Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) From blank page to finished paper Staring at a blank page can be one of the most intimidating parts of academic life. It’s not uncommon to feel that writing an essay is a single, mysterious talent that you either have or you don’t. The good… Continue reading What’s happening in your mind when you write an essay? A look inside the writer’s thought processes
The Case for Phone Bans in Education: Evidence from a Large-Scale Randomised Controlled Trial
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) Introduction The debate over the role of mobile phones in education has intensified in recent years, with critics warning of distraction & losses in learning, & defenders emphasising teaching responsibility & digital literacy. Yet rigorous empirical evidence has so far been lacking. A large-scale randomised… Continue reading The Case for Phone Bans in Education: Evidence from a Large-Scale Randomised Controlled Trial
Ensuring success for adult EFL students
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) Introduction In Spain & in many other countries, English language academies play an important role in supplementing the instruction pupils receive in schools. For children & adolescents, academies function largely as after-school “top-up” lessons. Since school-based English classes often amount to only 2-4 hours per… Continue reading Ensuring success for adult EFL students
Premature calls for AI literacy in curricula: A case against jumping on the AI-hype bandwagon
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español Introduction The current public discourse on artificial intelligence (AI) has predictably triggered a surge in calls to incorporate “AI literacy” into curricula. Pundits, policymakers, educational consultants, & think tanks now routinely champion the inclusion of AI literacy, typically vaguely defined or entirely undefined, as an educational necessity.… Continue reading Premature calls for AI literacy in curricula: A case against jumping on the AI-hype bandwagon
How Language Students Really Learn: What Construction Grammar (CxG) can teach us
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) Introduction As language teachers, we all want our students to become confident, fluent speakers who use language appropriately & effectively. But too often, we watch them struggle to apply the grammar rules we’ve taught, e.g. mixing up tenses, forming awkward sentences, or sticking to the… Continue reading How Language Students Really Learn: What Construction Grammar (CxG) can teach us
Making It Stick: Towards more effective vocabulary practice in language learning
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) Introduction Vocabulary is foundational to language competence. Yet the ways learners practise & internalise new vocabulary often fall short of the complex demands of actual language use. Traditional techniques such as pre-taught vocabulary, memorisation of decontextualised word lists, or single-sentence definitions neglect the fact that… Continue reading Making It Stick: Towards more effective vocabulary practice in language learning
Why teaching needs to be more scientific & what that really means
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) Introduction In an activity concerned with care, relationships, & creativity, talk of science can sound clinical, rigid, or even irrelevant. Many teachers & school leaders reasonably ask: Can research really capture the complexity of teaching? Doesn’t experience matter more? Shouldn’t we trust our professional instincts?… Continue reading Why teaching needs to be more scientific & what that really means
Teaching students to read for meaning: A persuasive case for a different approach
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) Introduction In contemporary language education, students are often trained to read texts strategically & selectively, primarily for the purpose of assessment. Whether the intention is to pass comprehension tests or succeed in high-stakes international examinations such as the Cambridge English suite, IELTS, Trinity, TOEFL, or… Continue reading Teaching students to read for meaning: A persuasive case for a different approach
Think Before You Rely on ChatGPT: Advice for students using an LLM to study
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) The following is my response to the current discourse surrounding a recent pre-publication paper, “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task” (Kosmyna et al., 2025) from a study that examined & compared the effects of… Continue reading Think Before You Rely on ChatGPT: Advice for students using an LLM to study
Why education experts resist evidence-based practices & embrace fads: A call for professional maturity
Haga clic aquí para la traducción al español (Google Translate) Abstract Despite decades of educational research, evidence-based practices remain marginalised in teacher training, curriculum design, & classroom implementation. Instead, unproven fads continue to dominate. This article argues that education’s failure to mature into a profession grounded in empirical research (unlike medicine, accounting, or engineering) is… Continue reading Why education experts resist evidence-based practices & embrace fads: A call for professional maturity