ELT Buzz Digest - Jan. 8th
All the "buzz" in English language teaching this week.
Dear Teachers,
Here is our weekly news digest. So much and happy 2026 to everyone! My tips for this week are 1. This list of SLA related quotes. A good reminder and way to start the year, thinking about these foundational thoughts from leaders in our field. 2. What is learning? An excellent article reminded us that learning is messy … and much more subtle a thing than the shouts and easy cures social media influencers and salesman suggest.
My teaching resolution for this year? To keep remembering that teaching is a human act, that learning is a crooked, natural thing and much more than the straight jacket data and memorization wish to clothe it in.
Best,
David - ELT-Buzzer-In-Chief
Resisting AI slop - Science.org
The Language Twilight Zone II - Stories Of Language
Stop planning for students who don’t exist - Cecilia Nobre
Second Language Acquisition Quotes - Essential Reading
The Costs of Instant Translation - The Atlantic
Bloom’s famous 2 sigma tutoring paper is incredibly misleading
2026 Resolutions Bundle - Teaching Resources
Medical condition makes people wake up with an accent they never had
Days Gone By - Audrey Watters
When ‘Incredible’ Comes at a Cost: Lessons from Teaching in China
Understanding the needs of language learners - Univ. of Illinois
Video Lesson Of The Week - The Suffix “LESS”
Kids do NOT learn languages faster than adults. That’s a MYTH - Dr. Karen Lichtman
What people are really using ChatGPT for – and it’s not what you think
Why zero could unlock how the brain perceives absencell story