One of the best way to stay motivated and get new ideas for teaching English learners is by listening to podcasts. While you cook, travel, lay on the beach or work out you can tune into some free professional development. The podcasts below are full of interviews, lesson ideas, resources, and thought-provoking ideas from English language teachers and authors worldwide. All have recent episodes unless otherwise noted. Go ahead and have a listen. Learn more about integrating technology to support English language learners by enrolling into a TESOL certification program, and attending our monthly TESOL webinars.
Podcasts for English Language Teachers
- The Boosting ESL Achievement podcast is based on the book by teachers, Carol Salva and Anna Matis. Find practical teaching tips and interviews with teachers.
- The TEFL Commute is a podcast hosted by James Taylor, Lindsay Clandfield, and Shaun Wilden. The podcast is a light-hearted listen for teachers. Each episode is built around a topic that could be used in class to teach language learners.
- TESOL Pop is a weekly question-led podcast that offers practical advice, ideas, and resources to teachers of English as a foreign language.
- A Way with Words is more for linguists. It’s a popular show featured on NPR stations. Hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett explore language through culture, family, and history. Word puzzles are given, and audiences can call in to discover the meaning behind phrases or words.
- TEFLology is a podcast about teaching English as a foreign language, applied linguistics, and related matters. The hosts—Matthew Schaefer, Matthew Turner, and Robert Lowe—teach in Japan.
- Classroom Q&A is hosted by famous ELT author and blogger, Larry Ferlazzo, who interviews a panel of teachers and guest experts who share practical answers to classroom challenges.
- Board Gaming with English, hosted by Dustin Staats and Rich Hill, introduces teachers to tabletop games to motivate their English learners. Each episode is structured like a lesson plan with a learning objective for the listener.
- 2 Ts in a Pod features short interviews with people out and about for teachers to use in lessons with adult and older teen English learners with an upper-intermediate (B2) level and upwards.
- Masters of TESOL by Andrew Bailey spills the beans on the best English Language Teaching practices.
- The TEFL Show is hosted by Marek Kiczkowiak, a teacher in Poland, and Robert William McCaul, who has taught in Vietnam, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, and the U.K. They discuss issues that arise in the field of ELT. The last show posted was in February 2017.
