Digital Tools Week 3, Task 3

Listening Math
3 + 12 


I see so many possibilities with these tools that it was difficult to limit myself to one idea. So I have decided to make something that I am sure I will actually use.


Digital resources
TIME 10 q's
Myna audio recorder


Class type
Small class of Upper Inter business students


Time frame
2 x 1.5hr classes


Goals

• Revise the formation of direct and indirect questions
• Revise the use of polite speech and how to sustain a conversation (fillers, encouraging words)
• Practise listening skills using real American accents
• Self correct errors during production phases

Procedure

Start a conversation / brainstorming session about interviews - the process of interviews, particularly good interviewers or interviewees that students have seen, reasons why they are good or not. Cover typical questions for different situations.

Introduce the idea of TIME's 10 questions. Let students look at the list of celebrities and chose one that interests them. Ask them to write a list of 10 questions (together) that they would ask this particular person.

Listen to the audio, and ask students to collect the answers to their questions (if they are answered at all). May need to repeat the audio.

Ask students if they found all of their information. If not, set this as a webquest for homework.

Discuss the questions that the interviewer asked. Were they interesting and relevant? How did the interviewer sustain the conversation. Ask the students to transcribe the questions from the video.

Analyse the question formation and register, and discuss (this could take quite some time!!).

Ask students to think of celebrities (in their country or abroad) that they would like to interview.

They must design a set of 10 questions to ask this person (individually). Pair students up and ask them to role play the interview. Record this using Myna.

Listen back to the interviews with students making notes on mistakes and suggestions for improving the vocabulary. The teacher will also furiously be making notes at this stage!

Correct the interviews through a class feedback session. If there was a lot of correction the interviews could be repeated (maybe with different partners), recorded, and the audio's analysed and critiqued for homework.

Possible problems

• The students aren't familiar with the celebrities on the website. Solution - keep going until you find one they are familiar with! It is unlikely as there are many American movies and sitcoms here in Chile.
• The students aren't familiar with the celebrity that their partner choses. Solution - allow them to look on Wikipedia to find more information about the celebrity, or ask the partner to chose a more well known person.
• The technology doesn't play ball. Solution - take own computer and have at least one clip downloaded and saved ready to use. My computer also has voice recording software which eliminates the need for external hardware or internet connection.

I would then do a post-plan or a reflection for the class to decide where we head next - either to another listening topic or perhaps to a grammar review depending on what mistakes arise in part two of this plan.

I have done classes similar to this in the past and generally it works well. The hardest part is getting the students to concentrate on just one video! Sometimes choosing only one video is like a life or death decision!