Feeding forward: five tools for moving language beyond the moment  

Feeding forward: five tools for moving language beyond the moment  

At this year’s Future of English Language Teaching (FoELT) Conference, Emma Meade-Flynn explored practical ways teachers can help learners get more out of emergent language. This talk was about the spontaneous, unplanned language that surfaces in real classroom communication.

Emma is a teacher, teacher trainer, materials writer and course designer based in Ireland. Over her 20 years in the profession, she has worked across the private and public sectors in the UK, Ireland, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Her special interests include teaching listening, emergent language and task-based learning (TBLT). She currently runs a Trinity DipTESOL programme at DublinTEFL and is passionate about teacher development.

Moving from feedback to feedforward

The concept of emergent language (EL) has gained increasing attention in recent years (Chinn & Norrington Davies, 2022). Teachers now widely recognise that working with unplanned language offers some of the richest learning opportunities in the language classroom

But as Emma pointed out, a lot of the conversation about EL still centres on how to establish the right environment for it to arise and choose which topics language items to work with The important next step, or what occurs after the emergent language is "on the board," is frequently overlooked.

Why feeding forward matters

It takes more than just encountering new language to be an effective language learner. Students must be given the chance to use, modify, and return to it over time.

Even though teachers frequently offer this type of practice for pre-planned target language, emergent items are often overlooked after the emergent language moment activity is over because they are impromptu, and by their nature they weren’t part of the plan. "Feeding forward" fills that gap by making sure that these instances feedback on learner language of are not a one-time fix but rather a part of an ongoing cycle of language development.

Principles behind the approach

Emma drew on well-established language learning principles, specifically those related to use (Nation 2000; Willis 2003), retrieval (Nation 2000), and reflection (Willis 2003).

These guidelines emphasise that consistent, purposeful language use and chances for learners to evaluate their own language use are essential for long-term learning.

Even without additional preparation or resources, teachers can transform EL moments into opportunities for sustained learning by adhering to these guidelines.

Five practical tools for feeding forward

Emma demonstrated five flexible, easy-to-apply categories of tools that help teachers capture and extend emergent language.

Boardwork tools – Use the board, or other visual record,  to highlight, expand and organise emergent items clearly for later reference.

Impromptu practice tools – Provide learners with the chance to consolidate their understanding and ability to use emergent language by providing brief no-prep, micro-practice, through activities such as quick personalised pair exchanges,  mini-drills or task repetition.

Language recall tools – Incorporate moments where learners are pushed to recall new language- this can be at the end of the lesson, or at the start of the next lesson. Simple activities like “backs to the boards” or “guess my word” can be a great way to do this.   

Lesson take-away tools – Encourage learners to reflect on their own learning in the lesson and identify the language that is new and useful for them. Thus, turning emergent language in to personalised and individualised target language.

Lesson summary tools – End lessons with collaborative summaries that encourage learners to revisit and reprocess the language of the lesson in a meaningful way.

Key takeaways

Final thought

“Feeding forward” ultimately represents a shift in teacher mindset, from simply correcting errors to co-constructing  and supporting learning at the point of need and beyond. It’s about recognising what learners need and highlighting tools teachers can use to support them. Instead of seeing feedback as a final step, language feedback becomes the first step in a cycle of ongoing personalised language development.