Teaching Diverse Learners with Purpose

By BYU Center for Language Studies

Overview

This Book Club session: How do we reach learners with different needs and paces while affirming each as a child of God with divine potential

Rethinking Language Learning: A Book Club on the Mind, Motivation, and Meaning

Hosted by LARC – Fall 2025 & Winter 2026

Why don’t students like studying a language? What does cognitive science reveal about memory, motivation, and meaning in learning—and how can these insights transform our teaching?

Join us for a five-session book club on Daniel Willingham’s Why Don’t Students Like School? : A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions about How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom 2nd Edition.

Together, we’ll connect research on how the mind works with the aims of a BYU education, asking how we can make language teaching both intellectually enlarging and spiritually strengthening.

Schedule & Readings

4010 JFSB

12:00–12:50 p.m.

January 7 – Is Drilling Worth It? & Thinking Like Experts (Ch. 5–6)
February 4 – Different Types of Learners & Helping Slow Learners (Ch. 7–8)
March 4 – Technology & Learning & What About My Mind? + Conclusion (Ch. 9–10)

What to Expect

Lively discussion of two chapters per session
Practical connections to foreign language teaching
Big-picture reflection on how our courses align with BYU’s educational aims
Community of practice with colleagues who care about meaningful, spiritually strengthening teaching

Book Access: Why Don’t Students Like School? (2nd edition) – EbookCentral link

BYU Aims: aims.byu.edu