TEACHING LISTENING : PODCASTING
TEACHING LISTENING
The goal of teaching
listening skills is to produce students who can use listening strategies to
maximize their comprehension. To help students achieve the goal there are of course many
things that teachers should consider. Yet, the consideration should be mostly on the process of listening rather than the
product of listening. If a focus on the product of listening only then the tendency is that we do not teach listening
rather we test listening. Then what are the strategies? The following articles discuss theories about the development
of listening skills, tips on how to deliver listening activities and some practical tips on listening activities
that can be performed by teachers and students while learning a language.
The links below inspire us with activities/Lesson plan that can be
adapted to teach listening:
- Listening
Skills Lesson Plan
- Games to
improve listening for Elementary Students
- Teaching listening with songs
In addition to those theories and activities for teaching listening,
what should also be taken into account is the materials to be used. Listening is really not only a classroom activity for language learners but should also be a recreational activity outside the classroom. Listening will be much more meaningful
if what to listen is really of students interest and students have the option to do that, such that, when and where ever they want to listen.
WHAT IS PODCAST?
A podcast is one technology that may enable that. It will give teachers easy access to authentic listening materials wherever and whenever they want as long as there is an internet connection. Students can also do the same. Moreover, with a podcast, both students and teachers can build their own library of their interest. So, PODCAST was originally from the 'audio blogging' activity in the 1980s. but then the term podcast was coined following the introduction of iPod by the Apple Company in 2001. The term Podcast itself was introduced for the first time by a British journalist, Ben Hammersley in 2004. He blended the word 'Broadcast' and 'iPod' into Podcast.
The idea of a podcast was actually broadcasting of media that can be in the form
of audio, video, or even document files. The broadcasting was done through the internet and what more is that
subscription is enabled, and those media is downloadable and that makes the audience can access the media easily by using
either PC, MAC or Portable devices, such as iPod or Android Devices. For
further information about PODCASTING see here:
THE POWER OF PODCAST: A TOOL TO IMPROVE LISTENING SKILLS AND EMPOWER LEARNERS
Podcasts are now available covering almost any
topic you can think of. I subscribe to about 30 different series, covering
topics like science, films, history, teaching, language, and storytelling.
There’s something out there for everyone. You can find some of my favourites, and
a list of podcasts designed for English language learners at http://independentenglish.wordpress.com/podcasts.
The majority of podcasts are free, and you can
find them in a variety of ways. I find most of the podcasts I listen to from
the BBC podcasts page, via the Apple Podcasts app (automatically installed on
Apple devices) or through the iTunes podcasts tab, but simply searching on
Google will also help you. For example, try ‘film review podcast’ and you’ll be
inundated with examples. Once you’ve found a podcast you like, what can
you do with it?
As a student, try these activities:
- Read the short summary of the podcast. Predict three things you think the presenters will talk about. Listen and check.
- Choose ten words,
phrases or collocations you think the presenters will use. Play bingo. How many
did you hear? If you listen to the same podcasts regularly, you will start to
notice the same phrases appearing again and again.
- Play two minutes of the
podcast. Stop and predict what you will hear next. Continue listening. Were you
correct? Repeat this at a few different points in the podcast.
- Listen to the whole
podcast without stopping. Write a short summary of what you heard, or record an
audio summary of it. Listen again and see if you can add any extra information.
Repetition will improve your confidence.
- Choose a piece of
grammar you’d like to improve, like the present perfect. Focus on listening for
it. How many times did you hear it? What contexts is it used in?
- Listen and repeat what a
speaker is saying. Mumble it under your breath. Repeating this a few times can
really help your pronunciation. Choose ten words,
phrases or collocations you think the presenters will use. Play bingo. How many
did you hear? If you listen to the same podcasts regularly, you will start to
notice the same phrases appearing again and again.
- Play two minutes of the
podcast. Stop and predict what you will hear next. Continue listening. Were you
correct? Repeat this at a few different points in the podcast.
- Listen to the whole
podcast without stopping. Write a short summary of what you heard, or record an
audio summary of it. Listen again and see if you can add any extra information.
Repetition will improve your confidence.
- Choose a piece of
grammar you’d like to improve, like the present perfect. Focus on listening for
it. How many times did you hear it? What contexts is it used in?
- Listen and repeat what a
speaker is saying. Mumble it under your breath. Repeating this a few times can
really help your pronunciation.
As a teacher, you could use podcasts in the classroom or for homework.
- Use a clip from a podcast to introduce a new topic. For example,
if you’re talking about the environment, try something from the BBC’s Costing the
Earth series. For a topic on identity, search for programs from the BBC
Identity series from spring 2016.
- Play a clip from a coursebook listening, then one from a podcast
designed for native speakers. Students should think about the differences
between the two, for example, the speed of speech, turn-taking, and how easy it
is to distinguish different speakers. They can then assess how easy it is to
understand, and you can offer ways they can work on the areas they had the most
trouble with.
- Use excerpts from podcasts to focus on features of connected speech. You can clip them using free software such as Audacity or mp3cut online. This works well as a mini dictation activity.
- Ask students to choose a podcast to listen to for homework. You could give them some guidance or allow them to choose anything they like. For the first ten minutes of the following lesson, students talk about the podcasts they listened to, why they chose it, how easy or difficult it was to understand, and whether they learnt anything from it (language or topic-related). Doing this regularly works as part of an extensive listening scheme.
A few tips:
·
As a student, don’t be depressed if you find a podcast difficult
to understand at first. Some presenters speak very quickly, and there may be
concepts you have not heard before. You have two choices: keep listening and be
patient – it may take time, but you will start to understand more;
alternatively, choose a different podcast – there are plenty out there!
·
Listen to the same podcast a few times. You’ll notice a lot more
language the second and third time you hear it.
·
As a teacher, think carefully about the level and speed of the
language in the podcasts you select. They can also often contain a lot of
cultural information that may be very challenging for students if they are
unfamiliar with podcasts or have not had much exposure to authentic materials.
Introduce them slowly and consider your aims carefully.
I’d be interested to know what your favourite
podcasts and podcast activities are in the comments below. Good luck!
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