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"It is often claimed that people who are bilingual are better than monolinguals at learning languages. Now, the first study to examine bilingual and monolingual brains as they learn an additional language offers new evidence that supports this hypothesis, researchers say. The study, conducted at Georgetown University Medical Center and published in the journal Bilingualism: language and Cognition, suggests that early bilingualism helps with learning languages later in life."

A good pep talk has three elements according to science 1) "uncertainty reducing language" 2) empathetic language and 3) meaning-making language. This applies to sports and the classroom and life. This is from the Harvard Business Review.

This book has been written and designed primarily with English language teachers in mind though the majority of the resources and tools contained in the book will have much wider use than just language teaching. The book contains more than 70 tools and resources and these have been hand picked because they represent a broad cross-section of what is at present available.

There is an assumption that persists in the educational community that more mature teachers are much more difficult and reluctant to be trained on the effective use of educational technology. To some degree, I think this assumption has been built on by the digital native vs digital immigrant myth. But as someone who has trained teachers of all ages all over the world I would say that, from my own experience, this hasn't been the case.

A new study found that speech difficulties are linked with difficulties in learning to read when children first start school, but these effects are no longer apparent at 8 years of age. Researchers confirmed that early language impairment that co-occurs with speech difficulties predicts poor literacy skills at both 5½ and 8 years of age. Having a family history of dyslexia had a small but significant effect on literacy at both ages, above and beyond the effects of speech and language...

Using action research to explore technology in language teaching https://t.co/hxmibAAhsO #edtech #ict #research… https://t.co/RMhHmybgkQ

So, if restricting access to these devices isn't the answer, how do we address their presence in the classroom and use these devices to engage rather than disengage students' attention? Here are a few suggestions…

Online audio/video tool for Language teachers to create a series of audio and video prompts for students. Learner responses are saved for teacher review, and conversations can be joined by multiple students.

Swift Playground is an iPad app to learn Apple's Swift coding language which underpins apps on iOS. The app has engaging lessons and different levels to play.

Swift Playgrounds, an innovative new iPad app from Apple that makes learning to code easy and fun for everyone, is now available on the App Store. With Swift Playgrounds, real coding concepts are brought to life with an interactive interface that allows students and beginners to explore working with Swift, the easy-to-learn programming language from Apple used by professional developers to create world-class apps.

I shudder, thinking back to my differentiation for EAL students at the start. I Google translated the whole PowerPoint, brimming with pride at my achievement. It was sadly, as the kids would say, an epic fail. It didn't make sense. The students were…

In an effort to counteract this I would like to make my ebook Digital Video - A manual for language teachers freely available to anyone without the means to pay for it who is willing to help me with a little research project.

I added a link in the language section of my Free HS Textbooks collections. Suggestions welcome. http://www.textbooksfree.org/Free%20HS%20Textbooks.htm

Writing Teacher Shannon Carey is teaching writing this year with an edge. Using the idea of "writing as resistance" she's helping kids find their voice on hard, tough topics and daring them to write great things. Read this blog post for ideas and to see some cool things you can do to challenge great writing.

The website for the BBC Micro:Bit has lots of coding resources to use with and without a Micro:Bit device for both teachers and pupils, including program creators with a choice of programming languages.

An intriguing site which has split the whole world into 3 metre by 3 metre squares and assigned 3 words to label that coordinate, giving addresses to millions around the world who don't have an official address, or making a meeting point more accuracy than a postcode. For educators, there are lots of geographic and literacy possibilities - geocaching with spelling, or writing short stories or descriptions about a real location including the words. The site can be viewed in many different European languages meaning there are MFL possibilities too."

Guide to getting started with languages with younger pupils.

Languages Special

A great site for learning Mandarin with fun games. Some of the instructions are in Chinese.