The Minimal Pair – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Minimal Pair

Stephanie Axe and Jean Dempsey

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/13d. Total Eps: 16

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Data updated on 04/07/2026

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/18iposMnhBlTZIKhZ_s2gpgtfnd5-XV_nBRabuv44o3w/edit?hl=en_US
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Episode 016: I Can't Be Bothered with Vowels

Friday, September 5, 2014 • Duration

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: I Can't Be Bothered with Vowels Episode no: 016 Date: Recorded on 09/04/14
Topics in Language Learning Language snobbery

English is spoken in many countries – so which is the “right” English?

English has official/special status in 75 countries (2 billion speakers)
Numbers and their implications: more non-native speakers than native speakers (probably…)
ESL students from English-speaking countries: what does that say about us (the ESL programs)?

Grammar snobbery

There’s a time and a place to get it right (formal vs. informal English)
Prescriptive grammar vs. descriptive grammar
Privileges: education, class, race, L1 vs. L2, ability
Language evolution

Sources:

LinkedIn Group: English Skills and Language: Discussion: “India is the single largest English speaking population on Earth. Do you agree?” (discussion started by GB Singh, 8/18/14)
“FAQs The English Language” – British Council (http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-faq-the-english-language.htm)
“Why Grammar Snobbery Has No Place in the Movement,” from 5/2/14 (http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/05/grammar-snobbery/)

[20:50]
Methodology PowerPoint

PowerPoint, taboo?
Pros

Visual aid – especially helpful to visual learners
Keeping the lesson on track/organized
Accessible (can be saved in Bb and referred back to later)
Interactive (sometimes… depends on who made it!)
Student use

Cons

One-way learning/teacher-centered classroom
Inhibits organic discussion
Visual pollution/over-saturation of slides
“Overly formal” vibe
Over-simplifies the material (reduces critical thinking)

Tips

Guy Kawasaki’s 10, 20, 30 rule – 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30-point font
Keeping it simple – but not simplifying the material
Make it interactive (to avoid “one-way learning)
Spice it up!
Set expectations (i.e., students shouldn’t just sit and copy from the slides)
Take breaks

Sources:

“Does PowerPoint Help or Hinder Learning?” by Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog (http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/does-powerpoint-help-or-hinder-learning/)
Blog post from Guy Kawasaki, December 30, 2005 (blog.guykawasaki.com)

[41:35]
Adjunct Antics Valuing Adjuncts

The downside of being an adjunct

Lower pay
No retirement plan or benefits
No job certainty/guarantee
No/less input to department decisions

“Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act”

Student debt is a problem for most people, but adjuncts (who have less job certainty and low pay) have an especially hard time paying off their loans
2007 – Congress created PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness), to offer loan forgiveness to people in public and non-profit sectors
Many adjuncts don’t qualify for PSLF because you have to work an average of 30 hours a week/year, and adjuncts don’t always get enough hours
The Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act would allow adjuncts to access PSLF, regardless of hours worked

Sources:

“Adjunct faculty exploring unionization,” by Koran Addo, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/adjunct-faculty-exploring-unionization/article_5691bb7b-08b7-5f36-9e48-c52544c840c8.html)
“Big News: Sen. Dick Durbin Introduces Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act,” from Adjunct Action (http://adjunctaction.org/2014/07/big-news-sen-dick-durbin-introduces-adjunct-faculty-loan-fairness-act/)

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Episode 014: What is the last P in PARSNIP?

Sunday, August 10, 2014 • Duration

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: What is the last P in PARSNIP? Episode no: 014 Date: Recorded on 8/7/14
Topics in Language Learning EFL vs. ESL

What’s the difference?
- EFL – English as a Foreign Language is taught to a mostly homogenous group of ELLs in a non-English speaking country
- ESL – English as a Second Language is taught to any group of ELLs, primarily immigrants, in an English speaking country)
Objectives

EFL
- Less urgency/ irrelevant to daily routine – speakers don’t need English in their everyday lives
- Topical– literature, cinema, art, culture, conversation, etc. are all courses that could be offered
ESL
- More urgency/practical – speakers need to use English to survive, so they’re less concerned with technicalities
- Holistic – communication skills, reading, writing, ESP, “big picture”/long-term purposes

Our experiences…
Planning/preparation:
- EFL
  - Focus on practice, especially speaking, pronunciation, and conversation
  - Exposure to authentic English
  - Reasons/motivation
- ESL
  - Hands on/suitable for immediate needs
  - Explicit cultural instruction
  - Integration
Sources:
- Oxford University Press, English Language Teaching Global Blog, article by Kate Bell – oupeltglobalblog.com
- Teaching ESL to Adults – www.teaching-esl-to-adults.com

[19:00]
Methodology Audio learners [38:57] Culturally speaking… Taboo topics 5. Raising cultural awareness 4. Know your audience 3. Warm, but not hot (let them discuss something without it getting too heated) 2. R-E-S-P-E-C-T 1. Keep it neutral

Episode 013: Tweet Me in St. Louie

Monday, July 7, 2014 • Duration

The Minimal Pair: Episode 013
Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: Tweet Me in St. Louie Episode no: 013 Date: Recorded on 7/2/14 & 7/6/14

Topics in Language Learning Technology in the classroom

Digital divide

What is it?
Effects students and teachers
Challenging classroom roles
How do tech skills help make students and teachers more marketable?

Tech controversy

Is technology replacing teaching?
When Sugata Mitra gave slum kids a computer, they learned how to use it on their own…
Should the Internet be included in curricula?
Why ask students to leave their devices outside? Are we excluding the Internet from classrooms?
Is this controversy fueling the digital divide?

Sources:

[19:45] Methodology Twitter Thanks again to Nate Soelberg for talking to us about Twitter!! You can reach him at @MrNatethteacher Until next time, keep it minimal…and TWEET ME IN ST. LOUIE!

Episode 012: “Where can I get a Brazilian wax?”

Thursday, June 26, 2014 • Duration

The Minimal Pair: Episode 012
Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: “Where can I get a Brazilian wax?” Episode no: 012 Date: Recorded on 6/25/14
Topics in Language Learning English for Specific Purposes

Sources:
What is it? How is it different from ESL? (from UsingEnglish.com)
- Types of learners
- Types of instruction
- Learner motivation
What are “specific purposes”?
- Business
- Law
- Architecture
- Engineering
- Medicine
- Tourism
- Restaurant industry
Instructor responsibilities (from UsingEnglish.com) and challenges
- Setting goals
- Learning environment
- Evaluating students
- Who is qualified to teach it?
  - Is a TESL certification enough?
  - Do instructors with content specific backgrounds (like an MBA or J.D.) have an advantage?

[19:10]
Methodology Authentic situations

Online presence

Email
Social media

[36:15] Culturally speaking… High-context vs. low-context cultures

Episode 011: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!

Friday, June 6, 2014 • Duration

Click here to listen to The Minimal Pair: Episode 011
Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words! Episode no: 011 Date: Recorded on 5/29/14
Topics in Language Learning Classroom Management

Source: The English Skills Learning Center blog: “Tips on Classroom Management for Adult ELL classes” http://www.eslcenter.org/about-us/blog/103-tips-on-classroom-management-for-adult-ell-classes
Classroom management—what and why?

Challenges of teaching different age groups and cultural backgrounds in the same classroom
Challenges of “mixed classrooms”—English and ESL
Different college settings (Community college, 4 year college, grad school)

The 7 tips the English Skills Center blog shares in their article, and how we implement them in the classroom:

Make class expectations clear and realistic and stick to them
Be consistent: set class routines that students can become familiar with
Find a balance between being your students’ teacher and being their friend (respected vs. approachable)
Work to engage all the students while teaching. Don’t base the pace of an entire class on one or two students
Use interactive activities and open-ended questions as a chance to check student comprehension
Ask for student feedback and incorporate it as appropriate for everyone
Recognize that some discipline concerns need to be addressed immediately, while others are better done individually after class

Plus, 3 more tips (from us) for an even 10!

[18:04] Methodology Visual learners [32:40] Culturally speaking… English-only debate Check us out on twitter, FB, gmail Keep it minimal!

Episode 010: Don't Box Them In

Saturday, May 31, 2014 • Duration

Click here to listen to The Minimal Pair: Episode 010
Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: Don't Box Them In Episode no: 010 Date: Recorded on 5/30/14
Topics in Language Learning Introverts/Passive Learning

Sources:

“Passive Learners vs. Introverts—A comment,” by Naomi Epstein (from the blog Visualizing Ideas)
#ELTChat Summary from May 7th 2014—“How we deal with passive learners,” compiled by Lizzie Pinard

Talking points from both sources and our experiences:

Distinction between “introverts” and “passive learners”
- Introverts didn’t raise their hands, but were clearly listening; rather than conforming to the expected learning behavior, they adapt their own
- Passive learners seem completely disengaged from the lesson; often don’t know what’s going on, when things are due, and how to complete assignments
Motivation
- Students who have to be there vs. students who want to be there
- Age and life experience as factors in student beahvior
Avoiding labels, targeting the problem
- “Introvert” and “passive” are not mutually exclusive
- Not important to argue over definitions or positive & negative connotations of each
- More important to focus on the behaviors inherent to both/all kinds of learners and how to make space for them in the classroom

Our tips:

Introverts
- Variety of activities (i.e. speaking vs. writing)
- Take it slow (build up to oral participation & give them time to think before responding)
- Partner work (gives them a space to build confidence)
Passive Learners
- Meeting them where they are (trying to get them to see it from their perspective)

[24:30] Methodology Journaling [45:20] Culturally speaking… Cross-cultural communication Take your time – Ask the other speaker to slow down – Keep it simple – Don’t be afraid to ask for help – Avoid baseball English – Skip the acronyms – Don’t ask yes/no questions – Get rid of double negatives – Talk to more than one person – Start formal – Pay attention to the non-verbal – Be respectful, be interested, & be humble SHOUT OUTS: #ELTchat and everyone who participated in the conversation, especially Naomi Epstein and Lizzie Pinard) YOU our listeners! Thanks! Adjunct Action! Keep it minimal!

Episode 009: DO Talk to Strangers

Friday, May 16, 2014 • Duration

The Minimal Pair: Episode 009

Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: DO Talk to Strangers Episode no: 009 Date: Recorded on 5/16/14
Topics in Language Learning Tutoring/student support

Inspired by the article “Minimalist Tutoring: Making Students Do All the Work,” by Jeff Brooks of Seattle Pacific University (https://docs.google.com/document/d/18iposMnhBlTZIKhZ_s2gpgtfnd5-XV_nBRabuv44o3w/edit?hl=en_US)
Talking points:

Teaching students to fish
Improve the student, not the paper
Helping vs. editing
Goal of writing a paper?
Student ownership (both of their writing and their mistakes)

“Basic Minimalist Tutoring” Tips:

Sit beside the student
Have the student be closer to the paper than you are
Position yourself so that it’s not convenient to try to write on the paper; don’t bring a pen
Have the student read the paper (so they’re not excluded)

“Advanced Minimalist Tutoring” Tips:

Concentrate on the paper’s strengths
Ask “leading questions”
Give the student a task, leave him/her alone, come back to check in

“Defensive Minimalist Tutoring” Tips:

Imitate student body language to show deference
Be honest: “This is your paper, not mine!”

[23:00]
Methodology Small talk

Our experiences…
Why should we teach it?
“Making space for English”—shout out to Anna Loseva

[40:40] Culturally speaking… Group work SHOUT OUTS: Jeff Brooks of Seattle Pacific University & Anna Loseva @AnnLoseva

Episode 008: The Little Episode That Could

Friday, May 9, 2014 • Duration

The Minimal Pair: Episode 008
Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: The Little Episode That Could Episode no: 008 Date: Recorded on 5/8/14
Introduction: So, it’s finals time…how are you holding up?

Topics in Language Learning Students’ perception of their own performance:

Students who think they are doing fine/don’t seem worried, but are failing
Students who are doing fine, but constantly worry about their grades
Students who wait until the very end of the semester to ask what they can do about their grade
Students who didn’t do the original work, but want extra credit
Students reactions to final grades

[17:04]
Methodology How to deal with a test/writing prompt that doesn’t go as planned…

The test takes longer than anticipated
1. Give them extra time?
2. But what if another class is coming in…?
The test results were lower than expected: was it too challenging? How to decide:
1. Look at scores overall: did everyone do poorly?
2. Look at individual scores: did anyone do drastically worse than they did on previous tests?
Adjusting scores for tests that were deemed disastrous
Avoiding the same mistakes in the future/gauging the length of time and level of difficulty of future tests

[32:27]
Adjunct Antics Career Adjunct?

Being an adjunct wasn’t meant to be a career, yet that’s what it is for many people
Feeling like a second-class citizen
Unions: the solution? Or part of the problem?

SHOUT OUTS: Dan Clark, thanks for listening and giving us positive feedback on the quality of our recording—it means a lot, coming from a fellow pod-caster (First World Podcast). Also, I have a HUGE shout out to Stephanie, for figuring out our microphone problem so that we could record tonight, against all odds. This truly was the “little episode that could.”

Episode 007: The Ball is Pretty

Tuesday, April 22, 2014 • Duration

The Minimal Pair: Episode 007
Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: The Ball is Pretty Episode no: 007 Date: 4/21/14
Topics in Language Learning Student attendance & making up work

Importance of coming to class, especially in a second-language classroom
Reasons for absences; where do we draw the line?
Attendance policy
Homework that’s due on the day that class is missed
Making up what was missed (including assessments)

[20:18]
Methodology On the lighter side: fun things we’ve done and would like to do!

Games
1. Ice-breaker
2. Mad libs
3. The Minimal Pair game
4. Taboo
5. Simon Says…
6. “Speed” vocabulary
7. BINGO
Music
1. “School House Rocks”
2. Conditionals & modals, YouTube compilations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBIawQGe-88

Azar song lessons: http://www.azargrammar.com/materials/uueg/UUEG_SongLessons.html
1. Count & non-count nouns (My Favorite Things)
2. Conditionals (If I Had a Hammer or Octupus’ Garden)
Vocabulary cloze

Role play/dramatizations
1. Lower Academic English
2. Point-of-View
3. Pronunciation

[38:28]
Adjunct Antics/Culturally speaking… When worlds collide: varied perspectives in the classroom Keep it minimal!

The Minimal Pair – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Minimal Pair – Details, episodes & analysis

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