Teaching Sequence: Listening comprehension
'Fill in the gaps' - exercise
We, Alexey, Franziska and me, structured our teaching idea the following way:
Teaching Sequence: Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab: http://www.esl-lab.com
Advantages of the tool
Randall Davis, ESL instructor and computer lab coordinator, develops different web sites for people who have problems understanding native English speakers. One of these pages is “Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab”, a multimedia listening website, which tries to help students to improve their listening comprehension. There are several advantages for the usage of this tool in classroom. First of all, the page is well arranged and quite informative. The ESL lab offers different handouts which explain the features of the site and how it can be used for teaching and learning. Furthermore, all online activities are free and you do not have to create an account before using the page. The audio samples, which deal with everyday conversations about lots of different topics, are divided into the following different levels: easy, medium, difficult. For each audio sample the web site offers quizzes or worksheets which are grouped into pre-listening, listening, vocabulary and post-listening exercises. All audio samples are spoken in American English which can be an alternative to British English which is taught in school more often. In addition, several links to other pages for ESL learners or teachers are provided.
Concrete example for the English classroom
The major aim of this web site is the improvement of the listening comprehension skills. Students should feel prepared for conversations in their daily life. Therefore, most topics are related to everyday life. Nevertheless, many topics are also included in the curriculum. One example could be “Thanksgiving and Christmas: Holiday Traditions” (http://www.esl-lab.com/tradition/traditionrd1.htm) which is part of regional and cultural studies in grade 9. This audio sample could be used as a kind of consolidation after the students talked about their own traditions or ways of celebrating Christmas. These everyday situations and topics are much more interesting for younger learners. This has a positive influence on their willingness to learn.
First time and expert version
When you use this web site for the first time, you should first of all read the information about the web site. This makes it much easier for you to understand the general structure of the audio samples and the different exercises belonging to it. In addition, there is an information sheet, which you can hand out to your students in order to get familiar with the online tool. It takes some time to get used to this whole learning environment, so take some time to explore it. It will be worth it and you will later benefit from this study.
If you and your students are already accustomed to online learning, you could also include a complete self-study sequence into you lessons. You find this so called “Randall’s Basic Self-Study Guide” on the same web site.
Limitations
When visiting this web site the first time, the whole page seems a little bit overwhelming. There are lots of different links and you first do not really know which connect you to the audio samples and its exercises and which link to other web sites. In addition, there are a number of commercials on the web site which could be a problem for younger learners. However, you can use all exercises for free which would not be possible without the advertisement. In general, every student or at least every pair needs his or her own computer to use this web site, especially for the exercises which are all based on the internet. You cannot download the audio samples.
Teaching Sequence: Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab: http://www.esl-lab.com
Advantages of the tool
Randall Davis, ESL instructor and computer lab coordinator, develops different web sites for people who have problems understanding native English speakers. One of these pages is “Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab”, a multimedia listening website, which tries to help students to improve their listening comprehension. There are several advantages for the usage of this tool in classroom. First of all, the page is well arranged and quite informative. The ESL lab offers different handouts which explain the features of the site and how it can be used for teaching and learning. Furthermore, all online activities are free and you do not have to create an account before using the page. The audio samples, which deal with everyday conversations about lots of different topics, are divided into the following different levels: easy, medium, difficult. For each audio sample the web site offers quizzes or worksheets which are grouped into pre-listening, listening, vocabulary and post-listening exercises. All audio samples are spoken in American English which can be an alternative to British English which is taught in school more often. In addition, several links to other pages for ESL learners or teachers are provided.
Concrete example for the English classroom
The major aim of this web site is the improvement of the listening comprehension skills. Students should feel prepared for conversations in their daily life. Therefore, most topics are related to everyday life. Nevertheless, many topics are also included in the curriculum. One example could be “Thanksgiving and Christmas: Holiday Traditions” (http://www.esl-lab.com/tradition/traditionrd1.htm) which is part of regional and cultural studies in grade 9. This audio sample could be used as a kind of consolidation after the students talked about their own traditions or ways of celebrating Christmas. These everyday situations and topics are much more interesting for younger learners. This has a positive influence on their willingness to learn.
- Go to: http://www.esl-lab.com/tradition/traditionrd1.htm
- Play the Podcast: What is the major topic? Etc.
- Explain the different exercises offered on the web site
- Go to: http://www.esl-lab.com/tradition/traditionfra.htm
- Students should fill in the gaps
- Explain post-listening exercise
First time and expert version
When you use this web site for the first time, you should first of all read the information about the web site. This makes it much easier for you to understand the general structure of the audio samples and the different exercises belonging to it. In addition, there is an information sheet, which you can hand out to your students in order to get familiar with the online tool. It takes some time to get used to this whole learning environment, so take some time to explore it. It will be worth it and you will later benefit from this study.
If you and your students are already accustomed to online learning, you could also include a complete self-study sequence into you lessons. You find this so called “Randall’s Basic Self-Study Guide” on the same web site.
Limitations
When visiting this web site the first time, the whole page seems a little bit overwhelming. There are lots of different links and you first do not really know which connect you to the audio samples and its exercises and which link to other web sites. In addition, there are a number of commercials on the web site which could be a problem for younger learners. However, you can use all exercises for free which would not be possible without the advertisement. In general, every student or at least every pair needs his or her own computer to use this web site, especially for the exercises which are all based on the internet. You cannot download the audio samples.
