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The Language Gym

by Gianfranco Conti, PhD. Co-author of 'The Language Teacher toolkit', 'Breaking the sound barrier: teaching learners how to listen', 'Memory: what every teacher should know' and of the 'Sentence Builders' book series. Winner of the 2015 TES best resource contributor award, founder and CEO of www.language-gym.com, co-founder of www.sentencebuilders.com and creator of the E.P.I. approach.

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Month: February 2020

PATTERNS FIRST – HOW I TEACH LEXICOGRAMMAR (PART 1)

Quote February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 Gianfranco Conti, Phd (Applied Linguistics), MA (TEFL), MA (English Lit.), PGCE (Modern Languages and P.E.) Uncategorized

This is an updated version of a previous post, that’s why you find this link.

via PATTERNS FIRST – HOW I TEACH LEXICOGRAMMAR (PART 1)

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My books

You can find all of my books here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-Gianfranco-Conti/e/B088DZDPDV?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1621876612&sr=8-1

These two are amongst my most popular books:

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Purchasable here

Dr Gianfranco Conti

Gianfranco Conti, Phd (Applied Linguistics), MA (TEFL), MA (English Lit.), PGCE (Modern Languages and P.E.)

Gianfranco Conti, Phd (Applied Linguistics), MA (TEFL), MA (English Lit.), PGCE (Modern Languages and P.E.)

I am an international keynote speaker, professional development provider, writer of instructional materials, blogger as well as an author of books and articles on language pedagogy. A language teacher for around 30 years, I am the founder of the language learning website www.language-gym.com as well as the winner of the 2015 TES (Times Educational Supplement) best-resource-contributor award. I am the co-author with Steve Smith of the best- selling books for ML teachers 'The language teacher toolkit','Breaking the sound barrier: teaching learners how to listen' and 'Memory: what every language teacher should know (available on www.amazon.co.uk) and hold a Phd in Applied Linguistics (Metacognitive Strategies as applied to second language writing); an MA in TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) and one in English Literature; a PGCE in MFL and P.E. and a BA in English and French Langs and Lit. I researched Language Acquisition, Essay Writing, Error Correction, Learning Strategies and Learner Training impact on L2-writing proficiency under the supervision of Professor Macaro, Head of the Oxford University Department of Education and Editor of the prestigious ' International Journal of Applied Linguistics' both on my Ph.D and on a large-scale research project in Oxford comprehensive schools (documented in Macaro, 2001's book). My previous jobs include: Head of Italian, Head of French and MFL subject leader at various secondary schools in England (at primary and secondary level). I was also an Italian lecturer at Reading University, which has recently granted me the title of Visiting Fellow, and a language education researcher at Oxford University. I enjoy blogging about language teaching and learning and creating French/Spanish/Italian teaching materials which I publish on www.tes.co.uk where, in the last 3 years, I have uploaded over 2,000 free resources which have been downloaded over 5,000,000 times by over 100,000 language teachers worldwide (my profile: https://www.tes.co.uk/member/gianfrancoconti1966). Four years ago I co-founded www.language-gym.com, a language learning website packed with interactive self-marking activities and games and a verb conjugation trainer. The website has been recently redesigned and re-launched in a much more user-friendly and stylish form and now offers four languages. I am a keen language learner. I speak English, Italian, French, Spanish and German fluently, get by in Malay and Swedish and I have some basic knowledge of Modern Greek, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese and Farsi. I have a strong grounding in Latin and ancient Greek, two 'dead' languages that have helped me a great deal in life! Finally, I am the proud father of Catrina Jade Conti. Please note: for any bookings please contact me at: thelanguagegymcpd@gmail.com.

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Recent posts

  • The New GCSE Writing Paper: What It Really Assesses (and why the mark scheme rewrites how writing must be taught) January 26, 2026
  • What language learners really value in their teachers — the top five qualities – and why January 25, 2026
  • When research becomes marketing: why teachers should stop swallowing some “research-backed” claims January 23, 2026
  • Why L2 Writing Feels So Hard (and What We Should Do About It) – A Cognitive Perspective January 20, 2026
  • Common Reasons Why GCSE MFL Writing Underperforms (and how to fix them through concrete classroom routines) January 18, 2026

Top Posts & Pages

  • What language learners really value in their teachers — the top five qualities - and why
  • The Top 10 Research-Backed Instructional Techniques for the language classroom
  • Why L2 Writing Feels So Hard (and What We Should Do About It) - A Cognitive Perspective
  • How the brain acquires foreign language grammar - A Skill-theory perspective
  • The New GCSE Writing Paper: What It Really Assesses (and why the mark scheme rewrites how writing must be taught)
  • Eleven surprising Facts About How the Brain Processes Language That Every Teacher Should Know
  • PATTERNS FIRST - HOW I TEACH LEXICOGRAMMAR (PART 1)
  • My approach: Extensive Processing Instruction (E.P.I.) - an important clarification in response to many queries
  • My favourite read-aloud tasks and how I use them
  • What Research Says About Why Students Struggle with Listening

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