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My five most viewed blogs of 2016

It's gratifying to me that this blog has been read more and more this year with the total number of page views exceeding 1 million in December. Content has ranged from reviews, information and reflections to resources and marketing blogs. The blog has been a continued focus for me, along with frenchteacher.net, The Language Teacher Toolkit, my new soon-to-be-published handbook and the TES units of work co-written with Gianfranco Conti.

The five most read posts of 2016 are listed below.

1. Learning strategies.

This was actually the third in a series of five posts about Learning Strategies, based on material which we could not fit into The Language Teacher Toolkit. This post was shared by the British Council so picked up over 22,000 views.

2. What about natural aptitude for second language learning?

With over 14,000 views, this post looked at the background and history of research into language learning aptitude. All teachers know how much variation there is between pupils, but how much is down to ability, how much sheer hard work? Research into aptitude has become rather neglected, but occasionally surfaces, with some scholars even suggesting a strong genetic element in language learning capability.

3. What teachers are saying about The Language Teacher Toolkit.

This was a marketing blog which listed many of the complimentary reviews Gianfranco and I have received about our handbook. We are delighted that the book has sold over 1500 copies around the world in nine months. If you haven't got it yet, check out the reviews!

4. Three AQA A-level courses compared.

This post combined three individual reviews of new A-level French courses from OUP, Hodder and Steve Glover (online). The two books are a good deal better than the previous crop of A-level courses, while more teachers have been moving to Steve's Attitudes 16 downloadable course. I enjoy reviewing text books and books on language teaching methodology.

5. New GCSE resources on frenchteacher.net.

This one had 4500 views and was just a summary of the resources I had written at that stage in the year for the new GCSE (intermediate) French course. This, along with A-level, was the main focus for the website this year. For GCSE I added my own example exam papers, speaking and translation material.

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