Supporting Adolescents in Their Language Learning Journey

May 2026

How do adolescent brains work, exactly? We first explored this conundrum back in September 2018, but one issue isn’t nearly enough to fully grasp the complex inner-workings of teenagers. Once more, let’s see if we can better understand adolescent students and figure out effective ways to support their learning in the classroom.

Although I’m only fourteen, I know quite well what I want. I know who is right and who is wrong. I have my opinions, my own ideas and principles, and although it may sound pretty mad from an adolescent, I feel more of a person than a child. I feel quite independent of anyone. – Anne Frank

APA Reference for this Issue

(author). (2026). (article title, sentence case). MindBrainEd Think Tanks: Supporting Adolescents in Their Language Learning Journey, 12(5), (pages).

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Watch before you read...

Having first explored the adolescent brain in September 2018, we’re returning to this key stage of development in this month’s issue. In our Main podcast episode, Eva Telzer discusses important aspects of adolescent lives, including risky behavior, parental influence, and the impact of social media. In our More podcast episode, Liesbeth Elbers shares how teachers can support adolescent learners through authentic connection, student-led learning, and engaging activities.

Then, Nicky De Proost introduces the issue.

In the Think Tank, Curtis Kelly offers insights into the developing adolescent brain and practical teaching tips. Next, Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti takes a deep dive into the workings of the adolescent brain. Then, Pinar Sekmen explains why a playful, agile approach in the classroom is essential when working with adolescents. To round off our issue, Afon (Mohammad) Khari explores the changes that occur in the brain during adolescence and highlights key takeaways for teachers. 

Navigating the teenage classroom with creativity and compassion with Liesbeth Elbers

Grow: A podcast from Cambridge

Our Thoughts on Adolescent Learning

A collage for the song "Teenagers" (scare the living shit out of me) by My Chemical Romance.

Teenagers: Technically, A Lot Nicky De Proost

Looking back on it now, I was a positively horrendous teenager. In all honesty, I don’t think my current self would have survived teaching me. I was a smartarse and a know-it-all—no real changes there, I’m afraid—and my lovely teachers had the great honour of being in my presence at least three hours a week, minimum. I was, to put it in technical terms, a lot.

Here is the part that should be embarrassing (but mostly isn’t): I went on to get a bachelor’s degree specifically in teaching English at secondary-school level. Presumably, I believed I would be different. I would be The Cool Teacher™. I would get them. Then, I got a master’s degree and quietly retreated to university, where my students were at least legally adults and only occasionally baited me into cussing in front of an audience.

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Think Tank Articles

A photo of two adolescent students looking at books in a library.

The Teen Mind, and How to Understand It Curtis Kelly

As toddlers, we enter the long journey building important executive functions that allow us to succeed in the world. Working memory allows us to hold more information in our minds. Cognitive flexibility allows us to consider that information from different perspectives. Self-inhibition restrains our urges. We finally complete this development in our teens. But that leaves a conundrum. Why then, in teens, aren’t those executive functions working very well? As any parent or high school teacher knows, teens are trouble…

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An illustration of a woman standing at a road sign, two arrows pointing to different areas say "risk" and "safe."

Where Two Roads [Seem] to Diverge: Executive Functions and the Adolescent Brain Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti

My task in this article is one: to explain why executive functions and adolescent behavior seem to be out of sync. To that end, I decided to pick a line from one of Frost’s most pervasive poems, “The Road Not Taken,” as a hook for my title. The poem follows below and I intend to make my reasons clear. But first, I need to make a disclaimer. It has to do with time, memory and the scientific method….

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A photo of an adolescent boy sticking his tongue out and winking.

The Agile Mind: Why Playfulness and Neuroplasticity are the New TEFL Essentials Pinar Sekmen

We’ve all felt it—that fast-paced, sometimes dizzying rhythm of the modern classroom. These days, we are doing so much more than just explaining verb tenses. We have become bridges for our students, helping them find their voices in a digital, multicultural world. Today, a successful lesson is measured by a student’s readiness for life, not just their accuracy on paper. When we look at what makes a teacher truly impactful today, it always comes back to two things: the agility to pivot when a lesson needs it, and the reflection to understand why…

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An illustration of a confused person behind shattered glass.

Wired for Change Afon (Mohammad) Khari

If you have watched Netflix’s Adolescence, you will recognize the familiar rhythm of emotional intensity, shifting identities, fragile friendships, and sudden confidence followed by quiet collapse. The characters feel everything, often too much, too quickly, and too publicly. What makes the series appealing is the fact that it mirrors a widely shared intuition about this stage of life: that adolescence is somehow overwhelming, unstable, and difficult to navigate…

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Think Tank Plus

Call for Contributions: Ideas and Articles Think Tank Staff

Become a Think Tank star! Here are some of the future issue topics we are thinking about. Would you, or anyone you know, like to write about any of these? Or is there another topic you’d like to recommend? Do you have any suggestions for lead-in, or just plain interesting, videos? How about writing a book review? Or sending us a story about your experiences? Contact us.

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Going Deeper

The Disengaged Teen

In this Tea for Teaching podcast episode, Rebecca Winthrop and Jenny Anderson talk about their book, The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better. They delve into the causes of disengagement and offer possible solutions. While focused on education in the US, their conversation reveals challenges educators may face in other countries. Listen to the conversation here.

374. The Disengaged Teen

Tea for Teaching

The MindBrained Think Tanks+

is produced by the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) Mind, Brain, and Education Special Interest Group (BRAIN SIG). Kyoto, Japan. (ISSN 2434-1002)

Editorial Staff

      Stephen M. Ryan               Curtis H. Kelly              Julia Daley     

 Afon (Mohammad) Khari     Heather Kretschmer     Nicky De Proost

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