How Long Should Teachers Wait for Students to Answer? Featuring Matt Abrahams – S05E11

How long should an English teacher wait when a student cannot answer? When does helpful support become an interruption?Gav and Em explore classroom wait time and how teachers can give learners space to think without allowing the silence to become uncomfortable. They discuss online and face-to-face lessons, offering choices, inviting classmates to help and teaching learners to use hesitation sounds to show that they are still thinking.Em shares how a simple question about a favourite machine led to genuinely meaningful Business English communication. Can asking learners to explain familiar equipment, processes and everyday tasks produce better speaking practice than a conventional exercise?The conversation also considers why students should use English as much as possible during lessons. Staying in English can support fluency, maintain an inclusive classroom and encourage learners to explain unfamiliar words and expressions rather than immediately translating them.Gav reveals an indirect error-correction technique he uses with advanced learners: presenting a mistake as something made by “other students” and inviting the learner to analyse and correct it. This can protect confidence while involving the learner in the teaching process.There is also an introduction from Matt Abrahams, host of Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast, followed by a look at how Gav creates the podcast artwork using AI and Canva.Finally, play along with the Quiz of the Week as Gav and Em investigate portmanteau words including brunch, cosplay, electrocute, popsicle and splatter—and enter the strange new world of “Portmantopia”.If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpodVisit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use.Transcription with audio:https://share.descript.com/view/FAQbQSGJa8KThink Fast, Talk Smart with Matt Abrahams:https://mattabrahams.com/english-language-learning/ResourcesAI podcast artwork:https://playground.com/Picture editing:https://www.canva.com/Portmanteau word examples:https://www.rd.com/article/portmanteau-words/Chapters00:00 Welcome and support the podcast03:20 How long should teachers wait for an answer?05:00 Ways to support students who need more thinking time07:00 Managing interruptions and turn-taking09:00 Creating meaningful Business English conversations12:00 Why learners should practise describing processes13:35 Matt Abrahams introduces Think Fast, Talk Smart14:18 Why encourage students to speak only English?17:20 An indirect error-correction technique21:08 How Gav creates podcast artwork with AI23:48 Quiz of the Week: portmanteau words37:01 Outro