Memory: What Every Language Teacher Should Know

by Steve Smith, Gianfranco Conti

How do we help students remember? If teachers understand how memory works, there is more chance of helping students do well through effective curriculum and lesson planning. This book is an introduction to memory written specifically with language teachers in mind. Taking evidence from the fields cognitive science and second language acquisition, the authors examine a range of important aspects of memory. These include working memory, phonological memory, long-term memory, cognitive load, implicit and explicit knowledge, prospective memory, metamemory, learning from mistakes, the emotional factors affecting retention and curriculum design with memory in mind. Full references, questions for reflection, and suggestions for further reading and viewing are provided at the end of each of the 16 chapters.The authors apply research evidence to the languages classroom, with suggestions for pedagogy and specific classroom activities.Previous books by the authors are The Language Teacher Toolkit (2016) and Breaking the Sound Barrier: Teaching Langugae Learners How to Listen (2019)

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

286 pages, Paperback

Published January 15, 2021

Reviews

[Karen Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Conti & Smith, and ordered a paper version of this book almost as soon as it was available.

If you are a language teacher, or at all interested in how to learn languages better, get and read this book. You will find a lot of your intuitions confirmed, but will also gain a lot of useful and practical information on things you may not have thought much about before.

Why deduct a star? I'm a pretty patient and determined reader when it comes to consuming content in my area of interest. But this book is basically a textbook, and not that well suited to breezing through like a novel. Sometimes I needed to put it down because it was covering familiar ground; it read faster when it introduced a newer line of thought. But I'm glad I finally worked through it all. Highly recommended.

[T Lopez Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book for any MFL or EFL teacher

[Douglas Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this before becoming an MFL Teacher. The flashbacks I have are reminders to delve deeper into the question of how I can help language learners succeed.