Jorge's blog

Teaching listening has become a central focus in modern language education.   (📷:ministry-to-children) L istening is the foundation of communication in any language, and learning to listen well is crucial for English learners. Studies find that we spend roughly 40–50% of our communication time listening [1] . Teachers and researchers therefore emphasise that listening should be treated as a “basic skill” in every lesson [2] . When students struggle to understand spoken English, it can undermine the rest of their language progress, since they miss large chunks of information. In fact, one review explicitly notes that listening is a vital part of ESL/EFL instruction at all levels [3] . Despite this, listening has often been the most neglected skill in classrooms: surveys report that teachers typically spend more time on speaking, reading or writing activities, leaving listening practice too sparse [4] [1] . This mismatch (between how important listening really is, and how little at...

Context collapse flattens the usual boundaries we manage in everyday life, making it hard to tailor our message to each group.   (📷:colostate.edu) Context collapse occurs when formerly separate social contexts all come together into one audience space [1] [2] . In physical life we adjust our behaviour based on who we’re talking to (we speak differently to a boss than to old friends). But on social networks, those circles overlap. For example, a single Facebook post or tweet might be seen by your family, college friends, coworkers, and even strangers all at once. This is what Jessica Vitak calls “the flattening out of multiple distinct audiences” [1] . Because of this, information can suddenly spread far and wide (a casual comment intended for friends might end up reaching colleagues or acquaintances) [3] . 'Context Collapse' ▶️2m02s In practice, this mixing of audiences can be jarring. As one blogger vividly put it: “The best example of real-life context collapse is a we...