Introduction: Where These Tips Come From

Supporting a struggling MFL (Modern Foreign Languages) colleague requires more than goodwill and a few general observations. It demands a combination of research-informed strategies drawn from three overlapping fields: Second Language Acquisition (SLA), instructional coaching, and teacher learning. The tips in this article are grounded in seminal works such as Jim Knight’s Instructional Coaching (2007, 2017), Joyce & Showers’ research on peer coaching (2002), and Elena Aguilar’s The Art of Coaching (2013), alongside empirical findings from SLA experts like Stephen Krashen, Bill VanPatten, and myself. Cognitive science staples—particularly the work of Barak Rosenshine, John Hattie, and Robert Bjork—also play a foundational role.

These aren’t abstract theories—they are practical, adaptable approaches that have consistently improved classroom practice and teacher confidence across varied contexts. If your colleague is struggling, these ten evidence-backed strategies will help you support them with clarity, compassion, and credibility.

Ten Evidence-Based Strategies That Work

1. Start with Strengths, Not Deficits

Struggling teachers are often consumed by what is going wrong. They feel exposed, defensive, and at times even ashamed. Yet, coaching literature—particularly Jim Knight’s work on instructional partnerships—emphasises the importance of beginning with what the teacher is already doing well. Knight (2007) found that when teachers perceive coaching as empowering rather than evaluative, their engagement and openness to change increase significantly.

Start by co-watching a short segment of their lesson and ask: What do you think worked here? Follow up with two or three specific things they did well—whether it’s tone, warmth, classroom control, or a clever scaffold. This strengths-based approach mirrors Aguilar’s (2013) transformational coaching model, which helps build professional identity before introducing pedagogical change.

2. Clarify What Good MFL Teaching Looks Like

Many struggling colleagues simply don’t have a clear model of what excellence looks like in MFL. Without a mental blueprint, they resort to vague notions like “make it engaging” or “cover the textbook.” In reality, good MFL teaching is underpinned by structured, high-frequency routines that promote fluency, retrieval, and comprehensible input.

Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction (2012) highlight the power of modelling, scaffolding, and cumulative review—features at the heart of research-informed approaches like Extensive Processing Instruction. If a colleague doesn’t know what “effective” looks like, co-plan one lesson with clear phases: start with modelling, flood with TL (target language) input, stage retrieval activities, scaffold output. Walk through why each phase matters. You’re not prescribing a method—you’re clarifying a map.

3. Focus on One Habit at a Time

Change happens through focused, repeated practice—not wholesale overhauls. The work of Joyce and Showers (2002) shows that teachers are far more likely to adopt and sustain new habits when they practice one technique at a time, ideally with modelling and feedback. Similarly, Bambrick-Santoyo (2010) champions the “see it, name it, do it” cycle: pick one concrete change, model it, then rehearse it repeatedly.

Whether it’s using more TL in instructions or embedding a retrieval starter daily, choose just one micro-skill. Frame it as a weekly goal, practise it together, and revisit. Small wins build momentum. Trying to change everything at once leads to paralysis, not progress.

4. Use Video for Joint Reflection

One of the most powerful coaching tools is also the most underused: video. Sherin and van Es (2009) found that watching video together shifts professional dialogue from defensive posturing (“I didn’t do that!”) to constructive analysis (“That’s not how I thought it came across”). Video offers clarity and removes guesswork.

A five-minute clip is all you need. Watch together and pause at key moments: Notice your wait time here — did the students have enough thinking space? or What do you see in their body language? This helps the teacher develop metacognition about their practice. It also levels the power dynamic—you’re not judging, you’re reflecting together.

5. Share a Few Reliable Routines

Overwhelmed teachers need tools that simplify planning while improving outcomes. Conti and Smith (2019) demonstrated how sentence builders, retrieval grids, narrow reading tasks, and listening pyramids can dramatically boost learner performance while reducing teacher workload. Sherrington (2019) also highlights the value of embedding routines that become second nature.

Pick two or three adaptable routines—say, a retrieval starter, a sentence builder activity, and a micro-listening task—and build them together. These reusable frames reduce cognitive load for both teacher and students, creating space for more fluent classroom delivery. They also provide predictability, which increases learner confidence and reduces behavioural issues.

6. Prioritise Comprehensible Input

Many struggling MFL teachers rush to output activities too quickly, believing that getting students to speak early equals progress. Yet decades of SLA research—from Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (1985) to VanPatten’s Processing Instruction (2004)—emphasise that comprehension precedes production. Learners must first process structured, meaningful input to develop the mental representations needed for accurate output.

Instead of asking learners to produce full sentences cold, co-plan a lesson that uses input flooding (e.g. multiple short texts with the same structure), followed by controlled tasks like true/false, gap-fill, or narrow listening. Then layer up toward freer output. This builds confidence and ensures the language has been deeply processed before students are asked to use it.

7. Make Retrieval and Recycling Non-Negotiable

Struggling colleagues often teach something once, then move on. But learning doesn’t work that way. The forgetting curve (Ebbinghaus, 1885) shows that without systematic retrieval, most content is lost within days. Karpicke and Roediger (2008) proved that low-stakes retrieval dramatically increases retention—even more than re-teaching or re-reading.

Help your colleague embed simple retrieval routines into every lesson: flashback starters, sentence transformation races, one pen one dice tasks. Build a weekly revision cycle. If this sounds too daunting, prepare a retrieval box of printed slips and sentence starters they can draw from. Recycling isn’t extra—it’s essential.

8. Rebuild Confidence Through Co-Teaching

Confidence doesn’t return through talk—it returns through action. One of the most effective ways to help a colleague in difficulty is to step into the classroom with them. Co-teaching, as shown by Hattie (2009) and Joyce & Showers (2002), allows for real-time modelling, feedback, and co-regulation.

Offer to take over part of a lesson—perhaps modelling a listening scaffold or sentence builder routine—while they observe. Then switch roles the following week. This approach removes the performance pressure of formal observation and allows them to see effective practice in action. Confidence grows when people feel supported, not scrutinised.

9. Align Feedback with Cognitive Science

Vague feedback like “try to engage the students more” or “differentiate better” leaves struggling colleagues lost. Effective feedback, as described by Hattie and Timperley (2007), must be specific, actionable, and timely. It should tell the teacher where they are, where they need to go, and how to get there.

One useful format is tag-ask-suggest: Tag what worked (You gave students two good chances to retrieve last week’s verbs), ask a reflective question (Did you notice who struggled during the scaffolded output task?), then suggest a next step (Let’s co-plan a second scaffold for them tomorrow). This structure removes ambiguity and keeps the dialogue anchored in evidence.

10. Coach the Person, Not Just the Pedagogy

Finally, struggling colleagues don’t just need strategies—they need belief. Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985) reminds us that motivation is driven by autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Coaching should nurture all three.

Take time to understand why they became a teacher. What do they love about languages? When did they last feel successful? Reconnect them with their “why” and celebrate small wins weekly. Aguilar (2016) calls this the emotional work of coaching—it’s what turns strategies into sustainable transformation. Your job isn’t just to build pedagogy. It’s to restore identity.

Final Reflection

The most impactful coaching does not stem from imposing a rigid definition of best practice, but rather from co-constructing an improved and empowered version of the teacher that already exists. Effective support is not about fixing a deficit—it is about amplifying potential.

The ten strategies outlined in this article are not quick fixes. Instead, they are rooted in a robust evidence base across instructional coaching, second language acquisition, and cognitive science. They reflect what research consistently shows: sustainable change is driven by clarity, collaboration, trust, and the deliberate practice of well-chosen habits.

Above all, meaningful coaching is built on belief—in the teacher’s capacity, in the process of growth, and in the power of professional connection. With sustained care and purposeful guidance, you will not only help a struggling colleague regain their footing. You will help them reclaim their confidence, rediscover their purpose, and ultimately, thrive.