Author Gregory Diehl examines the challenges of teaching English for practical purposes versus test results. Gregory reflects on his experience and suggests how to engage and support teenage students in using English for authentic communication. In this episode, Gregory talks about: ✅ Realigning Teaching Goals: Gregory emphasizes connecting language learning to students' interests, not just test scores, for practical communication. ✅ Engaging Students: He advises making English relevant to students' lives to combat disinterest in language studies due to test-centric teaching. ✅ Navigating Word Usage: Discussion focuses on understanding emotional nuances in words, not just literal meanings. ✅ Overcoming Fear of Mistakes: Embracing errors as part of the learning process is highlighted to encourage communication without perfection pressure. ✅ Teaching Beyond Tests: Advocacy for personalised teaching methods within test-focused curricula to foster broader language appreciation. Affiliate Link to Gregory's BookOur Global Lingua Franca: An Educator’s Guide to Spreading English Where EFL Doesn’t Work by Gregory Diehl. 💡 Did you know that TESOL Pop has a YouTube channel where you can watch this episode with closed captions and many more? Click here to watch. You can support the work we do at TESOL Pop by: 🟣 Hitting the like and subscribe button. 🟣 Sharing this episode with your community 🟣 Buying us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/tesolpop Want to join our next non-fiction book club? Click here to find out more. Credits Podcaster & Producer Laura Wilkes Audio-Video Editor Haven Tsang With thanks to our knowledgeable guest, Gregory Diehl. 💡Good to Know💡This episode description contains affiliate links. To learn more about affiliate links, read our disclaimer here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.