I really like this quote. I think it's important for teachers especially to keep this in mind in the classroom. We so often have so much material to cover and we just run through it expecting our ELL students to understand as much as the English speakers simply because they can communicate with us. I think it's important to not only be sure the material in English is at the level of those ELL students but also to be sure we are checking in with them on a regular basis. It may be embarrassing or difficult for them to say in class or even privately to us that they are not understanding the content, so it's incumbent upon us to check-in with them in a non-threatening way.

I wish there were more solid ways to study Krashen's theories empirically. So much of what he proposes is not quantifiable. From an observational perspective, however, I believe his theories are spot-on. They make sense and from my own experiences I can say they work. I first learned a second language in high school more than 30 years ago. French class was taught mostly from an audio-lingual perspective, which I believe hindered my acquisition of the language. Indeed, it was all about "learning" rather than "acquiring". I never felt safe in the classroom and I never felt I had the time I needed to absorb the language and to communicate on my own timeline.

I do believe, however, that not teaching grammar explicitly is a disadvantage. I didn't realize I had never been taught grammar until I was learning ancient Greek in high school. It was a burden to learn English grammar along with Koine Greek. Further, knowing grammar would have been useful in other college course. Had I not learned grammar in those Greek classes, I'm not sure I would be successful in this course.

I'm dubious about social media generally and, honestly, I don't like the idea of using it at all in the classroom. I think it's a platform that has corrupted the way we think and communicate. Further, there are clearly issues with privacy and security (please watch The Great Hack on Netflix or read 10 Reasons Why You Should Quit Social Media Now by Jaron Lanier). Although I appreciate that the research showed some posts were affirmed by peers in a positive way, it states nothing about possible negative findings. I wonder to what extent students may have been harassed because of their nationality or taunted because of incorrect language usage. There are plenty of ways to teach English (or any subject, for that matter). There is no need to bring this toxic platform into the mix.