You Can’t Teach a Syllabus (And Why Accuracy-first is Killing Enrollment) - Matt Coss

"People ask me all the time, 'Are you worried that AI's gonna take your job?' and I tell them, no, but I'm worried that you would ask me that question, because it tells me a lot about what you think my job is." We chat with researcher Matt Coss.  Matt is a professor of applied linguistics in the Department of Modern Languages & Classics at the University of Alabama (USA). A research-practitioner who has taught Mandarin and Spanish across all proficiency levels for 13 years, his work focuses on task-based language teaching (TBLT), assessment, language program design, and student retention. He is also the Interviews Editor for TASK: Journal on Task-Based Language Teaching and a founding co-editor of the Focus on Practice section of Language Awareness.   In this episode, we discuss: How a childhood happenstance and an adopted aunt bypassed traditional language learning methods completely. Why tracking technical language gains as an absolute baseline sets a language program up for total institutional collapse. A direct look inside a Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) classroom where a student successfully performed a task but swore their teacher "didn't teach them anything." Why language classrooms are the ultimate retention machine for universities, outperforming massive STEM cohorts by fundamentally validating student identities.  How rigid vocabulary lists and zero training in meaning negotiation caused fluent clinicians to completely misdiagnose a critical patient case. Real strategies for working inside a strict curricular environment by identifying functional communication gaps rather than forcing artificial vocabulary drills. How to bypass structural paralysis by simply asking learners what they tried to say this week but couldn't. Why a student asking for a complex grammar rule is actually a cry for comprehensibility, and how to serve chunks over metadata.   *Prefer video? Watch the episode on YouTube.   FOR MORE FROM MATT COSS: 1. Connect on LinkedIn 2. Visit his website    OUR PARTNER: FLUENTIZE Get 25% off with the code "TTT25"  Want to teach your best lessons — without all the prep? Fluentize turns real-world videos into interactive ESL lessons for teens and adults. Explore 650+ ready-to-teach lessons designed to engage your students, simplify lesson planning, and save you hours of preparation. Start for free here.   SUPPORT US: 🫶 Integrate your brand with our podcast in an effort to improve language education. ⭐ Leave a review where you listen.   WORK WITH US: 1. CPD & Teaching Resources 2. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business.  3. Monetize your teaching skills    THE THRIVING TEACHERPRENEUR Get inspired to start and grow your own education business. Weekly insights, stories, and reflections on education entrepreneurship. Subscribe on Substack here.