A podcast connecting teachers and researchers
Welcome to Bridge the Gap!
For many teachers, the thought of engaging with research creates a sense of dread, while many others see the value of research but feel that researchers are disconnected from the realities of the classroom, and as such they pose the question “Why should we bother?”. On the other side, researchers have often been described as people who stand in their “ivory towers” (Rose, 2019), throwing down research and expecting teachers to take on these findings. There is a distinct ‘gap’ between teachers and researchers. Much has been done to bridge this gap, although I think more teacher-researcher interactions could be a step forward. This is the whole reason for this next Sponge ELT spin-off – Bridge the Gap. I hope to interview researchers from around the world, and hear about their research. We will talk about what we know, what we don’t know, and practical implications. And just as importantly, I’d also like to discover how they feel this research-practice gap can be bridged more effectively.
Below you will find a selection of talks that cover a wide range of topics. I hope to add to these over time, so watch this space!
Masatoshi Sato – What is the research-practice gap?
We kick off Bridge the Gap, with Masatoshi Sato, who has actually done quite a bit of research into the what and why of the research-practice gap, and has also written extensively about how the research community could move forward in a more collaborative manner.
For those of you interested, Masatoshi is also the co-founder of TESOL Graphics, a brilliant site that summarises research using infographics (among other things!). Highly recommended 🙂 And lastly, Masatoshi has just co-authored a book with Shawn Loewen called A Practical Guide to Second Language Teaching and Learning – cannot wait to get my hands on this!
Geoff Jordan – What do we know about explicit and implicit knowledge and why is it important?
The next guest is one who probably needs no introduction – Geoff Jordan. Geoff is a polarising figure within ELT, but his perspectives on how ELT is moving forward, and the importance of SLA findings (and how teachers and trainers are not working with these) are important to consider, in my opinion. In this chat, I was lucky enough to have Geoff explain the difference between explicit and implicit knowledge (as well as teaching), and he also identified how both of these link to modern day language teaching – and identified where we might be going wrong!
Geoff, along with Mike Long, wrote and recently published one of the must-reads for teachers, trainers and researchers with ELT – English Language Teaching Now and How It Could Be. You can also find Geoff on his blog Applying TESOL.
Martin Bloomfield – What do we know about Dyslexia in language education?
Dyslexia (and other Specific Learning Difficulties) is something that a large percentage of the population deals with, and this is something that I really wanted to explore from a language education perspective. Dr. Martin Bloomfield is an expert within the area of Dyslexia, and has a huge presence online, disseminating information about the what of Dyslexia, and how we can make certain accommodations when working with learners with dyslexia. I had a great time with this one, and I learnt a lot.
You can find Martin and loads of his videos and resources at Dyslexia Bytes.
Lara Bryfonski – What we know about the importance of corrective feedback / Focus-on-Form
If you’re a true fan of Sponge ELT and Sponge Chats, you’ll have seen Lara’s name before! She recently co-authored a book with Alison Mackey called the Art and Science of Language Teaching, and she has been on before to talk about task-based language teaching from the teacher education side of things. In short, she was the right person to ask about what we know about corrective feedback and how we should be going about it in our classrooms.
You can find more about Lara on her site here, and whole list of things she’s been involved in here.
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