Dr. Bill VanPatten has been interviewed before—but NOT LIKE THIS!

Greg Schwab and Sean Lawler don’t hold back. In this two-hour episode of The CI Renaissance Podcast, they bring BVP—the DIVA of SLA—the objections, the pushback, and the questions language teachers keep coming back to. Comprehensible input. Explicit grammar instruction. Accuracy. Memorization. Output. They push, challenge, and follow up, tackling the grammar debate from every angle.

What about students who WANT grammar explanations? What about students who still misuse ser and estar after years of Spanish? What about AP exams, heritage speakers, and colleagues who insist that CI isn’t enough? Can practicing a rule turn explicit knowledge into implicit knowledge—or are we confusing performance on a grammar test with actual acquisition?

BVP responds with his signature wit, bluntness, and a lifetime of work in second language acquisition. Along the way, the conversation moves from big questions to classroom applications: reading, discourse scrambles, cloze activities, and what learners need as their proficiency grows.

We also explore:
• Why accuracy may be the wrong starting point for setting classroom goals.
• What BVP makes of Merrill Swain’s comprehensible output hypothesis.
• Whether grammar instruction can interfere with acquisition.
• What the explicit–implicit “interface” debate actually means.
• Targeted versus non-targeted input—and why learner engagement matters.
• What language departments need to offer that technology can’t replace.
• Raising bilingual children and why some heritage speakers understand Spanish but respond in English.

Whether you teach through CI, remain skeptical, or work in a department divided over grammar instruction, this conversation goes straight to the questions at the heart of language teaching.

Hard questions. Direct answers. And no holding back.

Listen, share it with a colleague, and tell us: What would YOU ask BVP?

Let the Renaissance begin!

Let the Renaissance begin!

Sean Lawler and Greg Schwab, hosts of The CI Renaissance Podcast, are coming to the ICTFL Fall Conference on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the Northern Illinois University Conference Center in Naperville, Illinois.

Join us for two presentations:

• Storytelling that Sticks: One Word Images for Lasting Language Acquisition
Explore how an ordinary word can become an extraordinary character, inspiring compelling stories and comprehensible language.

• Teaching Language with Student-Created Character Drawings
In this double session, discover how students’ imagination and original artwork can bring characters to life and fuel language acquisition.

And there’s more: our sessions will feature a very special guest appearance. Who? Some surprises are worth being in the room for!

We’ll be there on Thursday, October 8 only. Come connect, share ideas, and celebrate the creativity and community at the heart of comprehensible input.

Podcast: https://thecirenaissance.com
Conference information and registration: https://ictfl.org/fall-conference-2026

Let the Renaissance begin!

What if you could build an entire CI lesson around just one verb?

In Episode 5 of The CI Renaissance Podcast, Greg Schwab and Sean Lawler sit down with David Sceggel, a Spanish teacher at Illinois Valley Central High School in Chillicothe, Illinois, to talk about practical, sustainable ways to teach with comprehensible input.

David has been teaching with CI since 2010, when a Blaine Ray workshop—and a German story involving Lady Gaga and a large cow—changed the direction of his teaching career. His path to the Spanish classroom was anything but conventional: David originally earned a degree in Technology Education from Illinois State University and has lived and taught in three different countries. Today, he teaches Spanish 1 and Spanish 4 and maintains a website designed to help other teachers implement CI strategies in their own programs.

In this conversation, David explains one of his favorite approaches: One Verb Stories. Instead of relying on complicated story scripts, he starts with a single high-frequency verb and lets students help create the characters, locations, and details. That simple starting point can lead naturally into acting, student artwork, Write and Discuss, Embedded Reading, retells, and other forms of compelling input.

Greg, Sean, and David also discuss Card Talk, Story Listening, classroom jobs, reading, classroom management, curriculum design, observing other CI teachers, and the changing challenges of classroom reading in the age of AI.

Underlying all of these techniques is a larger idea about what makes a CI classroom different. As David puts it, “the human heart desires to know and to be known.” When students contribute their personalities, experiences, and ideas to the content of the class, language acquisition becomes connected to genuine classroom community.

Topics include:

• David’s unconventional journey from Technology Education to Spanish teaching
• Discovering TPRS through Blaine Ray
• CI as a grassroots movement
• One Verb Stories
• Card Talk and student-created stories
• Write and Discuss and Embedded Reading
• Classroom artists, photographers, sound-effects people, and “the decider”
• Building curriculum around high-frequency language
• Classroom management and Bryce Hedstrom’s strategies
• Story Listening
• Free Voluntary Reading and classroom libraries
• AI and the challenges of independent reading
• Observing other CI teachers
• Building relationships and community through comprehensible input

RESOURCES MENTIONED

David Sceggel — Practicing CI in the CI
https://sites.google.com/view/sr-sedge/home

Embedded Reading — Laurie Clarcq & Michele Whaley
https://embeddedreading.com

Ben Slavic
https://www.benslavic.com

Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom
Florencia G. Henshaw & Maris D. Hawkins
https://hackettpublishing.com/modern-languages/common-ground-second-language-acquisition-theory-goes-to-the-classroom

The CI Renaissance Podcast is hosted by Greg Schwab and Sean Lawler.

In this episode of The CI Renaissance Podcast, Greg Schwab and Sean Lawler take a deep dive into Ben Slavic's One Word Images (OWIs). Drawing on more than two decades of combined classroom experience, they explain how OWIs help build classroom community, increase student engagement, and provide rich, compelling comprehensible input.

Topics include:

• What One Word Images are and why they work
• How to create memorable characters
• Using student artists, classroom jobs, and collaborative storytelling
• Classroom management during OWIs
• Avoiding common pitfalls and inappropriate suggestions
• Extending One Word Images into stories, readings, retells, and assessments
• Differences in Greg and Sean's approaches after years of classroom experience
• Why One Word Images remain one of the most powerful CI strategies available

The episode also reflects on the lasting influence of Ben Slavic and encourages listeners to explore his latest work, including The Star, The Square, and The Triangle books.

Whether you're completely new to Comprehensible Input or have been teaching with CI for years, this episode provides practical ideas you can use immediately in your classroom.

Welcome back to The CI Renaissance Podcast! Hosts Sean Lawler and Greg Schwab are picking up right where the Adam West Batman cliffhanger left us last month. We are diving deep into the history, the hurdles, and the absolute magic of modern Comprehensible Input.

In this episode, Greg shares an incredible firsthand story from 2018 when he helped Dr. Stephen Krashen organize a seminar in Chicago—and asked him point-blank about his famous i + 1 concept. Krashen's answer might surprise you.

We also pull back the curtain on the STAR Approach, breaking down why it is student-driven, how to use the Star Chart framework for your curriculum, and why a "One-Word Image" is way more than just a five-minute warm-up activity.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The Krashen Encounter: The truth behind the i + 1 hypothesis and the Net Hypothesis.

• The STAR Approach Deep Dive: How to balance creation, review, writing, reading, and extending.

• Story Listening & Task-Based Learning: Why Dr. Beniko Mason’s method works (and why it failed Greg in a non-Romance language), plus Dr. Bill Van Patten's communicative "tasks."

• The Truth About Teaching with Novels: Why you should ignore the level printed on the cover and stop teaching whole-group novels in Spanish 1 and 2.

• Organic World Language (OWL): The grueling full-immersion method, why forcing output can trigger student panic, yet how this method's team-building strategies can transform Heritage language classrooms.

"I didn't know being a language teacher could be so controversial."

In this episode, we tackle a classic CI tradition: fighting over methodology. We break down the differences between an "approach" and a "method" (shoutout to Dr. Bill Van Patten) and dive deep into the pros, cons, and personal histories of the tools that shaped our classrooms.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The legendary "CI Fight Club" Facebook group and Ben Slavic's early blogs.

• Total Physical Response (TPR): Does it get too boring, or is it the ultimate somatic tool?

• TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling): The transition from gestures to translation, the "entertainer" trap, and our thoughts on the controversial TPRS 2.0 model.

• Krashen’s Natural Approach & Dr. Bill VanPatten's Sabias Que Edition 1 Textbook: How to turn traditional textbook structures into input-based activities.

• The Ben Slavic Eras: From TPRS in a Year to the revolutionary non-targeted STAR Approach.

Grab your coffee and keep it CI!

Enjoyed the episode? Please like, subscribe, and share this episode with your department or on social media!

In this episode of the CI Renaissance podcast, hosts Greg Schwab and Sean Lawler welcome special guest Ben Slavic, one of the most influential pioneers of the Comprehensible Input (CI) movement. With four decades of classroom experience and a lifetime spent reshaping language education, Ben breaks down the crucial shift from rigid, traditional grammar methods to a heart-centered approach focused on genuine language acquisition.

Greg, Sean, and Ben dive deep into:

* The real meaning of "rigor" in the classroom (hint: it's sustained focus, not harder worksheets).

* The evolution from TPRS to One Word Images (OWIs), the Tableau Vivant, and the STAR approach.

* Why language is an unconscious process, and why correcting students does more harm than good.

* How a "no-planning" curriculum framework can save teachers from burnout and give them their personal lives back.

* The danger of rushing into heavy reading in Level 1 before building a solid auditory foundation.

Whether you're a veteran CI teacher struggling with department culture or a newcomer looking for a simpler, more rewarding way to teach, this relaxed conversation will inspire you to take a breath, simplify your instruction, and focus on what truly matters: connection and communication.

Connect with Ben Slavic:

* Website: https://benslavic.com (Check out his books: The Triangle, The Square, and The Star)

* Substack: Search for Ben Slavic on Substack for frequent insights and articles.

Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the CI Renaissance podcast!

This is our debut episode where we explain what comprehensible input is and why you should teach with it!