Ever wonder what to do when your students just won’t talk in your world language classroom?

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In this episode of Comprehend THIS!, we dive into the universal teacher struggle: student silence. You’ll learn why forcing output usually backfires, how to build student confidence through comprehensible input, and three practical strategies to gently coax participation without pressure. Plus, we’ll cover what not to take personally when your students sit in stone-faced silence. If you’ve ever felt like you’re teaching into the void, this episode will give you laughs, reassurance, and real classroom strategies to keep your sanity intact.

#WorldLanguageTeaching, #ComprehensibleInput, #LanguageAcquisition, #LanguageTeachingTips, #CIClassroom, #LanguageTeachers, #StudentEngagement, #SecondLanguageAcquisition, #TeachingStrategies, #ComprehendTHISPodcast

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• Scott Benedict - https://www.instagram.com/immediateimmersion

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<b>Good morning and</b>

<b>welcome to today's podcast.</b>

<b>How's everybody doing this morning?</b>

<b>Okay.</b>

<b>Let's talk about the elephant in the room</b>

<b>or rather the 20 elephants sitting</b>

<b>silently in your classroom,</b>

<b>pretending they don't</b>

<b>understand basic human language.</b>

<b>You ask a question, they stare at you</b>

<b>like you've just spoken Klingon.</b>

<b>Sound familiar?</b>

<b>Today we're tackling the question every</b>

<b>teacher secretly screams in their head.</b>

<b>What if they just won't talk?</b>

<b>Spoiler alert, forcing them to open their</b>

<b>mouths works about as well as forcing a</b>

<b>cat to wear pants.</b>

<b>So let's figure out a smarter, saner way</b>

<b>to handle the silence.</b>

<b>We'll be right back in just a moment.</b>

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<b>Welcome to comprehend this real talk for</b>

<b>real language teachers.</b>

<b>No drills, no dry</b>

<b>theory, just honest stories,</b>

<b>practical ideas, and a reminder you're</b>

<b>not alone in the CI trenches.</b>

<b>Let's dive in.</b>

<b>And welcome back today</b>

<b>is solo week. Uh, every,</b>

<b>about every four weeks I do a solo one</b>

<b>instead of having</b>

<b>guests and that's today.</b>

<b>So let's go ahead and continue with our</b>

<b>talking about kids who just</b>

<b>won't speak in class. So, you know,</b>

<b>the awkward turtle lives in every</b>

<b>classroom. Let's face it,</b>

<b>silence in your class isn't a referendum</b>

<b>on your teaching skills.</b>

<b>Sometimes kids are just tired.</b>

<b>They're hungry or they're practicing for</b>

<b>a career in competitive mind</b>

<b>translation. Don't panic.</b>

<b>Don't take it personally and please don't</b>

<b>start juggling markers</b>

<b>just to fill the dead air.</b>

<b>We want to normalize the</b>

<b>student silence because it's not</b>

<b>about you.</b>

<b>And what I usually like to</b>

<b>say when kids are being silent,</b>

<b>it's because they don't have the</b>

<b>confidence to be able</b>

<b>to say what they want to</b>

<b>be able to say. And so we need to work on</b>

<b>building the comp, uh,</b>

<b>the confidence input is like a funnel.</b>

<b>So think of it like a funnel where all</b>

<b>this input is coming in at the</b>

<b>wide part of the funnel.</b>

<b>And then out the</b>

<b>bottom trickles droplets of</b>

<b>actually talking of output.</b>

<b>And so we need to think about that.</b>

<b>We need to flood their</b>

<b>brains with so much input</b>

<b>that their confidence is up</b>

<b>and their ability is there to</b>

<b>actually produce. So</b>

<b>that's what you need to work on.</b>

<b>Making kids feel comfortable in the</b>

<b>classroom, making mistakes,</b>

<b>um, a learning, uh, lost my words, um,</b>

<b>a learning opportunity for them.</b>

<b>So they're not feeling bad when they make</b>

<b>a mistake that they're actually just</b>

<b>working really,</b>

<b>really well and learning at their own</b>

<b>pace. Think of babies.</b>

<b>Babies don't just flood</b>

<b>out the output right away.</b>

<b>They get tons and tons and</b>

<b>tons years of input before</b>

<b>the language starts coming</b>

<b>out. And let's be honest,</b>

<b>teenagers could win Olympic medals in</b>

<b>stone faced silence if</b>

<b>it were a sport.</b>

<b>So the takeaway here is just don't panic.</b>

<b>Don't take it personally.</b>

<b>And for the love of everything,</b>

<b>CI don't start doing</b>

<b>standup comedy just to</b>

<b>fill the silence.</b>

<b>Continue using your input.</b>

<b>Trust the process. It</b>

<b>will come out. I always say,</b>

<b>I know everybody says, you know,</b>

<b>kids should always be speaking in the</b>

<b>target language. But again,</b>

<b>for me, it's that there's this confidence</b>

<b>when they're not speaking in the</b>

<b>target language,</b>

<b>it's because they don't think that they</b>

<b>have the skill or the ability or the</b>

<b>confidence to do so.</b>

<b>So my thing is I can only control my</b>

<b>language usage in the</b>

<b>class. So I try to speak only Spanish or</b>

<b>whatever language you're teaching</b>

<b>in the classroom.</b>

<b>And then when the kids feel confidence</b>

<b>and comfortable enough,</b>

<b>then they'll start producing as well.</b>

<b>Next, why forced output backfires?</b>

<b>Yeah, sure. You can do it,</b>

<b>but everyone's going to end up resentful</b>

<b>and possibly scratched.</b>

<b>Do you remember those times when you were</b>

<b>in language class and your teachers</b>

<b>like complete sentence, you need to have</b>

<b>a complete sentence.</b>

<b>I need you to speak right now</b>

<b>and putting you on the spot.</b>

<b>The effective filter was way up. That</b>

<b>stress was way up. And let's be honest.</b>

<b>We don't speak in complete sentences. We</b>

<b>write in complete sentences.</b>

<b>But when we're having conversations, we</b>

<b>don't speak in complete sentence.</b>

<b>It's awkward. And that was</b>

<b>forced output. And you know,</b>

<b>it made us feel icky.</b>

<b>Students need tons of</b>

<b>that input before words even</b>

<b>start to spill out naturally.</b>

<b>We need to think less</b>

<b>interrogation spotlight and more</b>

<b>Netflix binge with subtitles.</b>

<b>So what I do is I'm always</b>

<b>talking in the classroom.</b>

<b>I'm always asking</b>

<b>questions in the classroom.</b>

<b>And I do a lot of</b>

<b>interviews with students.</b>

<b>I don't put my students on</b>

<b>the spotlight. I don't do that.</b>

<b>I don't have them come</b>

<b>to the front of the room.</b>

<b>They sit where they are going to sit.</b>

<b>And I am really bad at</b>

<b>keeping my words all.</b>

<b>And I forgot the phrase that they use.</b>

<b>Inbounds. Sorry.</b>

<b>Ever since COVID, my mind</b>

<b>has gone completely gone.</b>

<b>Anyway, inbounds. I've never done that.</b>

<b>How I combat that though, is I write all</b>

<b>the translations of those out</b>

<b>of bound words on the board.</b>

<b>And I find that my kids grow</b>

<b>exponentially because of that.</b>

<b>When I limit it too</b>

<b>tightly, they don't really grow.</b>

<b>And so that's how I kind</b>

<b>of do those types of things.</b>

<b>But I'm not pushing output.</b>

<b>I'm good with one word answers.</b>

<b>I'm good with yes or no.</b>

<b>And if it's a more complex question like,</b>

<b>what did you do over the weekend?</b>

<b>And they said I went, they</b>

<b>just said like, Fui Artine.</b>

<b>And then they started</b>

<b>explaining it in English.</b>

<b>I'm good with that in the beginning.</b>

<b>And then I start I'll put the stuff what</b>

<b>they said in the target language.</b>

<b>And then we'll ask questions</b>

<b>about that to get it going.</b>

<b>But I'm OK with that because</b>

<b>it tells me it's an assessment.</b>

<b>It's an on the spot formative assessments</b>

<b>telling me they're not comfortable enough</b>

<b>with the language that</b>

<b>they have to be able to speak.</b>

<b>And that's OK.</b>

<b>And when you push out</b>

<b>output way too soon.</b>

<b>That makes stress.</b>

<b>That's going to create resistance and</b>

<b>that's going to create fake language.</b>

<b>That's going to create where they're</b>

<b>going to start making up</b>

<b>words to be able to speak it.</b>

<b>And that's not what</b>

<b>we want to have happen.</b>

<b>A funny comparison.</b>

<b>It's like making your cat wear a sweater.</b>

<b>It's possible, but now</b>

<b>both of you are hating life.</b>

<b>So we want more input first.</b>

<b>I don't even ask my kids to do any really</b>

<b>speaking activities, any true speaking</b>

<b>activities until the third month on a</b>

<b>traditional school year.</b>

<b>Or if you're on a four by four where you</b>

<b>teach one class per</b>

<b>semester, that's about five</b>

<b>weeks. That's kind of how I do it.</b>

<b>I'm on that four by four.</b>

<b>So my Spanish one goes</b>

<b>from August to December.</b>

<b>And then in the fifth week of school,</b>

<b>which will be coming up</b>

<b>like the second week of</b>

<b>September, I'll start having</b>

<b>them do some output activities.</b>

<b>So we want to make sure we have that more</b>

<b>input first and output later.</b>

<b>That's how acquisition works.</b>

<b>Think about it like a</b>

<b>baby for about 18 months.</b>

<b>They're getting nothing but input.</b>

<b>You're talking to them.</b>

<b>You're exploring the world with them.</b>

<b>You're reading with them.</b>

<b>And then around 18 months to two years,</b>

<b>the words start to</b>

<b>slowly come out at first.</b>

<b>They're just words.</b>

<b>They're not sentences.</b>

<b>They're not paragraphs and they slowly</b>

<b>build more language</b>

<b>as they get more input.</b>

<b>And that's what we</b>

<b>need to really focus on.</b>

<b>Confidence is built, not assigned.</b>

<b>And this is a big one for me.</b>

<b>Confidence, I never</b>

<b>really thought about it before.</b>

<b>I never really thought about it before.</b>

<b>I had this experience in</b>

<b>Germany a couple of years ago,</b>

<b>but it really does play a</b>

<b>large part of what we do.</b>

<b>It plays a huge part in what we do.</b>

<b>And that's really, really important.</b>

<b>So let me tell you a story.</b>

<b>Again, Covid mind going everywhere today.</b>

<b>A couple of years ago, I was in Germany</b>

<b>and I went to go buy a water bottle</b>

<b>in one of those kiosks on the side of the</b>

<b>street that they have.</b>

<b>So I was going to buy one and</b>

<b>I knew it's going to be what?</b>

<b>Two euros, something like that around two</b>

<b>dollars, somewhere around that.</b>

<b>And I pulled out my cash.</b>

<b>And my cash, I always was taught, you</b>

<b>know, you have your bills put in order.</b>

<b>So large, the medium and small</b>

<b>denominations, you put them in order.</b>

<b>And so I pulled out my my cash and I was</b>

<b>getting ready to look for a small bill.</b>

<b>But what was on the</b>

<b>outside was a large bill.</b>

<b>And the German guy started yelling at me</b>

<b>in German that he wanted a smaller bill.</b>

<b>I needed a small bill.</b>

<b>He couldn't have a big bill.</b>

<b>And I was like, I wasn't</b>

<b>even giving him a big bill.</b>

<b>But because he was yelling at me and kind</b>

<b>of getting a little aggressive, I was</b>

<b>getting really flustered and my</b>

<b>confidence went way down</b>

<b>and I lost all my German.</b>

<b>So it was really difficult to make that</b>

<b>transaction because of that.</b>

<b>And so at that moment, I made the</b>

<b>realization that our kids are somewhat in</b>

<b>the same way when they're put on the spot</b>

<b>and they're not expecting it.</b>

<b>And it's not something that's routinely</b>

<b>done in the classroom.</b>

<b>Their confidence is going to go way down</b>

<b>and they're not going</b>

<b>to be able to produce</b>

<b>anything. So it needs to be made a habit.</b>

<b>It needs to be built slowly.</b>

<b>Your classroom needs to be</b>

<b>a comfortable place to stay</b>

<b>and speak and to make mistakes because</b>

<b>students won't</b>

<b>suddenly feel confident just</b>

<b>because your lesson</b>

<b>plan says now they speak.</b>

<b>We need to build that confidence.</b>

<b>And it's not something</b>

<b>we can build overnight.</b>

<b>It's something that we</b>

<b>have to build slowly.</b>

<b>And the more input that they hear, the</b>

<b>more they'll start realizing,</b>

<b>oh, hey, I actually get this because</b>

<b>confidence grows quietly.</b>

<b>Like the random plants in your classroom.</b>

<b>Nobody remembers watering.</b>

<b>Students need the massive input, that</b>

<b>funnel idea to feel like,</b>

<b>oh, hey, I can actually do this.</b>

<b>And the more input that they get, the</b>

<b>more exposure, the</b>

<b>more your classroom is a</b>

<b>relaxed place where</b>

<b>mistakes are honored, not shameful.</b>

<b>Then the confidence is</b>

<b>going to sneak up on them.</b>

<b>And it's going to be like that random</b>

<b>classroom plant that somehow didn't die.</b>

<b>And so your job as a teacher, as a</b>

<b>facilitator of language,</b>

<b>is to load their brains with</b>

<b>comprehensible input in</b>

<b>every different way that you can.</b>

<b>You want to vary it.</b>

<b>We've got stories, we've got picture</b>

<b>talks, we've got movie talks.</b>

<b>You can find short videos, short</b>

<b>podcasts, all these different types of</b>

<b>comprehensible input that you can do</b>

<b>until those words start spilling out</b>

<b>naturally. That's our goal.</b>

<b>That's only going to happen</b>

<b>when you have tons of output.</b>

<b>We need to not look at kids silence as</b>

<b>the refusal to speak,</b>

<b>but that they don't have the confidence</b>

<b>in their ability to speak.</b>

<b>So we need to boost that</b>

<b>up in any way that we can.</b>

<b>So</b>

<b>here are some gentle nudges.</b>

<b>Think of them like your Jedi mind tricks</b>

<b>that you can take to help students become</b>

<b>more confident, become more comfortable</b>

<b>and get a little bit more</b>

<b>output out there.</b>

<b>So first, a low stakes pair chat.</b>

<b>Let them whisper to a buddy first.</b>

<b>It feels less like a Broadway audition</b>

<b>and it is a very low key way for kids to</b>

<b>actually practice and utilize their</b>

<b>skills. It's stressless.</b>

<b>It's with their peers, their whispering.</b>

<b>So nobody else is listening and it really</b>

<b>works well to boost their confidence and</b>

<b>lower that effective</b>

<b>filter, lower that stress level.</b>

<b>And that's what we want to actually do.</b>

<b>Another strategy is coral response</b>

<b>because they can hide in that coral</b>

<b>response because everyone answers</b>

<b>together and there's no spotlight on one</b>

<b>particular student,</b>

<b>there's no strange fright.</b>

<b>None of that happens.</b>

<b>I use a lot of core responses,</b>

<b>especially in level one at</b>

<b>the beginning of the year.</b>

<b>I'm not putting any kid on the spot</b>

<b>because I want to build that confidence.</b>

<b>And then in those coral</b>

<b>responses, I'm listening.</b>

<b>I'm listening for strong responses.</b>

<b>I'm listening for weak</b>

<b>responses so that I can actually</b>

<b>take that formative</b>

<b>assessment to where my kids are.</b>

<b>And then the kids who do speak with more</b>

<b>confidence, with more loudness, then I</b>

<b>know those kids are ready for individual</b>

<b>questions, but I don't just start</b>

<b>randomly calling out.</b>

<b>And I'm keeping note of who my weaker</b>

<b>students are so that I can use them to</b>

<b>gauge my instruction.</b>

<b>And again, with lower levels or anybody</b>

<b>who lack the confidence,</b>

<b>we want to start with yes, no, or either</b>

<b>or questions because</b>

<b>those are really easy</b>

<b>to answer.</b>

<b>Those are really they can build</b>

<b>confidence because the</b>

<b>answer is right there with them.</b>

<b>They're not having to think on their own</b>

<b>and coming up with a sentence.</b>

<b>They can either say yes, they can say no,</b>

<b>or you've given them two choices.</b>

<b>And this is where my little phrase, ask</b>

<b>the right question to the right student</b>

<b>at the right time, comes in.</b>

<b>My more capable students, I'm going to</b>

<b>ask my who, what, where, when, how, why</b>

<b>questions. My mid level students and my</b>

<b>lower students, I'm going to stick with</b>

<b>yes, no, either or.</b>

<b>The how and the why</b>

<b>definitely are advanced</b>

<b>questions because they</b>

<b>require more language.</b>

<b>My who, what, where, when questions.</b>

<b>So it's going to be my upper mid level</b>

<b>kids because they can be answered in one</b>

<b>word or in a short phrase.</b>

<b>But for my lower mid and my lower kids,</b>

<b>it's yes, no, either or.</b>

<b>So I need to know my kids so that I can</b>

<b>actually ask those questions</b>

<b>at the right time for them.</b>

<b>Because whenever I ask a question of a</b>

<b>student, I want to be confident that that</b>

<b>student can answer it correctly because I</b>

<b>don't want to make</b>

<b>them look dumb in front</b>

<b>of their peers. And so this really,</b>

<b>really helps with that.</b>

<b>So learning which where my kids are.</b>

<b>And then I can ask them</b>

<b>the particular question.</b>

<b>And if my kid is really, really</b>

<b>struggling, really struggling.</b>

<b>I'll give them hints that the</b>

<b>other kids won't even notice.</b>

<b>So like if it's an either or question and</b>

<b>the answers are on the board,</b>

<b>I'm going to put my hand</b>

<b>right under the right answer.</b>

<b>Now, the top kids aren't even going to</b>

<b>notice I'm doing</b>

<b>that, but my lower kids do</b>

<b>because they're always looking around the</b>

<b>room to use their resources and they</b>

<b>have that skill built in.</b>

<b>So then they're going to take that hit</b>

<b>and they're going to look successful and</b>

<b>smart in front of their peers. If it's a</b>

<b>yes or no question, then I'm going to</b>

<b>stick my thumb in the proper</b>

<b>position and hold it there.</b>

<b>And I know that my top kids don't notice</b>

<b>these cues because have you</b>

<b>ever been in the classroom where</b>

<b>we're going over you're going over a quiz</b>

<b>or an assignment and then the top kids go</b>

<b>don't get the answer right and the lower</b>

<b>kids do get the answer right.</b>

<b>And the lower kid goes, well, it's on the</b>

<b>board, dummy, or it's on the wall because</b>

<b>you have a poster about that, and that's</b>

<b>because the top kids aren't used to</b>

<b>clinging to those resources</b>

<b>to survive in the classroom.</b>

<b>And your lower to mid students are</b>

<b>they're always looking</b>

<b>for things that they can</b>

<b>use to get them out of any situation.</b>

<b>So they're hyper aware of all the</b>

<b>resources around them.</b>

<b>And so that really, really works well.</b>

<b>So when you do give them questions, give</b>

<b>them choices so they can't just shrug.</b>

<b>And say they don't know, they need to be</b>

<b>able to know and they can when you give</b>

<b>them a yes or no or an either or.</b>

<b>So those are three simple tips,</b>

<b>strategies to start them small.</b>

<b>You've got your low stakes pair chat.</b>

<b>Whispering to a buddy is so much easier</b>

<b>than a Broadway solo.</b>

<b>You've got your choral response.</b>

<b>Whole class answers, safety in numbers.</b>

<b>And then you've got your yes, no or</b>

<b>either or questions to keep the choices</b>

<b>simple and impossible to fail.</b>

<b>Add humor because nothing motivates</b>

<b>students like the chance to be correct</b>

<b>with just one syllable.</b>

<b>So you want to make sure you</b>

<b>can add some humor in there.</b>

<b>I'm always looking for the funny because</b>

<b>when people are laughing,</b>

<b>they're more relaxed.</b>

<b>And our last point for</b>

<b>today, what's not about you?</b>

<b>Their silence isn't proof that they hate</b>

<b>Spanish, French, German,</b>

<b>mandarin, your haircut, your clothing.</b>

<b>Sometimes they just had a breakup.</b>

<b>They forgot lunch or busy perfecting the</b>

<b>art of the teenager face.</b>

<b>So the pro tip here, shrug it off, keep</b>

<b>the input flowing and trust the process.</b>

<b>Words will come eventually and hopefully</b>

<b>not all at once in the hallway after the</b>

<b>bell. Silence is not</b>

<b>that rejection of you,</b>

<b>your teacher, your</b>

<b>subject or your outfit.</b>

<b>Sometimes kids are just hungry.</b>

<b>They're tired.</b>

<b>They're heartbroken.</b>

<b>They're stressed or</b>

<b>they're just being teens.</b>

<b>So think to yourself,</b>

<b>little teacher mantra.</b>

<b>It's not me. It's puberty.</b>

<b>It's not me.</b>

<b>It's puberty.</b>

<b>Think this out over and over.</b>

<b>But if you make your</b>

<b>classroom a safe place, a fun place,</b>

<b>a place where it's OK to laugh, where</b>

<b>it's OK to be yourself,</b>

<b>your kids will eventually be able to</b>

<b>speak and speak with confidence.</b>

<b>So you want to keep</b>

<b>delivering that input.</b>

<b>Smile through that silence</b>

<b>and trust that output will come</b>

<b>probably at the worst possible time, like</b>

<b>during a fire drill, but it will come.</b>

<b>So there we have it.</b>

<b>That's a wrap on today.</b>

<b>Thanks for tuning in and</b>

<b>hanging out with me today.</b>

<b>I realize it's not as</b>

<b>interesting when it's just me.</b>

<b>So I appreciate you letting me rant about</b>

<b>this glorious joy of students who just</b>

<b>won't talk.</b>

<b>And hopefully you're walking away with a</b>

<b>few strategies to keep your sanity intact</b>

<b>and maybe even coax a word or two out of</b>

<b>your class without breaking into</b>

<b>interpretive dance.</b>

<b>So do me a solid.</b>

<b>Hit that subscribe button.</b>

<b>In fact, I forgot to</b>

<b>even put it up here today.</b>

<b>Why can't get that in there?</b>

<b>Hit that subscribe button.</b>

<b>Leave a quick review and share this</b>

<b>episode with another teacher who deserves</b>

<b>to know they're not alone in this circus</b>

<b>we call language teaching.</b>

<b>Remember, you can always join us live on</b>

<b>YouTube or catch the replay later on your</b>

<b>favorite podcast app.</b>

<b>Ditch the drills, trust the process, and</b>

<b>I'll see you the next time on Comprehend</b>

<b>This. Have a good weekend, everybody.</b>