Taal & Teach podcast

If you work in newcomers education, you are likely to meet students who have gone through trauma. The behaviours resulting from trauma can be challenging. How do you, as a teacher, help these students?

In this episode I am talking to Aleks Palanac, Head of Santuary at the University of Leicester. We discuss what trauma is, the effect it has on the brain and what teachers can do to support students with trauma in the classroom.

Here are references and links to the sources we mention:

This episode is made in collaboration with NALDIC.
EAL Journal deputy editor Leandro Paladino joins me once more as we follow up on the latest article in the EAL Essentials series on the topic of Translanguaging.
The article is published in the autumn 2022 edition of the EAL Journal, which reflects the theme of the 2022 NALDIC conference: ‘Every teacher is a language teacher’.
We discuss some aspects of the theory of translanguaging, as well as what translanguaging might look like in the classroom. You’ll find links to useful sources in the links below this description.

This episode is made in collaboration with NALDIC, UK’s National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum. In this episode I am joined once more by Leandro Paladino, deputy editor of the EAL Journal as we discuss classroom interaction and group work. A lot can be said about this topic! What exactly is comprehensible input? How can we set up successful group work and how can we support our EAL learners during cooperative activities? And how can we make sure the conversations our students are having are actually helping them learn? In this episode we explore some key theories and share our experiences as educators.

Here are the links to sites mentioned in our conversation:

This episode is part 2 of the series on teaching newcomers and refugees. In this series we will hear from practitioners and experts who share their perspectives on meeting the needs of new arrivals in school.

In this episode I’m speaking with Kulwinder Maude, Assistant professor of Primary English at Durham University in the UK. We will discuss classroom practices to help develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

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This episode is made in collaboration with NALDIC, UK’s National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum.

Leandro Paladino, deputy editor of the EAL Journal joins me in this episode as we discuss the first article in the journal’s new series ‘EAL essentials’, which is all about BICS and CALP.

This is the NALDIC website:

This is the first episode in a series on teaching newcomers and refugees. In this series we will hear from practitioners and experts who share their perspectives on meeting the needs of new arrivals in school.

This episode, which is all about building relationships, I’m speaking with Julie Hayes, an EAL coordinator from Chesire. Julie shares her experience with the process of welcoming new arrivals - from the initial meeting, through lockdown, to the students joining their form.

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This first international episode is all about being an EAL learner in secondary school, from the perspective of students.

When new to English students join our classes, we tend to focus on meeting their language needs and providing access to the curriculum. It’s easy to assume they’ll get used to the routines soon enough. But it is not that simple. Transitioning to a new school environment, in a new country with a language you don’t yet speak is about much more than language and academics.

How do new to English students experience their first year after joining a new school? How can we make sure they understand our expectations and intentions? How do we make sure they truly feel like they are part of our school community?

In this episode I am speaking with Katharine Anderson, head of EAL at an international school. Katharine’s research for her master thesis set out to better understand the challenges teenagers face during their first year at the international school, and to use that information to create a programme to support new to English learners.

We discuss the challenges EAL learners face, their perspectives on joining a new school and what this means for our classroom practice.