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Thursday, 1 January 2026

Let's enjoy and celebrate!

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 This post is to start the year with some absolutely delightful examples of pupils' work. Have a look and see if it brightens your day t...
Monday, 22 December 2025

What do we mean by "meaning". And does it matter?

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 In language teaching, we seem to be struggling with two different meanings of the word "meaning". On the one hand we have " ...
Saturday, 13 December 2025

AQA Conversation really not working

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 At our latest ALL in the East meeting (scroll down for previous meetings on this ALL page ), we discussed the implications of the AQA marks...
Sunday, 23 November 2025

Is there Salvation for the GCSE Conversation?

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 In a previous post , we looked at how this definition of "good development" is a joke. AQA exemplification of "amount of inf...
Friday, 24 October 2025

Marking the Conversation at GCSE (AQA) -- Not funny

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 There are two meanings to the word "a joke". One is something deliberately risible, to make those in the know laugh. The other me...
Sunday, 19 October 2025

Part 3 of A Spanner in the Works. AQA Guidance for Marking the Conversation.

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I don't know where to find this information officially from AQA, but I am hearing there is going to be a re-think. I don't know what...

Part 2 of A Spanner in the Works. The AQA guidance on marking the Conversation.

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I don't know where to find this information officially from AQA, but I am hearing there is going to be a re-think. I don't know what...

Part 1 of: A Spanner in the Works? The new AQA guidance for marking the Conversation.

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I don't know where to find this information officially from AQA, but I am hearing there is going to be a re-think. I don't know what...
Thursday, 9 October 2025

Recent Posts on the Way Forward for Languages.

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Here's selection of recent posts on the two systemic problems facing MFL, why they are so bad, and what we could do about it.  The impac...
Sunday, 5 October 2025

Am I about to come unstuck? - How much can you rely on a metaphor for learning?

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 How much can you rely on a metaphor for learning to guide your practice? All models of learning are metaphors. Starting with the popular ...
Saturday, 20 September 2025

Is chatgpt the answer to the GCSE vocabulary homework problem?

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 In a previous post , I declared that I wasn't going to let the new GCSE Vocabulary List worry me. We didn't use to worry about the ...
Tuesday, 19 August 2025

Look on my works, ye mighty...

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 Pillars. The ubiquitous metaphor of the last few years in Language Learning. Supplanting the four "skills" of Listening, Speaking...
Tuesday, 5 August 2025

Linguistics in Year 7

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 I have been meaning for a while to write a post on the idea of Linguistics in schools and its relation to language teaching. Or more precis...
Friday, 1 August 2025

Unfair grading and its impact in Languages

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 Imagine you are selling petrol for £1.40 a litre, and the other garages down the street all sell it for £1.30. Should you be surprised or c...