Listening Beyond the Coursebook Paul Robinson & Aisha Mahmoud Omar Awad Eltecs 9th January 2011.

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

 Paul Robinson

& Aisha Mahmoud Omar Awad

Eltecs 9th January 2011

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

•What are the disadvantages of using published material?

•What’s a live listening?

•Activities.

•A Simple Model.

•Resources and Links.

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

What are the disadvantages of published material?

“A conventional listening comprehension lesson simply adds yet another text to the learners' experience; it does little or nothing to improve the effectiveness of their

listening or to address their shortcomings as listeners”.

 “Skills and strategies: towards a new methodology for listening” John Field ELT Journal Volume 52/2 April 1998 © OUP 1998

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

Possible DrawbacksInvolve inauthentic tasks

Only usually test comprehension

Use graded language/provide the learner with no exposure to real English

Topics often uninteresting or inappropriate

No development of listening skills

Learners are unable to interact with a recording

No use of features of speech (clarification)

Encourages passive listening

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

The teacher’s voice is a neglected resource in providing listening practice in which the speaker can continuously monitor the listeners’ interest, attention and apparent comprehension, adding any necessary repetitions, reformulations and explanations, and where the listeners can give the speaker signals – so that the listener is not just passive, but is more a successful receiver, and understanding is mutually constructed. 

What is a live Listening?

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

What might the advantages be of using an activity like this?

Describe and Draw

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

What are the advantages of this activity? What other topics could be used?

Using a Lexical ApproachTalking about your weekend.

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

Talking about a Topic

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

Pictaglos

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

Instructions: (models/tasks) TPR Activities: Guest Speaker: (invent spoof CV, learners prepare questions)Real Guest Speaker: (have a colleague come in and talk about a

hobby or interest)Anecdotes & Stories:

Other Ideas for Listening Activities 

What kind of tasks might you use with these activities?  How could you extend them?

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

Practising Micro Skills

Replace the word

Wrong Word

Predict a Word

Discrimination Quiz

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

A Model for Live ListeningAs prescribed by Nick Bilbrough. Listening Unplugged! 

http://www.hltmag.co.uk/dec08/pubs02.htm 

1) The teacher talks for about a minute about herself. This can be focused around a particular area of language like likes and dislikes, or past experiences. The learners listen.  2) The learners try to remember and orally reconstruct what was said in pairs. 3) They individually prepare to speak about themselves using the same area of language. 4) They tell their partners, who listen and try to remember what is said. 5) Partners report back to the speaker, saying what they have remembered. 

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

What advantages might these listening activities have over published material?

 More motivating and realistic Activities are more interactive Speaker can monitor reactions and understanding Visual stimulus Minimal use of materials and preparation Promotes more active listening

Listening Beyond the Coursebook

Links & Reading

Listening Unplugged Nick Bilbrough www.hltmag.co.uk/aug09/less02.rtf 

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/tefl/alt-techniques/live-listening/

Skills and strategies towards a new methodology for listening. J Field - 1998 eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/2/110.full.pdf

Listening Goodith White OUP 1998

Listening Beyond the Coursebook