The Brain Studies Boom: Using Neuroscience in ESL/EFL Teacher Training

Abstract

Neuroscience is changing the world, yet barely ours. Still, we need it. Innovative teacher training requires giving learners access to the amazing things neuroscience is discovering about learning and language, complex neurological processes. This chapter will discuss ways non-experts can incorporate neuroscience in their teacher-training syllabi, and give teacher trainers a short course in key neuroscientific breakthroughs. The topics include: (a) prevalent neuromyths; (b) how learning, memory, and attention work; (c) the role of sleep; (d) embodied simulation; (e) the power of stories; (f) the need for movement; and (g) stress as a teaching tool. While neuroscience might not give us new teaching methods, it explains the processes underlying those we use.