Short answer
Give learners a clear purpose, enough challenge and room to become absorbed in the task. Enjoyment often comes from meaningful participation and a sense of progress rather than from adding a game to every stage of the lesson.
In S06E17, Gav argues that fun is not simply running around, laughing or doing a novelty activity. Em agrees that announcing something is fun does not make a class enjoy it. The learner response is what matters.
Try this in your next lesson
Do learners know the purpose of the task?
👇 Scroll down for our practical checklist or activity and download.
Listen to the whole S06E17 discussion in our podcast episode guide here🔊.
One of the clearest signs of a successful activity is flow. Learners are talking, listening, solving the task and paying less attention to the teacher. When that happens, Em describes stepping back rather than interrupting simply because the plan says the next stage should begin.
That is also a useful moment to delay correction. If learners are genuinely communicating, stopping every small error can break the momentum. Note useful language and return to it afterwards.
Enjoyment will look different across classes. Some learners love competitive games. Others enjoy solving a difficult problem, discussing a serious topic or finally understanding a grammar point that used to confuse them. A quiet class can be highly engaged.
Teachers can still create the conditions for enjoyment: choose relevant topics, pitch the difficulty sensibly, vary the interaction, give learners choices and notice when an activity has run its course.
How can teachers recognise flow?
Learners know what they are doing, attention stays on the task, participation feels natural and the teacher is no longer driving every turn. When you see that, do not interrupt just to prove you are teaching.
Our suggested classroom adaptation of the episode discussion.
Gav and Em suggest: The engagement check
- ☐ Do learners know the purpose of the task?
- ☐ Are they actually participating?
- ☐ Is the challenge manageable?
- ☐ Do they need more support or less teacher interference?
- ☐ Is the activity still producing useful language?
- ☐ Would stopping now interrupt a productive flow?
📥 Download the free teacher practice card (PDF)
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