Teaching Listening

Teaching Listening Serena Chu English Language Fellow UASLP Diplomado A

What are some Mexican wedding traditions?

Making predictions • You are about to listen to a reading on wedding traditions. Predict which 6 words you will hear: candle shoes ceremony rings red dance cake lights dress flowers church

Retelling • Now, retell the story on weddings in your own words. You can use the key words to guide you.

Dictation • Listen to the sentences and write down what you hear.

Predict the story • Based on the dictation and the photo, what do you think the story is going to be about? At a place where the snow seemed very solid, the ice broke. He would have to build a fire now to dry his clothes and boots. He sat and looked at the place where the fire had been. The dog was still watching him.

Now, listen to the story and read along • “To Build a Fire” by Jack London

Storyboard • Create storyboard to show sequence of story • Retell story using your own words

Another sequencing activity Video What’s the difference between getting the gist of something and getting the details?

Sequencing activity: songs • Listen to the song “Pretty Woman” and put the lyrics in the order that you hear them

Movie clips • Now let’s watch a clip from the movie! • Now, with the sound turned off, act out the scenes with your partner (or do a role play)

Filling in charts and tables • First, let’s do the pre-listening activity: Coping with stress Have you been in similar situations? Which of these situations is most stressful?

Pre-listening discussionThese can be stressful situations. Add one more. Then rank them from 1 (most stressful) to 10 (least stressful) ____ shopping for gifts ____ preparing for exams ____ meeting new people ____ being stuck in traffic ____ speaking English ____ dealing with family problems ____ trying to save money ____ speaking in front of a group ____ starting a new job ____ ____________________ Now, compare your ideas with a partner. How do you cope with these stressful situations?

Now listen! Four people are talking about stressful situations. Write the reason for each person’s stress

Post-listening discussionWhat’s the best way to…?

Another prediction activity: cloze • Look at the reading on Prince William. How much do you know about him? Try to fill in the blanks with a partner. • Now, let’s listen…how did you do?

And one more listening activity... • Running dictation! You can use this as a pre-listening or post-listening activity to check for comprehension

Here are the correct answers to the dictation: • Prince William married Kate Middleton in April, 2011. • He was born in London in 1982. • He loves animals and has a pet dog. • He attended school at Oxford University. • His brother’s name is Gordon.

Now, with your group: • Decide which of the dictation sentences are true and which are false. • Correct the false statements

Check out these websites! • Voice of America www.voanews.com • Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening www.esl-lab.com/

Practical English Language Teaching: Listening • Choose an activity from the book. Explain: • What is the activity? What listening skill does it address? • What level is it for? • Do you think the activity is effective? Why or why not?

Strategies for listening, p. 70 • 1. Predicting • 2. Inferencing • 3. Monitoring • 4. Clarifying • 5. Responding • 6. Evaluation • Choose three of the above. In your notebooks, freewrite: Why are these 3 strategies are important? Give examples. • Share with a partner.

Resources • Jones, Leo. Let’s Talk 3. New York: Cambridge U. Press, 2008. Units 6 and 9. • Helgesen, Marc and Brown, Steven. Practical English Language Teaching: Listening. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007.

Teaching Listening