Using multimedia effectively in teaching listening skills

For example, videos help students to understand the target language and graspthe message easily because they allow them not only to listen to the English of natives,but also to see how t

1.Tên sáng kiến: USING MULTIMEDIA EFFECTIVELY

IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS

( Sử dụng phương tiện đa truyền thông một cách hiệu quả trong dạy kỹ năng nghe hiểumôn Tiếng Anh)

2 Lĩnh vực áp dụng sáng kiến : Giảng dạy Tiếng Anh

3 Thời gian áp dụng sáng kiến: Từ ngày 15 tháng 10 năm 2016 đến ngày 20 tháng

Trình độ chuyên môn: Thạc sỹ Tiếng Anh

Chức vụ công tác: - Tổ phó tổ ngoại ngữ- Giáo viên Tiếng Anh

Nơi làm việc: Tổ ngoại ngữ-Trường THPT Nam Định

BÁO CÁO SÁNG KIẾN

I Điều kiện hoàn cảnh tạo ra sáng kiến:

Trong xu thế toàn cầu hóa, hội nhập quốc tế , việc học sinh trang bị cho mình ít nhất làmột ngoại ngữ là điều hết sức cần thiết, đặc biệt là Tiếng Anh Như chúng ta đã biếthọc Tiếng Anh đòi hỏi người học nắm bắt cả 4 kỹ năng: nghe, nói, đọc viết Kỹ năngnghe Tiếng Anh được coi là kỹ năng khó đối với học sinh phổ thông, thậm chí đối với

cả học sinh giỏi Thực tế học sinh chưa thực sự hứng thú và có động lực để học kỹnăng nghe đồng thời nguồn tài liệu chưa được đa dạng, phong phú Đứng trước yêucầu đổi mới phương pháp dạy học, làm thế nào để phát huy tính tích cực, chủ động vàsáng tạo của học sinh? Tôi xin đề xuất giải pháp nâng cao hiệu dạy kỹ năng nghe hiểu

thông qua đề tài: “ Using multimedia effectively in teaching listenign skill” –“ Sử

dụng phương tiện đa truyền thông hiệu quả trong việc giảng dạy kỹ năng nghe hiểu”

II Mô tả giải pháp:

1 Mô tả giải pháp trước khi tạo ra sáng kiến

Những năm gần đây, với sự thay đổi chương trình sách giáo khoa, đòi hỏi người giáo viên luôn tìm tòi, áp dụng các phương phương giảng dạy tích cực nhằm nâng caohiệu quả giảng dạy và tạo hứng thú cho học sinh Việc dạy kỹ năng nghe hiểu gặpnhiều khó khăn từ phía người dạy và người học vì nhiều lí do trong đó phải kể đếnnguồn học liệu chưa đa dạng, phong phú (sách giáo khoa và máy catsét và đĩa CD) Rõràng việc tăng cường sử dụng phương tiện đa truyền thông vào giảng dạy ngoại ngữđặc biệt là kỹ năng nghe là điều hết sức cần thiết tạo sự hứng thú cho người học vàgiúp các em hình thành thói quen tự học, tự nghiên cứu

dạy-2 Mô tả giải pháp sau khi có sáng kiến:

Sử dụng phương tiện đa truyền thông nhằm giúp giáo viên kết hợp việc ứng dụng hiệuquả công nghệ thông tin vào giảng dạy Giáo viên sử dụng tối đa thời gian trên lớp, tạomội cơ hội để học sinh có thể sử dụng ngữ liệu đã học một cách có ý nghĩa

Giáo viên có nhiều cơ hội khai thác bài học có hiệu quả, đa dạng các bài tập nghe hiểucho phù hợp với các đối tượng học sinh, tiếp cận với các nguồn tài liệu gắn liền vớithực tế xoay quanh vấn đề văn hóa, xã hội, công nghệ và một số chủ đề, chủ điểm đangđược xã hội quan tâm Ngoài ra thông qua việc áp dụng và hướng dẫn học sinh khaithác hiệu quả phương tiện truyền thông đa phương tiện vào học tập, học sinh sẽ biếtcách tự học, tự nghiên cứu- một việc làm rất cần thiết trong thời kì kinh tế tri thức và

hội nhập.

III Hiệu quả do sáng kiến đem lại:

1 Hiệu quả kinh tế

Cuối năm học này, tôi thấy học sinh đã sinh tích cực , chủ động trong các giờ họcnghe hiểu hơn, các em biết khai thác các nguồn tài liệu trên mạng Internet và các trangweb Tiếng Anh để luyện kỹ năng nghe, tiếp cận được nhiều nguồn học liệu phong phú

đa dạng, cập nhật tiết kiệm được nhiều chi phí mua tài liệu sách vở

2 Hiệu quả về mặt xã hội

- Đề tài thiết thực, gắn liền với yêu cầu đổi mới phương pháp giảng dạy, sách giáokhoa mới và phát huy tính chủ động, sáng tạo của học sinh trong kỹ năng nghe hiểu

- Học sinh tiến bộ rõ rệt sau mỗi bài giảng

- Giúp các em biết cách tự học, tự đọc, biết cách khai thác, tìm nguồn tài liệu phục vụcho việc học tập và biết sử dụng các nguồn tài liệu tham khảo một cách hợp lý, đúngđắn

- Sáng kiến này có thể áp dụng để dạy kĩ năng nghe hiểu Tiếng Anh cho học sinhTHPT đang theo học SGK hệ 7 năm và hệ 10 năm Tùy thuộc vào năng lực học sinh

mà giáo viên áp dụng linh hoạt

IV Cam kết không sao chép hoặc vi phạm bản quyền

Tôi xin cam kết sáng kiến kinh nghiệm chưa tham gia bất kì một cuộc thi nào

CƠ QUAN ĐƠN VỊ

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Scope of the study 1

1.3 Research time 1

PART 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2

2.1 Definitions of Multimedia 2

2.2 The Importance of Multimedia in Education 2

2.3 Objectives of Multimedia 3

2.4 The role of multimedia in developing ELT process 3

2.5 The use of multimedia in ELT classroom 3

2.6 Principals behind Teaching Listening 6

2.7 Multimedia Environment 6

2.8 The Importance of Multimedia Environment in Teaching Listening 6

2.9 Types of Multimedia Used in Teaching L2 Listening 7

PART 3: ACTIVITIES AND SOURCES FOR 10

TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS 10

3.1 Presentation/Pre-listening Activities: 10

3.2 Listening Practice Activities 14

3.3 Materials and sources for teaching listening 15

PART 4: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 17

4.1 English textbooks 17

4.3 More listening exercises for English majored students (Grade 10-11) 34

PART 5 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 45

5.1 Summary of the findings 45

5.2 Implications 45

5.3 Suggestions for further study 45

REFERENCES 46

PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Learning listening has been developed and advanced especially in media and inlearning materials used in high schools There are many choices of listening materialssuch as CD, DVD, or video applied in the classroom However, there are manyevidences that listening is lack attention of teachers (Field, 2009, p.1) When theyapplied many learning competencies in the classroom, listening skill was alwaysaccelerated or reduced Learning course methodology was discussed and analyzedslightly, and there was a tendency from the teachers that listening was ordinary activity

in life

One of the best ways introduce students to listening strategies is to integratelistening activities into language lessons using multimedia technology As multimediatechnology (interactive videodisc, CD-ROM, CD-I, etc.) becomes more accessible toEnglish language teachers and learners, its potential as a tool to enhance listeningskills becomes a practical option Multimedia allows integration of text, graphics,audio, and motion video in a range of combinations The result is that learners can nowinteract with textual, aural, and visual media in a wide range of formats

This research was done to know the students’ activities in learning listening byusing interactive multimedia and to measure the effectiveness of that multimedia inimproving students’ listening ability Also the study offers a wide range of practiceideas that boost students develop their listening skills via multimedia

1.2 Scope of the study

This study focuses on:

1 The definitions of multimedia and its functions in language teaching

2 Applying multimedia effectively in teaching listening skills

3 Providing various ways to exploit multimedia and useful activities to motivatestudents in learning listening skills

1.3 Research time

From October 2016 to April 2017

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CALL Computer-Assisted Language Learning

PART 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Recently, the use of technology in education highly increases which makes theshift of learning to be an active process in which students search for, and explore theiranswers instead of receiving just standard interpretations One of the technologygadgets that are considered as a beneficial instrument in education in general and inELT instruction in particular is what is known as “multimedia” in which teachers use acombination of materials in specific environment However, the well-known elements

of multimedia used in teaching are texts, audios, graphics, animations as well asvideos The integration of multimedia in teaching can cater to students learningpreferences and fulfill their styles and needs simultaneously For more details, thischapter is devoted to introduce multimedia starting by defining it, showing itsimportance in education, its objectives, and its role in developing ELT process, as well

as the uses of multimedia in ELT classroom including texts, images, graphics,audiotapes, and computers as the most used tools

2.1 Definitions of Multimedia

The term “multimedia” has got several definitions proposed by a number ofresearchers from different perspectives, and each one attempted to give an appropriatedefinition For example Mayer (2005) defined multimedia as follows:

I define multimedia as presenting both words (such as spoken text or printed text) and pictures (such as illustrations, photos, animation, or video) By words, I mean that the material is presented in verbal form, such as using printed text or spoken text By pictures, I mean that the material is presented in verbal form, such as using static graphics, including illustrations, graphs, diagrams, maps, or photos, or using dynamic graphics, including animation or video (p 6).

Whereas, Feldman (1994) saw multimedia as “the seamless integration of data,text, images of all kinds and sound within a signal, digital information environment”.This indicates the nature of the integration of multimedia materials which isseamless .The different types of individual media are incorporated together inmultimedia environment for application In addition, nearly the same idea wasexpressed by Reddi (2003) in his definition of multimedia when he said “Multimediacan be defined as an integration of multiple media elements (audio, video, graphics,text, animation, etc.) into one synergetic and symbiotic whole that results in morebenefits for the user than any one of the media elements can provide individually”

To sum up, from these proposed definitions, we have noticed that the concept

of multimedia was similarly explained by scholars who focused on the idea thatmultimedia involves the use of combined materials in a specific environment topresent a teaching task

2.2 The Importance of Multimedia in Education

Nowadays, technology takes place in all over the world, and it touches most oflife domains Therefore, with the wide use of computers and Internet websites,communication becomes easier than before and it encourages the development ofseveral approaches and disciplines Education as one of these disciplines was invaded

by technology and it witnessed a radical change in the teaching and learning strategies,

which brought education into one step higher from the traditional technique that was

“chalk and talk” to a more interactive and interesting teaching and learning process

The effectiveness of the new teaching methods is reflected by the great roleplayed by multimedia and technology; those which became a vital requirement ineducation However, this was proved by their valuable benefits in developing teachingprocess and helping teachers to practice their professional tasks In addition, the use oftechnology in the classroom is considered as a valuable resource for learning in whichstudents may acquire new information, participate in lesson projects, engage indiscussions, manipulate, organize, and evaluate their information

From another point of view, Vyas and Patel (2009, p.114) showed theimportance of multimedia in the teaching environment saying: Multimedia brings thelanguage classroom closer to the real world, and to the sights and sounds students areaccustomed to in their daily lives The learning environment, physical or virtual,becomes more natural and contextualized, and language can be learned in moreintegrated and authentic ways (p 114)

2.3 Objectives of Multimedia

Designing objectives is an important task for effective and successful teaching,thus teachers are supposed to set down their objectives before planning any projectdepending on the curriculum content, as well as their learners level and backgroundknowledge Moreover, objectives have to be concise and precise so that learners maydetermine the intended goals, and work to reach them In addition, objectives need to

be measurable i.e they are conceived as an evidence to prove that students havelearned what they are supposed to learn, and they have accomplished what the teacherplanned for Teachers have to decide their objectives and goals of teaching before thepresentation of any task, in order to give students a general idea about what will bediscussed in the lesson For example, when a teacher planned for using multimedia inteaching, h/she should take into account particular objectives achieved from thisintegration; such as developing students’ language proficiency, their cognitive abilities

in solving issues and problems in real life situation, and to evaluate their performancethrough critical feedback and guidance

2.4 The role of multimedia in developing ELT process

The intrinsic role of multimedia in teaching was proved by its high qualities inenhancing students’ proficiency in English language Therefore, to provide acomprehensible input about the target language and culture, EFL teachers integratemultimedia as one of the techniques to improve students’ performance, to fulfill theiracademic needs, and develop their English language skills by giving themopportunities to be active participants in the classroom through interaction withdiverse lesson contents and sharing opinions and thoughts

2.5 The use of multimedia in ELT classroom

As far as the new approaches and methods of teaching are concerned, EFLteachers try to make the use of more current and effective technology particularly

multimedia into their classroom teaching focusing on its influences in enhancingstudents’ achievement and language proficiency

With the use of multimedia in ELT classroom students will be more interestedand engaged in the learning process Consequently, they may learn more languageskills and strengthen their knowledge In addition, the effectiveness of multimedia wasreflected by the ability to expose students to real situations, fluent language and goodpronunciation through video, sounds, graphics as well as computer interaction.Moreover, the integration of multimedia tools into English language teaching makes ahigh quality instruction, investigates issues related to education and supports learners’ambitions and self-confidence However, the useful multimedia tools for teachingEnglish might include texts, images, graphics, audiotapes, videos, and computers

2.5.1 Texts

Text is one of multimedia tools that were used in teaching since a long time,and it is considered as the main source of language input in the classroom Texts areused to simplify the input and make the relationship between multimedia materials, inorder to facilitate the comprehension task for students and to make them participateand interact with their teachers and classmates in the classroom

2.5.2 Images

Recently, with advances in information technology, images are considered asone of the most effective based materials in ELT classrooms, as well as the highlyuseful medium for communication Consequently, the integration of images inclassroom raises the interaction among teachers & students as well as it provides acomprehensible input to learners and brings them to environment that resembles thereal world Moreover, the use of images in teaching makes the shift of learners’ rolefrom “passive listeners to visual thinkers Subsequently, learners activate theircognitive abilities and use their higher order thinking to grasp the meaning and theconveyed messages Then, with the wide use of technology-oriented classroom,images can be used easier than before and they can be digitally obtained, stored anddisplayed We conclude the importance of images as one of the visual aids infacilitating the task for teachers and students and prepare the ground for effectiveclassroom interaction The saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words in this case

is strongly proved and supported

2.5.3 Audiotapes

Audiotapes are one of the teaching aids that are considered as one of thesuccessful technologies that are used for teaching second language It was integrated inthe literature-based curriculum to help students cope with the displayed lesson content.Moreover, recorded texts are highly incorporated in EFL curriculum to developlistening, speaking, and pronunciation, as well as to enhance students’ proficiency inunderstanding different types of oral discourses and the language of native speakers Inaddition, recordings are used in the context of literature as “spring board for discussionwith students about their opinions, thoughts, and conceptions

2.5.4 Videos

Videos are one of the basic tools in ELT classroom; they are characterized bytheir important role in developing teaching and learning However, the effectiveness ofvideos depends on teachers who will select the video, design the tasks for teaching,objectives and activities which facilitate active learning

Hence, videos are reliable tools especially for teaching, since they help teachers

to follow the development of their students’ performance in the classroom and they areaffordable medium to make assessment and provide a suitable feedback

Besides to that, Harmer (2001) asserted that videos used in education tookfurther dimensions of interests rather just “listening with pictures, they are considered

as the most needed component for teaching since they have got several positiveaspects For example, videos help students to understand the target language and graspthe message easily because they allow them not only to listen to the English of natives,but also to see how that language is used in its context including the paralinguisticfeatures such as gestures, facial expressions and to comprehend the text in depth Inaddition, videos raise students’ awareness of the social-cultural norms of the targetlanguage For instance, to look for the difference between American and Britishaccents, social norms, traditions, attitudes, food and clothes etc Thus, videos areconsidered as motivational tools for teaching to make students interesting with thetopic, and to raise their attention and curiosity

2.5.5 Computers

The use of technology in the classroom provided another rich source oflinguistic input through interaction of learners with computers This interactionhappens whenever the learners click to look for further information about the inputsuch as to define words or to look for the cultural aspects of that input

2.5.6 Graphics

Graphics are one of the rich sources used in nowadays teaching, simply defined

as a prepared form of visual message or a visual form of communication” i.e graphicsare one of the visual aids in which we rely on our visual perceptions to understand thecontent In addition, graphics can be classified into several forms of visualcommunication, these forms might include symbols, maps, graphs, diagrams,illustrations, photos etc, and each one of these graphic forms has a specific functionused for communication

To sum up, multimedia has an effective role in enhancing and increasingproductivity in education in general and ELT in particular With multimedia, thecommunication can be done in more effective manner and it can be a valuableinstructional medium for delivering information The instructional media haveemerged in a variety of recourses and equipment such as videos, images, texts,graphics, audiotapes, and computers It enables students to comprehend the input whenwords are complemented with images and animations, and it raises their attention andmotivation when a variety of senses are engaged in impacting knowledge.Furthermore, it gives learners the opportunity to be involved in learning process as

active participants instead of just being passive learners of educational content

2.6 Principals behind Teaching Listening

For making teaching listening comprehension more successful and effectivethere are certain principals teachers should take into account before the practice Forexample, Harmer (2001) proposed six main principals behind teaching listening skill.The first principle is to control the tape recorder before using it; here the preparation isrelated to the validity of the useful materials in teaching listening The secondprinciple is that both teachers and learners should be prepared for listening tasks andthey have to listen to the tape several times before using it in the classroom to avoidany problem The third principle is that the teacher should give students theopportunity to use the tape many times in order to pick up things they missed in thefirst listening The fourth principle is that students should be encouraged to respondand interact not only to the language features but also to the listening content In thiscase, the teacher may ask questions such as „do you agree to check whether studentsunderstand the topic or not The fifth principle is that listening tasks should be varied

in different stages, for example students are allowed to listen for the first time to getgeneral understanding about the topic, and then in later stages they will listen fordetailed information The sixth principle is that good teachers may use the listeningtexts for different tasks and applications after the first play of the tape

Moreover, to make students understand the listening content, teachers have toactivate their learners’ prior knowledge in the pre-listening stage, as well as they aresupposed to control the listening materials that will be used

2.8 The Importance of Multimedia Environment in Teaching Listening

Multimedia environment provides learners with rich sources that are prevalent

in L2 learning contexts; particularly for listening comprehension Much research hasbeen done in second language acquisition (SLA) and Computer-Assisted LanguageLearning (CALL) provides a list of advantages of using multimedia for listening over

the traditional way of teaching Among these advantages is the combination of media

in multiple representations to help learners understand the input easily and sustain theirneeds and interests successfully

In multimedia environment, the teaching materials have been greatly enriched

by adding the related online materials and combining the related texts, pictures andvideos Multimedia environment is regarded as an effective tool for teaching the aural-oral skills (listening & speaking) because of its high qualities in creating authenticenvironment to practice both skills

2.9 Types of Multimedia Used in Teaching L2 Listening

Using multimedia for teaching listening skills is conceived as vital condition forsuccessful interaction between teachers and students Multimedia represents a uniqueenvironment appropriate to practice listening activities It gives learners opportunities

to interact with more than one medium of communication The major useful tools inteaching listening comprehension might include audio-visual aids, videos, computers,Internet, songs, and games

2.9.1 Audio-Visual Aids (AVA)

Aids break-up teachers’ long explanation with something more touchable (stated inChandra 2008)

Concerning the advantages of using audio-visual aids in teaching Sampath,Panneerselvan and Santhanam (2007, pp 80-82) summarized them into eight aspects: 1- Using AVA in the classroom may help teachers to solve all the communicationproblems they may face in the classroom (such as class size, time etc), and help them

to select the available information according to their students’ level

2- AVA are ideal for knowledge acquisition, they provide learners with meaningfulsources of experiences that enable them to participate actively in learning

other audio-visual materials such as television and DVD is authentic and topical withreal world information Also, the video is appropriate to young learners because itcombines color, action, characters and story lines Another positive aspect of videos isthat they can be controlled through the pause bottom, which allows the teacher todivide the recording into pieces in order to explain each part individually and engagestudents to participate As a result, the teacher may follow and control the progression

of the teaching process

When the teacher comes to select the video material, he should first decide how

to integrate it into the lesson and the types of listening skills the video encourages Inaddition, the teacher should be able to control the video playback facilities and theother technical problems, as well as the type of follow-up activities and tasks.Moreover, he added that all learners should participate in the listening process in thepre-, while, and post viewing activities to develop their listening skills

2.9.3 Computer- Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Among the different useful materials for teaching and learning, no single toolhas greater impact than computer It allows the interaction with a set of combinedmedia in a perfect way such as text and graphic, combined with sound and images

2.9.3.1 Songs

Songs play an important role in the development of language teaching andlearning They are considered as valuable pedagogical tools that are used in most ofEnglish language classrooms all over the world

Also, songs can help young learners to improve their listening skills and theycan be useful tools in learning of vocabulary, sentence structure, and sentence patterns.Another greatest benefit of using songs in the classroom is that they can be fun Then,songs can help to improve listening skills because they provide students with practice

of listening to different forms of intonation and rhythm

2.9.4 Internet

The term “Internet is often abbreviated to the Net, and it is considered as thebiggest communication revolution since the advent of the printed books, as well as theperfect and ideal medium for communication process that is used by languageteachers, Moreover, by using Internet in teaching, both teachers and learners willbenefit from its valuable services, since it facilitates the task for them On the onehand, it helps students to determine their needs and objectives In the other hand, ithelps teachers to gain access and introduce it to their students

To sum up, listening serves as a primary channel for learning, require thatstudents function effectively as listeners to cope with language input Therefore, it isvery important that teachers prepare their students for successful listening practice Indoing so, multimedia supports listening skills development and it is considered aspowerful tool to improve students’ listening skills Moreover, multimedia ischaracterized by the logical match of system characteristics (i.e the combination oftext, audio, and video) which simultaneously makes it ideal and basic medium forteaching listening comprehension Then, multimedia environment encourages students

to be actively involved in the learning process, and empowers their manipulation of thelanguage input Also, it assists learners to practice listening activities by using a range

of authentic materials

PART 3: ACTIVITIES AND SOURCES FOR TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS

Teaching a language is essentially taught to communicate Therefore, languageteaching is to improve students’ ability to communicate both oral and written forms.But, to be able to communicate well, students must have language skills Listening isone of the skills in language teaching that should be taught, before speaking, readingand writing (O’Connor, 1998)

3.1 Presentation/Pre-listening Activities:

Listening Activities includes:

Presenting a Listening Text Listening Practice

This section looks at activities for presenting listening texts and practising listening skills

Listening, like reading, is a receptive skill Many of the reading presentation and practice activities can be used as listening activities too - we have listed these at

the beginning of each sub-section For example:

(1) Identify the Main Idea - Write the choices for main idea on the board, then play or

read out the listening text Students choose the best main idea

(2) Information Transfer - Students listen to the text and put information into a

different format: draw a picture, map, or graph, fill in a chart or form, etc

Similarly to the Reading Activities section, this is divided into two sections: Presenting a Listening Text, which has different ways students can first hear a text, and Listening Practice Activities, which has a range of controlled practice activities designed to help students understand the ideas and language from

sub-the text

3.1.1 Choosing a Listening Text

Listening can be a difficult skill to teach and learn in a low-resourceenvironment, where students don’t normally have much opportunity to hear and usereal-life English Choosing a listening text that is the right level for your students isimportant - even more important than with a reading text If you can only find difficulttexts, make sure the tasks are very simple

If you don’t have access to a cassette player, computer or CD audio resources,read the text aloud yourself, or a have a student read it This is useful, even if youdon’t think your English is good enough Most of the people your students will

interact with are not expert speakers either.

(a) Presenting a Listening Text

Usually teachers present listening texts by playing the cassette or CD, or byreading a text aloud

Here are a range of activities students can do while they are listening

Many of the activities in Presenting a Reading Text can be used to present

listening texts as well

1 Focus Questions

2 Match Pictures to Paragraphs

3 Identify the Main Idea

4 Choose the Title

5 Match the Summaries

Purpose: students listen for gist to establish the context of a conversation

Practicalities: all students need to hear the conversation clearly

Preparation: cut up copies of a text - one per student, pair or group

(b) Listen for Context

Play the conversation Students identify:

- where the conversation is taking place

- how many people are speaking

- information about the people: male or female? ages? occupations? appearance?

Purpose: students listen for gist to establish the context of a conversation

Practicalities: all students need to hear the conversation clearly

Preparation: cut up copies of a text -one per student, pair or group

(c) Order the Listening Text

a Make enough copies of a listening text so there is one per student, pair or group Cut

it into phrases, sentences or paragraphs

b Read or play the text Students listen, and put the phrases, sentences or paragraphs

in the correct order

Purpose: students listen for gist to put a text in order

Practicalities: all students need to hear the text clearly

Preparation: cut up copies of a text -one per student, pair or group.

This works well with conversations, where you can cut up what each speaker says This is also a good activity to use with songs.

(d)Dictation

a Read or play the text at normal speed.

b Read or play the text again Pause after every clause or sentence so students can

write what you are saying

c Read with pauses again Repeat this for a third time if necessary Allow students a

few minutes to check and correct their writing

d Give students a copy of the original text Students check their writing and mark it

for accuracy- spelling, final consonants, prepositions, etc

Purpose: students listen, write and check their writing for accuracy

Practicalities: all students need to hear the text clearly

(e) Dictogloss

a Read or play the text at normal speed.

b Read or play the text again Pause after every paragraph so students can record the

important information They should not write word for word - they should use theirown words

c Read with pauses again Repeat this a third time if necessary.

d Show students the original text Individually or in pairs, they compare this to their

versions

Discuss as a class different ways students have expressed the same meanings

Purpose: students listen, write and check their writing for accuracy

Practicalities: all students need to hear the text clearly

(f) Spot the Mistakes

a Prepare a reading text with different information from a listening text Make copies

for the students or write it on the board

b Read the correct version of the text aloud Students spot the mistakes in the written

version

To make it easier, write the words on the board so students can choose between them

This activity is useful after one of the pre-teach vocabulary activities.

Purpose: students listen for detail and identify wrong information

Practicalities: all students need to hear the text clearly

Preparation: prepare a reading text with some incorrect statements

(g) Gap-fill Listening Text

a Read the text to the students, with some key words missing Instead of saying the

key words, say beep or ping.

b Students listen and write the text, filling the gaps with key words.

To make it easier, write the words on the board so students can choose between them

This activity is useful after one of the pre-teaching vocabulary activities.

Purpose: students listen for detail and add key words

Practicalities: all students need to hear the text clearly

Preparation: delete key words from a text

(h) Pair Dictation

a Students work in pairs Give half the text to each partner.

b Partner A reads his/her text while Partner B writes Then Partner B reads and

Partner A writes

c Pairs compare their texts to see if they have read and recorded it accurately.

Purpose: in pairs, students dictate a text to each other

Practicalities: students work in pairs This can get noisy

Preparation: split a text into two parts and make copies for each pair

You can split the text into first half and second half, or a few sections:

A. _

so she didn’t have enough

time to plan it properly

_ There wasn’t

enough room, so many of them had to stand outside in the corridor,

_

_ _ but nobody

brought any extra plates so people had to wait a long time to eat

B My sister’s wedding was a disaster She decided to get married

(i) Running Dictation

a Students work in teams of up to 10 Each team appoints a writer.

b Put the texts in a place where nobody can read them from their chairs.

c The first team member runs to the text, memorizes the first part of it, runs back to

the writer, and dictates what they remember The writer writes it down

d When the writer has finished writing what the first runner dictates, the second

runner runs to the text, memorises the next part, runs back to the writer and dictates

e Continue until you reach a time limit (e.g 10 minutes) or until a team finishes the

whole text

f Teams swap papers and mark another team’s paper The simplest way to mark is to

give one point for every correctly-spelled word in the right place If you like, deductpoints for errors such as incorrect punctuation

Purpose: students accurately communicate and reproduce the

language and content of a text

Practicalities: a noisy activity that requires a large classroom where students can

move around

Preparation: prepare at least one copy of the text for every 2-4 teams.

3.2 Listening Practice Activities

These are controlled meaning-focused activities that help students process the

content of a listening text They focus only on the content of the text, and do not

require a personal response, nor encourage looking beyond the text Free practice

activities can be found in Post-task Activities.

All the activities in Reading Practice Activities can be used to provide practice

with listening texts as well

7 Classify the information

8 Order the Information

Purpose: students focus on the main points of a text

Practicalities: students work individually, or in pairs or groups

Preparation: cut half-sentences from the text, one for each student

(a)Act out the Conversation

a After students have listened to a conversation, give them a copy of the audio script.

They work in groups, with the same number of people as in the

conversation

b Students role play the conversation Encourage them to act as well as read.

You could have them perform the conversations to the class.

Purpose: students focus on the details of a text

Practicalities: students work in pairs or groups, depending on the number

of people in the conversation

Preparation: prepare copies of the audio script for students to read

(b) Rewrite the Text

After students have listened to a text a few times, they rewrite it To make thiseasier:

- write some of the key words or phrases on the board

- if it is a dialogue, provide one speaker’s text and have students write the otherspeaker’s text

Purpose: students focus on the main points of a text

Practicalities: students work individually, or in pairs or groups

(c) Mix and Match

a Give each student a piece of paper with half a sentence from the text on it.

b Students move around the room trying to find the student with the other half of their

sentence from the text on it

Purpose: students focus on the details of a text

Practicalities: students need to move around the room

Preparation: cut half-sentences from the text, one for each student

(d) Act out the Conversation

a After students have listened to a conversation, give them a copy of the audio script.

They work in groups, with the same number of people as in the conversation

b Students role play the conversation Encourage them to act as well as read.

You could have them perform the conversations to the class.

Purpose: students focus on the details of a text

Practicalities: students work in pairs or groups, depending on the number of people in

the conversation

Preparation: prepare copies of the audio script for students to read

3.3 Materials and sources for teaching listening

Material for listening skills would be interesting to learners in accordance withtheir level Ur (1984) states that the exercises for 'listening skills' are more effective ifthey can understand what have been demonstrated Therefore, it is advisable to involvestudents with different types of input, such as' video, audio, text, animation, etc.Furthermore, it is stated that the elements that may be involved are the message,speaker, listener and the setting The types of activity in 'listening skills' are 'dialogue'which includes 'unscripted dialogue' and 'scripted dialogue', 'authentic dialogue', and'monologue' that can be used to practice when using media in the classroom Suchactivities can be carried out to predict the speech, interpret the words, phrases, andsentences, identify the relevant matters, and to know the intention of the speaker Inthis study, the writer would recommend some websites for teachers and learners canuse to develop English listening skills

www.esl-lab.com/listeningskills

http://www.trainyouraccent.com

BBC Learning English

PART 4: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The followings are examples that the writer uses multimedia in teaching listeningskills as well as other skills at Le Hong Phong gifted high school, Nam Dinh

4.1 English textbooks.

Tiếng Anh 12 – U 6: FUTURE JOBS – C LISTENING

Lesson Topics: - What are some changes in job market in the United States?

- What are similarities and differences between changes in job market

in the United States and those in Vietnam?

- Which job market do you want to work for? Why?

Instructional Objectives:

(statements of expected learner outcomes)

 Students will be able to show their understanding of and then describe some changes from manufacturing to service jobs in the United States job market in the target language

 Students will demonstrate that they can present in the target language the similarities and differences between changes in the United States job market and those in Vietnam and which job market they want to work for

 Students will master and use English vocabulary to describe in the target

language how some changes from manufacturing to service jobs in the United States job market relate back to the essential question of the unit

 Students will use the target language exclusively to communicate with the teacher and with each other

 Students will apply their understanding of how best to peer-evaluate language performance

 Students will demonstrate that they can work together in a group and participatefully in a presentation in English

 Students will have the confidence to get up in front of their classmates with their group and have fun speaking and singing English

 Students will demonstrate a high level of creativity

 Students will feel more motivated and engaged in the learning process because they themselves chose how they would be evaluated by their peers

Procedures/Activities:

(include direct, guided, and/or independent activities as appropriate)

 Warm-up (7-10 minutes):

+ Students will work in groups, listen to the song “She wants to be an engineer”

(adapted from Let’s Chant, Let’ Sing 5 by Carolyn Graham) and fill in gaps all

jobs they can hear

+ Teacher will give feedback as a slide below and ask students to hypothesize

how what they have heard might lead into today’s topic about changes in the United States job market.

She doesn’ t want to be a (2) ………

She doesn’ t want to be a (3) ………

She doesn’ t want to be an (4) ………

She wants to be an (1) ………

Act 1: Listen to the song & write the jobs you hear.

She wants to be an (1) ………

She doesn’ t want to be a (5) ………

She doesn’ t want to be a rich man’ s wife, Oh, no

She wants to be an (1) ……… , just like her mama

engineer engineer

 Direct instruction (10 minutes):

+ Teacher will teach and review some key words in the listening passage using pictures, clip and different techniques such as synonym, antonym, definition…

o Using different questioning techniques (asking for raised hands, calling

on random students, and asking for choral answers), teacher will

determine how much students understand and how much review is needed

 Guided/independent instruction (2-5 minutes): Teacher will ask students to

practice pronouncing the above key words with phonetic symbols as a slide below Then teacher will break students into evenly distributed groups and ask them to use the above words to make as many sentences about as possible

o During this time, the teacher will circulate around the class to make sure all the groups are on track and staying in the target language

Act 2: Listen and repeat.

 Independent work (5 minutes):

+ Teacher will ask students to listen to the passage (in the tape recorder), say STOP and raise a hand when hearing one of the above words When one studentsays STOP, teacher will pause the tape and ask him/ her to repeat the word he/ she has just heard Students who can recognize correct words faster will get 1 good mark

+ Teacher will ask students to tell the main idea of the passage they have just learned, a student having correct answer will get 2 good marks

à Expected answer: The passage is about “Some changes from manufacturing

to service jobs in the United States job market”.

 Independent à Pair work (5 minutes):

Students will listen to the recorded passage twice and fill in the missing words

in the boxes (Textbook; p 67) Then they compare their answers with their partner Students will take notes in English during their listening time Some students write their answers on the board and the other give comments Teacher will confirm the correct one as a slide below

Act 1: Listen to the passage and fill in the missing words in the boxes (Task 1 / p 67)

(2) jobs (1) jobs

(3)

companies

(4) ………… companies Personal (5)

 Independent à Group work (5 minutes): Students will read the statements

(Textbook; p 68) and decide whether they are true or false Then they will listen to the passage again to check their answers and correct the false ones After that they compare their answers in groups of 5 or 6 students Students willtake notes and correct false statements in English Some students get up in front

of the class to present their answers, the other give comments Teacher will confirm the correct one as a slide below

Act 2: Listen agin, check your answers & correct the false information

80 %

manufacturing jobs to service jobs F

T T F F

1 American workers have changed from service jobs to manufacturing jobs

2 Manufacturing jobs are jobs in which workers make

3 Personal services are one of the five service jobs

4 70% of workers produced goods one hundred years ago

5 80% of workers will work in the service sector by the year 2020 (90%)

 Group discussion and presentations (5-10 minutes):

+ Each group will have around 5 minutes, use the information about some changes from manufacturing to service jobs in the United States job market theyhave just listened to and the information they have collected about Vietnam job market before to discuss the similarities and differences between them and

discuss the questions: Which job market do you want to work for? Why? Each

member of the group must participate using the target language

+ Each group has 5 minutes to give their presentations

+ During each presentation, the “audience” (the rest of the class) will be

evaluating the group that is presenting based on what they have listened and collected at home, especially the reasons to choose any the United States or Vietnam market Students are encouraged to use English to make comments While the “audience” is making comments on all the issues, teacher will make other comments if necessary

 Homework:

Students are asked to write a paragraph of about 150 words about the job market they would like to work for when they get older and explain the reasons for their career aspirations

Assessment/Closure:

(method of review and evaluation of student learning)

 The assessment of this lesson is more like an activity than a test Students have

a lot of opportunities to compare their answers with partners or have fun

activities to review what they have learned before

 The assessments are directly related to the activities I did in class and the

objectives I set forth Students can understand themselves better after

completing each assessment