reading and resources: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/resources/paul-nations-resources

This academic year has been an incredibly full and rewarding one for me, filled with opportunities to speak at conferences locally, nationally and internationally; to work with and deliver CPD across a range of schools and Trusts; to develop content; to write two books; and to navigate an Ofsted inspection, among many other things. As the year draws to a close, I wanted to dedicate my final post to a topic that has come up repeatedly in my conversations with colleagues and through the research I’ve been doing this year: Comprehensible Input . It’s an area I’ve been exploring in more depth, both in theory and in classroom practice, so I’d like to share some reflections on what I’ve learned. More and more language teachers are becoming aware of and applying the principles of comprehensible input (CI)  in their classrooms: a shift that has been reshaping language teaching practice worldwide. Originally introduced by linguist, Professor Stephen Krashen, comprehensible input refers to language that learners can understand even if they don’t yet know every word or structure. By being exposed to language that is just beyond their current level of understanding, often referred to as “i+1” , learners are able to infer meaning from context, making it possible for them to acquire new language naturally and effectively. This post explores the importance of comprehensible input in modern language teaching and outlines some strategies for effectively implementing it in the classroom context. I believe this approach can not only support more natural learning but also increase motivation, engagement and long-term retention. Stephen D. Krashen - American linguist, educational researcher, Emeritus Professor Why Comprehensible Input matters Comprehensible input is crucial because it mirrors the natural process of first language acquisition . Children don’t learn by memorising verb tables or parsing complex grammar; they acquire language by being surrounded by speech that they can make sense of, gradually building vocabulary and grammatical understanding over time. Realistically, we may not be able to fully replicate these conditions in a school setting, given the limited curriculum time and the fundamental differences in how we acquire additional languages compared to our first. Unlike learning our mother tongue as toddlers, where we're immersed in it 24/7, second, third, or even fourth languages are typically learned in more structured environments (in the school or by attending language courses). However, second language learners can still benefit greatly from exposure to input that they can decode using contextual clues. One of the most compelling reasons this approach works is its alignment with Lev Vygotsky’s  concept of the zone of proximal development  (ZPD). This zone represents the sweet spot between what learners can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance. Comprehensible input keeps learners in this productive space, stretching their abilities just enough to challenge them, but not so much that it causes frustration or disengagement. What the Research says Krashen’s Input Hypothesis has long argued that acquisition, not just learning, is what ultimately leads to language fluency and that acquisition happens when learners receive enough input that is both understandable and meaningful. While some critics point out that his model downplays the role of output or grammar instruction, more recent research from the likes of Paul Nation  and Bill VanPatten  supports a balanced approach, with meaning-focused input  being one of the key strands in effective language learning. Nation’s Four Strands  framework, comprising meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning and fluency development, emphasises that around 25% of class time should be devoted to input  that is both accessible and engaging. His work also highlights the importance of repeated exposure to high-frequency vocabulary in varied contexts, something that comprehensible input naturally facilitates. Find out more about Nation's 'Word frequency and vocabulary learning in my post here . Global School-Based applications Comprehensible input isn’t just a theoretical ideal, it’s being used, successfully, in classrooms around the world. Here are a few real-life examples that demonstrate its power: Germany: Story Listening in Secondary MFL At a conference I attended last year, colleagues shared that in some secondary schools in Hamburg, MFL teachers use a modified version of Story Listening (a technique inspired by Beniko Mason) in their French and Spanish classrooms. Each week, the teacher tells a short story supported by drawings, gestures and occasional L1 translations. Students then complete low-stakes follow-up tasks such as drawing scenes, sequencing events, or acting out parts of the story. Over time, learners begin to absorb vocabulary and grammar naturally. One teacher observed that even lower-attaining students started producing more complex sentences spontaneously after regular exposure to this approach. UK: Graded Readers in KS3 German and French There are language deparrtments in England that are championing the use of graded readers - short books written in accessible language with high-frequency vocabulary. Schools using these readers (often created by teachers themselves) report increased motivation, better vocabulary retention, and stronger reading confidence. Paired with audio versions, these readers can provide excellent listening and reading input. Some schools have even implemented “Drop Everything and Read” sessions for languages, echoing whole-school literacy drives. USA: Comprehensible Input-Based Curricula In the United States, particularly in states like Oregon, Texas and California (as I have been told),  teachers are implementing full curricula based on comprehensible input. Textbook use is minimal. Instead, teachers use movie talks , personalised questions and answers (PQA) , and extensive reading programmes to immerse students in the target language from day one. These teachers often report higher engagement and lower attrition, especially among learners who previously found languages intimidating. This is something I would like to research more, so if you are one of my blog readers from USA, do get in touch, please. Australia: CI in Primary Schools In some Australian primary schools, CI-based approaches are embedded in daily routines. Teachers use songs, routines, puppets, and games  to make language accessible and fun. The goal isn’t to produce grammatically perfect speech, but to ensure students can understand and enjoy the language. Again, if you are one of my blog readers from Australia and you use this kind of approach, I would love to know more, please. Strategies for Implementing Comprehensible Input So, how can we bring more comprehensible input into our own Language classrooms, whether we’re working with Year 3 or Year 13? Using visual aids : Visual aids such as pictures, videos and realia (real-world objects) can make language input more understandable. For example, when teaching vocabulary related to food, showing images or using a cooking demonstration video can help students infer meanings from context. Additionally, gestures and body language can reinforce spoken language, aiding comprehension. Simplifying language without dumbing down : Teachers should speak clearly and at a moderate pace, using high-frequency vocabulary and simple sentence structures and recycling them often. This does not mean oversimplifying the content but rather making it accessible. For instance, when introducing new vocabulary, use familiar words and phrases to provide context, gradually increasing complexity as students become more comfortable. Scaffolding instruction : Building on students' prior knowledge helps them connect new information to what they already know. Providing sentence frames and starters can also support learners in constructing sentences, allowing them to express themselves more easily. For example, using sentence starters like "I like ... because ..." Ich mag …, weil … Je préfère … parce que … Me gusta … porque … can help students practise new verbs within a familiar structure. These structures allow students to express meaningful thoughts while staying within their comfort zone. Contextualising language learning : Real-life scenarios and storytelling can make language learning more relevant and engaging. Designing activities around everyday situations, such as ordering food in a restaurant or asking for directions, allows students to practise. In my previous post I have explored TPRS as another way of introducing vocabulary and new language. Read the full post here . Offering extensive reading: Free voluntary reading, even for just 10 minutes a week, can boost vocabulary, comprehension and motivation. Providing a library of short, levelled readers. Letting students choose what they want to read. Pairing it with light activities like drawing a scene or summarising in English or the TL. Embracing repetition: Not being afraid to repeat stories, songs, or activities. Repetition with variation is key to retention. For example, revisiting a story with new illustrations, a different ending or from another character’s perspective. Balancing Comprehensible Input with Curriculum Demands Let’s be real - many of us teach in systems that still prize grammar-based exams, controlled assessment and measurable output. So how do we reconcile comprehensible input approaches mentioned above with these expectations? Here are some observations: CI and grammar are not enemies . Once learners have acquired a foundation of natural language through exposure, they tend to be more open to explicit grammar instruction. I see grammar as the fine-tuning , not the engine of language learning, but still an essential component. At a certain point, explicit teaching becomes necessary. As a linguist fluent in four languages, I know from personal experience that I couldn’t fully grasp a language without understanding how it works. For roles that demand a high level of language proficiency, it's crucial to use language accurately, including its grammar. In my view, this can’t be achieved through implicit learning alone, which is exactly why we all attend school to learn to speak and write accurately in our own language, too. CI can be exam-relevant . Choosing stories and contexts that match your curriculum themes: holidays, health, technology, school. Students learn the same content - just in a way that sticks. Even 10 minutes a day makes a difference . You don’t need to overhaul everything. You could start with a “CI starter” each lesson - a mini story, a question, a song and build from there. Final Thoughts: Comprehensible input is a mindset For me, comprehensible input isn’t just a technique - it’s a mindset. It’s about trusting that our students are capable of acquiring language more naturally when we give them the right conditions: exposure, meaning, support and space. It means shifting our role from instructor (teacher)  to language guide - pointing out patterns, telling stories, asking questions and celebrating growth. Balance is all! Above all, it’s about making language learning joyful again. Further Reading and Resources: If you’d like to explore comprehensible input more deeply, I recommend: Krashen, S.  (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Nation, P.  (2007). The Four Strands. VanPatten, B.  (2015). While We're on the Topic: BVP on Language, Acquisition, and Classroom Practice. Beniko Mason  – Story Listening Research: https://benikomason.net The Comprehensible Classroom : https://comprehensibleclassroom.com TPRS Books : https://tprsbooks.com The Motivated Classroom : https://liamprinter.com/podcast/ NCLE Language Hubs (UK)  – Supporting research-informed language teaching in schools: https://ncle-language-hubs.ucl.ac.uk/language-hubs/

As language teachers, we’re always looking for ways to boost engagement, increase confidence and help our learners feel that what they’re doing matters . I’ll be honest - I stumbled across TPRS  ( Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling ) almost by accident. Like many MFL teachers in the UK, I am always trying to find ways to engage students who have mentally checked out of language learning. You know the ones: bright enough, capable enough, but utterly unconvinced that German,Spanish or French would ever be useful, let alone fun . Then I heard Dr Liam Printer  speak at the Language World Conference 2023 in Sheffield about the motivational power of storytelling  in the language classroom. He shared how student motivation and output increased when they were exposed to compelling, comprehensible input through co-created stories. While presenting at the World Languages Conference at the American International School of Budapest and researching for my upcoming book Teacher Hacks: Languages , I encountered this approach again, several attending teachers were actively using it in their classrooms. So, I decided to write this blog post about it in case it inspires you to try something new in your own teaching. What is TPRS? TPRS was developed by Blaine Ray in the 1990s and is now used by teachers all over the world. At its heart, TPRS is about helping learners acquire language naturally  through hearing and reading it in meaningful, memorable contexts. It’s based on the idea that students learn best when they understand what’s being said and feel emotionally connected to it. TPRS  is rooted in comprehensible input theory and inspired by Stephen Krashen’s work, it provides a compelling, student-centred alternative to the more traditional grammar-translation or textbook-driven approaches that still dominate many classrooms and while it might sound a bit different at first, it’s surprisingly easy to get started with and the impact can be immediate. The process follows three simple steps: Establish meaning   – The teacher introduces a few useful, high-frequency structures. Create a story together   – The teacher takes the lead but students help build a fun (often silly!) story using the new language. Read and rework the story   – The teacher reinforces comprehension through reading, acting out and retelling. It might sound playful and it is, but it’s also underpinned by solid research. For example: Stephen Krashen’s comprehensible input hypothesis  suggests we acquire language when we understand it and when it’s just above our current level - 98% CI. Paul Nation’s vocabulary research  highlights the importance of high-frequency words in meaningful contexts for long-term retention. And in more recent classroom-based research, Dr Liam Printer*  (Switzerland-based teacher and researcher) found that TPRS-style storytelling significantly boosted motivation, confidence and engagement  among his learners of Spanish. Why it might be worth trying You can start small, just a single lesson with a low-stakes story using three structures and be surprised by how well it might go. Here’s what stood out as reported by colleagues who tried it in their classroom: The repetition felt natural and enjoyable  (not forced or drill-like). Students remembered key phrases weeks later  without having been formally tested. Learners who often sit back were suddenly participating , suggesting silly names or plot twists. There was a lot of laughter , but there was also learning and that’s a combination I liked the most. What really struck me was how TPRS encouraged their students to use  language early, without the pressure of being grammatically perfect. It lowered the affective filter and built confidence quickly. Who’s using it? TPRS is popular across the US and Latin America, but it’s also gaining traction here in Europe. In the Netherlands , for instance, the TPRS Academy  has been training teachers in the method for years. In Switzerland , Liam Printer uses it with great success in the IB system. Some teachers in Austria and Germany are combining TPRS with other CI (Comprehensible Input) techniques like MovieTalk and StoryListening. It appears to be particularly popular in the Flemish-speaking region of Belgium . Interest is also growing in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain and France , mainly among teachers of English as a second language (ESL). In the U.K., some school are trying it out or adapting it to suit their school context (an example is used also in my upcoming book). In short, this is not a niche fad, it’s a flexible, research-informed approach that can sit alongside what we already do. What might it look like for us? If you’re curious but not sure where to begin, here are a few ideas that worked for my colleague: Start with three new phrases or structures  (e.g. “möchte…”, “hat Angst vor…”, “geht zu…”). Build a short story together on the board. Keep it simple, silly and collaborative. Follow up with a reading version, a gap-fill, or a re-telling challenge. Let students illustrate the story , create alternate endings, or act it out. It doesn’t need to replace what you’re doing, it can be a short weekly feature or an occasional revision activity. It also works brilliantly for retrieval practice and building confidence before assessments. A few things to keep in mind Trying TPRS for the first time can feel like stepping into the unknown. If you’re used to structured schemes of work, grammar grids and vocab tests, letting go can be scary. Here’s what might help you ease in: Start with mini-stories  and just a few new phrases. Use student names  and interests to make stories more engaging. Check for understanding constantly (gestures, translation, quick quizzes). Don’t worry if it gets silly. Silly is memorable . You don’t have to abandon everything you already do. TPRS can complement your existing routines, it just changes the why  and how  behind them. Sometimes, a small shift in approach can make a big difference. If you’re looking for a way to get learners talking, laughing and remembering more of what we teach, TPRS might be worth exploring and you could combine them with sentence builders or parallel texts like my friend does. Final thought: Stories connect us I think what I like most about the idea of exploring TPRS is that it rehumanises the language classroom. It’s no longer about “getting through the content” but about connecting through story . Students aren’t just learning German or French or Spanish, they’re using it to create something meaningful, something funny, something memorable. As Liam Printer says, “stories tap into the fundamental human need to feel, to connect, and to belong.”  When our language lessons do that, real learning begins. * Dr Liam Printer’s 2021 doctoral thesis found that TPRS and story-based methods significantly increased intrinsic motivation  in secondary school learners. Motivation, in turn, supported greater participation, more spontaneous use of the language and even improved test results.

Using the target language (TL) in Modern Language lessons is both a commendable and complex endeavour. However, for it to be successful, I believe, we need to find the delicate balance between immersing our students in the language and not overwhelming them. In my own classroom, I always aim to create an environment where the TL is a natural part of the learning process, but I try to do this in a way that is accessible and comprehensible to my students. The Challenge of Balancing TL Use One of the main challenges we face in using the TL in MFL lessons is determining how much to use it. On one hand, we aim to deliver our lessons in the TL to maximise exposure and practice . On the other hand, we need to be mindful of our students' ability to understand and engage with the material. Too much TL too soon can lead to confusion and frustration (I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable if someone spoke to me for an hour in a language I don’t understand and expected me to stay engaged and excited about learning it!), whereas too little can hinder the immersive experience necessary for language learning. Establishing Clear Routines A practical approach we can take to incorporate the TL is to establish clear routines where its use is integrated seamlessly. For example, during routine activities such as taking attendance or giving classroom instructions (e.g., "Open your book to page X" or "Write today's date and title" ), using the TL can become second nature for our students. These routines help our students become familiar with common phrases and instructions without feeling overwhelmed. Example : Every day, I greet my students in the TL, take attendance by asking "Wie geht's?" (How are you?) , and give basic instructions like "Nehmt eure Bücher raus" (Take out your books). Leveraging Known Concepts Using the TL to explain concepts that my students already understand in their native language is another effective strategy. For instance, when revisiting familiar topics such as tenses in a GCSE class, I might switch to German (TL) for questions like "Was ist die Zeitform in diesem Satz?" (What is the tense in this sentence?) or "Woher weißt du das?" (How do you know it?) . Similar to the example, I give below with my year 11 class. My students are accustomed to the vocabulary in English, so they can follow along even if they don’t understand every single word in German. Example : When reviewing present tense verbs, we could ask in the TL, "Was ist das Subjekt in diesem Satz?" (What is the subject in this sentence?) and "Wie konjugiert man dieses Verb?" (How do you conjugate this verb?). This strategy reinforces students' understanding and builds their confidence in using the TL as well as encourages them to speak like linguists. However, it's important to recognise which classes this approach will work with and which ones might struggle . You might want to use this strategy with your GCSE classes or higher-attaining groups. As the expert in your classroom, you know your students best. I would certainly not advocate for using the TL at all costs ; it's crucial to adapt your approach to fit the needs and capabilities of each class. Gradual Increase in TL Use Interestingly, over past few years my GCSE classes requested more lessons delivered purely in German. Initially, I was quite surprised they were so open to this challenge as this has not been the norm before or when I started to teach; but it turned out to be quite successful. The key was that the students had already been exposed to the necessary vocabulary and structures in English. This prior knowledge made the transition to using more German in class smoother and more effective as mentioned above. Here's how I went about it. After a few months of using translanguaging (mixed language) instruction, I gradually switched to full TL lesson. I used a lot of non verbal clues, such as gesturing, pointing, and showing as well and I allowed my students to use / respond in either L1 or L2 , whichever they were comfortable with (this led us to more discussions about translanguaging). My main aim was to show them that using the TL was not something to be scared of and that they could understand more than they thought. I explained that it was natural to understand and use the language better receptively than productively. In my own classroom, I don't look for perfection but aim for as much use as possible and aim to remove the fear barrier of speaking and giving it a try, which I observe so often among my students in England. I want to reduce their fear of giving it a go and speak even if it is not completely correct. This approach really paid off with our Year 10 students on the recent trip to Berlin - their willingness to use the target language was brilliant to see, and it even led to them making some new German friends along the way. Consistency is the Key When using the TL, I believe, consistency is crucial . We should repeat the same language and structures to help our students internalise them. For example, if my students are used to the phrase "Macht das Buch auf Seite 23 auf." (Open the book on page 23.) , it's important not to change the instruction to e.g. "Öffnet das Buch auf Seite 23." . Sticking to familiar phrases prevents confusion and helps our students feel more secure in their understanding. Example : Every lesson, we use the same set phrases for common tasks like "Schreibt das Datum und den Titel" (Write the date and the title) and "Lest den Text laut vor" (Read the text aloud) or "Eins, zwei, drei, zeigt mir!" (One, two, three, show me!) , when using the MWBs for example. This is something we need to train ourselves to do as well, as it isn't always easy or natural, especially when starting your teaching career. As a mentor, I often see colleagues changing phrases or wording, which then confuses the students. Having a stock of phrases we use across the department is also extremely useful. Since we often teach different classes over the years, it ensures that students hear the same instructional language regardless of who teaches them that academic year. This consistency helps reinforce their understanding and retention of key phrases* , making it easier for them to follow instructions and participate in activities. For example, if we all use phrases like "Setzt euch, bitte!" (Sit down, please!) or "Alles einpacken!" (Pack up!) , students become familiar with these commands and can respond quickly and confidently . It also optimises the cognitive load on students, as they don't need to decipher new ways of giving the same instructions each time they have a different teacher. Furthermore, having a shared set of phrases fosters a cohesive learning environment across the department. It allows us to build on each other’s work more effectively. If a student transfers from one class to another, they can seamlessly continue their learning without needing to adjust to a new set of instructional terms. This uniformity can also support collaborative planning and resource sharing among teachers, as we can create lesson plans and materials that align with the common phrases we use. In addition, this approach aids in classroom management . When students consistently hear and use the same phrases, it helps establish routines and expectations . They know what is expected of them and can transition smoothly between tasks, leading to a more organised and efficient classroom environment. Conclusion Incorporating the TL in MFL lessons is a complex process that requires careful planning and sensitivity to our students' needs. By establishing clear routines, leveraging known concepts and maintaining consistency, we can create an effective TL environment. Our ultimate goal is to provide ample exposure to the TL while ensuring that our students feel supported and capable . With the right balance, our students can thrive and develop their language skills without fear. *Please note that I don’t give my students lists of classroom language to memorise. Instead, I use the same phrases consistently in my lessons, so they pick up the instructional language naturally through repeated exposure and listening. Further reading: James Stubbs (teacher of French and Spanish, Leader) writes a lot about maximising the use of TL in his classroom, especially through the development of linguistic routines and in inductive approaches to teaching grammar. He blogs at: https://jamesstubbs.wordpress.com/ Jennifer Wozniak-Rush (teacher of French and Spanish, leader), often delivers subject specific CPD. Her most recent webinar for Linguascope was: 'Target Language: A mission possible for our students' is available at: https://www.linguascope.com/apps/index.htm