attention residue: how to use smartphones in the esl/esol/tefl classroom

There are different ways of using digital technology in a student-centred classroom - and, specifically, if we are to have students as directing their own learning, then we need to be thinking about how to use smartphones in the English language classroom.

As a recent blog says, on managing the use of smartphones in language classrooms:

From time to time, a story hits the headlines that schools in some country or other are to ban mobile phones (cellphones for our American friends) during the school day in an effort to reduce bullying and boost academic performance. This always triggers a re-examination of the issues involved, but, of course, language lessons operate usually under slightly different circumstances...

And that's the point: this technology should be seen differently when used in the language classroom, as it does offer tools rather than endless distraction - if used well of course [and the writer of the blog piece goes on to suggest how to do that...]

There are lots of blog pieces by teachers suggesting how to use mobile devices in their ESL work. The latest look comes from Dimitris Kouniakis and Constantina Constantopoulou, as reported byBecci Knowles, writing in the E L Gazetter. Here they look at Smartphones and focus in learning: Friend, foe, or false ally?

Welcome to the concept of attention residue, a key phenomenon that helps explain why focus has become such a fragile resource in today’s classrooms and study spaces...

If attention is fragile, the learning environments must actively protect it. One of the most effective, evidence-based strategies is surprisingly simple: Create physical distance between students and their smartphones during study or learning periods.

In today’s attention-fragmented learning landscape, focus has become a skill that needs safeguarding and coaching. Attention residue reminds us that distraction isn’t just about willpower. It’s essentially about how the brain works. Leroy’s findings make one thing clear; every interruption leaves a trace that weakens attention. For students who already struggle with concentration, executive function, and cognitive overload, smartphones are quietly but significantly undermining their learning. By encouraging intentional distance from devices during study, we help learners reclaim their attention, reduce mental clutter, and engage with content deeply. Managing the learning environment isn’t optional anymore; it’s a necessity. Having said that, meaningful support doesn’t begin with new strategies but with well-designed attentional space

Smartphones and focus in learning: Friend, foe, or false ally? - E L Gazette

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rage-bait

Did you know that the Oxford Word of the Year 2025 was rage bait?

Do you know what rage-baiting is all about?

In a very long entry, Wikipedia tells us:

In internet slang, rage-baiting (also ragebaiting, rage-farming, or rage-seeding) is the manipulative tactic of eliciting outrage with the goal of increasing internet traffic, online engagement, and revenue, as well as attracting new subscribers, followers, or supporters.[1][2][3] This manipulation occurs through offensive or inflammatory headlines, memes, tropes, or comments that provoke users to respond in kind.[4][5][6][7]

For the most up-to-date and colloquial definitions, we can go to Urban Dictionary: rage bait

But what's the effect been? Here's a video looking at How Ragebait RUINED the Internet

And why is it happening? Here's a BBC report on What is rage-baiting and why is it profitable?

It's still very much in the news today.

From Maynooth University this week: The problems with coining terms like 'rage bait' and 'brain rot'

From Brussels two days ago: Rage-bait: Meet the influencers calling Brussels the 'worst city in Europe' just for views

And from Fordham University yesterday: When is Rage Bait Too Much?

Finally, is there the same use and interest in your own country?

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ai-assistant writing tools - what are they good for?

Should teachers be encouraging our students - and indeed ourselves as students - to use AI?

There are of course the very popular tools ChatGPT and Grammarly.

And the excellent translator has developed its DeepL Write: AI-powered writing companion, although there are plenty of other places to go for a Free AI-Powered Writing Assistant.

But beyond all these competing offers, perhaps we as teachers and students should be asking how exactly to use these tools.

The E L Gazette looks at revising with AI-assistant tools and how they can really help students develop their language skills - and Maryem Larhmaid gives a good example of what we can do

What role does Grammarly play in editing Moroccan EFL university students’ writing?

In recent years, digital tools have become increasingly used in language classrooms, offering learners of various levels new possibilities beyond the limits of conventional instruction.

Among these tools, AI-assisted writing tools such as Grammarly have attracted particular interest for their ability to improve students’ writing style, vocabulary usage, and sentence structure.

In Moroccan higher education, where English is taught as a Foreign Language (EFL), students are required to develop academic writing skills despite challenges such as large class sizes and little individualised feedback.

Context and rationale

Even though academic writing is essential to university studies, Moroccan EFL students still find it to be one of the most complex skills. Many students struggle to establish coherent sentence patterns, convey their thoughts clearly, and choosing correct words. These problems are not just linguistic; they are linked to general difficulties, including insufficient time for writing instruction, few practice opportunities, and the challenge of giving each student thorough feedback. In many universities, writing instructors may oversee dozens of essays per week, making it practically impossible to provide complete, detailed comments to every student.

This gap opens the door for AI-assisted writing tools. Unlike basic grammar checkers, platforms like Grammarly provide students with more sophisticated suggestions for word choice, sentence clarity, cohesion, and even tone. However, while these tools are increasingly discussed in teaching/learning contexts, there is still limited empirical evidence assessing their influence on EFL academic writing in Morocco. My research, therefore, sought to answer the following question: How can AI-generated feedback influence students’ lexical variety and sentence complexity in academic writing?

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metaphors are easier to learn when put in context

The trouble with metaphors is that a lot gets lost in translation.

On the other hand, metaphor is everywhere - and is the stuff of language, whether it's the language of money... the language of religion... the language of love...

A lot of metaphors are also clichés - but, then, we all speak in clichés and as a language learner we want to know what people normally and regularly use. 

In the latest from Lexical Lab's regular blog by Hugh Dellar for teachers and students, we hear about Metaphors we live by: "a company is like a ship":

In their seminal 1980 book, Metaphors We Live By George Lakoff and Mark Johnson suggested that metaphors are a tool that allow us to use what we know about our physical and social environment to understand more – and to talk abut – abstract things like time, emotions, work and mental activity...

We could indeed go online and find lists of 25 metaphors about sailing and phrases and sayings that have a nautical origin - but, actually, having such language in an entertaining story-like piece means we are much more likely to understand it and so be able to remember it and use it!

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the 'life in the uk' test: a critique

The British government has had in place for some years now its Life in the UK Test which, if passed, will enable people to become UK citizens.

There are lots of websites that ask if you “think you know Britain?” - and give you an example text to try out online. And when people who already have a British passport try it themselves, well, it's actually quite difficult, as with this journalist on the Daily Express realised last year: I took the Life in the UK citizenship test - it's not so simple.

Other commentators would say that the test is actually not relevant to life in the UK, with the Guardian recently suggesting: Forget Hadrian’s Wall. The UK citizenship test should ask about Corrie, bus queues and Greggs.

In fact, there is considerable criticism of the test.

In June 2022, the UK parliament's Lords Committee requested an urgent review of the Life in the UK Test:

The Committee found several problems with the Test:an official handbook full of obscure facts and subjective assertions (including offensive historical content),

• inaccessible test centres,
• poorly-phrased questions that trivialise the process, and
• costs that can be prohibitive for some, among others.

The Committee also stressed the need to reintroduce taught courses, known to promote social cohesion and gender equality, as an alternative for those who may find a test particularly challenging.

The Committee is astonished that the Government has not yet conducted its long-overdue review of the Test and of its associated handbook. The Committee calls on the Government to appoint an Advisory Group to conduct a review to be published by a set deadline.

Others feel very much the same, with this study from the Durham Law School asking The Life in the UK citizenship test:Is it unfit for purpose?:

The Life in the UK citizenship test was launched in 2005 and revised in 2007. The test must be passed by anyone applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or naturalisation. Past editions were criticised for factual inaccuracies and their failure to include much information about British history and culture. The third edition was published in March 2013. It is a comprehensive departure in form and content from past tests that raises several serious concerns about the construction of the test. Its inability to meet its central goal as a test of knowledge about life in the United Kingdom renders it unfit for purpose and it is in need of urgent reforms. 

The UK Immigration Lawyers also ask:  Is the Life in the UK Test Fair? New Survey Raise Big Questions:

Our survey has exposed surprising gaps in historical and cultural knowledge among Brits. The findings raise questions about the fairness of Life in the UK Test for British citizenship or settlement applications.

This is not just the opinion of journalists, academics and lawyers, as Wikipedia notes in its piece on the Life in the United Kingdom test:

The test has been frequently criticised for containing factual errors,[1] expecting candidates to know information that would not be expected of native-born citizens[2] as well as being just a "bad pub quiz" and "unfit for purpose".[3][4]

In other words, if most British citizens were asked to complete this test, they would fail - which might question whether they should 'qualify' as being British citizens!

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graded readers and reading for pleasure

Earlier this month in the UK it was national reading week - when young people were encouraged to read, read, read!

For language students, English easy readers and audio books are a great way into enjoying reading. It's certainly about "readability" in the ESL/ESOL/TEFL classroom, as one of the key language learning benefits of graded readers is that you feel you can get into the text immediately and without having to reach for a dictionary for every other word. In other words, you can focus on the story.

A new book looks at exactly this: Why every English learner needs a good story.. And Fabio Cerpelloni of the E L Gazette speaks with Andrew Dilger, managing editor at Oxford University Press (OUP), about "creating effective graded readers, adapting to Gen Z’s reading habits, and bringing extensive reading into the classroom".

Graded readers are tools to help learners engage with extensive reading, which is the type of reading we do for pleasure. Extensive reading has to be easy, low-stakes, and fun. It shouldn’t block students. So, a good graded reader is one where the language has been carefully selected and graded to offer the learner a smooth reading experience.

But there’s no point producing a supremely graded text that is lifeless or uninteresting! So a good graded reader should also present a really attractive topic — one that learners would want to read about in their own language.

An effective graded reader has good illustrations or photos, too – not just for an aesthetic point of view but for functional reasons as well. Illustrations are often a visual gloss in this type of material. They are teaching aids that help the learner understand the language.

In short, an effective graded reader is approachable, interesting, and well-designed.

Try going to YouTube for some English graded readers level 1 - where you have both the text and the audio, pictures and good pronunciation - and hopefully they will be 'approachable, interesting and well-designed'!

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how corrupt is your country?

It's possibly the case that concentrated wealth leads to concentrated power.

And it seems to be the case that concentrated wealth and power lead to corruption.

Looking at corruption and extreme wealth, corruption fosters extreme wealth, acting as a greasing wheel that contributes to this unbalanced economic process. Therefore, billionaires face incentives to perform these types of acts which tend to perpetuate the corrupt system. However, legal mechanisms are also significant determinants of extreme wealth.

The idea that 'power corrupts' has been around for a long, long time, as shown in this look at power and its corrupting effects: the effects of power on human behavior and the limits of accountability systems.

The latest figures from Transparency International has something to say about the state of the world today, with a report out today: CPI 2025: Findings and insights

Britain doesn't fare very well: Results published today show the UK's score has fallen to 70, down from 71 last year. This marks the UK's lowest point... The UK remains 20th in the global ranking for the third consecutive year, a significant decline from its top ten position back in 2017. Corruption Perceptions Index 2025: UK Corruption concerns risk becoming 'new normal'

The United States has done even worse: The United States is now tied with the Bahamas and is outranked by Uruguay, Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates... The ranking has been trending downward for the past 10 years. Last year, it took a hit when President Donald Trump paused investigations into corporate foreign bribery and cut enforcement of a foreign agent registration law and other moves, CNN reported. US slips to 29th place in global corruption perception index

The message is clear: Corruption is surging worldwide, threatening public trust, enabling organized crime, and weakening democratic institutions, Transparency International warned Tuesday in its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Experts say shrinking civic space and faltering accountability are fueling the problem, putting governance—and citizens—at risk. Corruption Threatens Democracies Worldwide, Transparency International Warns

How is your country doing?

Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 - Transparency.org

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