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Teaching Academic Listening
To show my methodology for teaching academic listening, I've outlined some basic types of listening activities I use regularly to help students grasp the main ideas and supporting details, make inferences, and develop critical thinking skills.
| Identifying Main Ideas and Supporting Details |
| Traditional Workbook Exercises |
Sample listening textbooks I like
- Face the Issues, Numrich (Longman)
- Consider the Issues, Numrich (Longman)
- Tuning In: Listening and Speaking, Numrich (Pearson)
- Lecture Ready, Oxford University Press
- The Internet!
Main Idea Questions Detail Questions
- Answer questions individually and compare with a partner
- Summarize main idea in a sentence
- Books closed, orally give students main idea questions; discuss in a group
Detail Questions
- Listen in groups and assign each person a different question
- Underline important words to listen for
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| Worksheet Exercises for the Computer Lab |
Main Idea Questions
- Type the main idea
- Record an oral summary of the main idea
Details
- Do worksheet and discuss answers with a partner
- Do worksheet using online chat to review the answers in groups of 2 or 3
Transcription
- Partial Transcription: Fill in the missing words from the transcription
- Do a complete transcription from on online video (eg, video.about.com); check with a partner, then with the original transcript if posted
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| Developing Critical Thinking Skills |
| Oral / Written Summary and Reaction |
I have my students either choose their own listening passage on a certain topic or I just assign everyone the same passage. The summaries and reactions can be either written (printed out or posted on the discussion board) or oral. I like to challenge my students and have them record the assignment using Audacity. They can then post their mp3 files onto the discussion board, where we can all listen and evaluate them.
Summary
- Include source information
- State main idea
- Describe most important points/ideas
Reaction Paragraph
- State overall reaction
- Describe how it relates to background knowledge and experience
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- Support with examples from the listening
- Provide some kind of conclusion
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| Synthesizing Two Passages |
Summarize two passages and then write a synthesis paragraph.
- What common themes do you see in both passages?
- What would the two speakers agree on?
- What would they disagree on?
- Which position do you take on the issue?
- How does the material relate to your prior knowledge and background experience?
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| Lectures & Note-taking: Preparation for Mainstream Classes |
| Lecture Videos |
Mainly using note-taking textbooks, such as Lecture Ready (OUP), I have them take notes using various methods: outlining, Cornell Method, etc. To assess, I like to give them quizzes where they use their notes to answer questions about the material. It helps motivate them to take good notes, compare with a partner, and organize/revise them. |
| Guest Lecturers |
This semester, I have invited four professors from other departments to come into my ESL advanced listening class and give a 30-45 minute presentation on a topic in their field. This has been a wonderful experience for my students to get a taste of a real university class, as well as practice taking notes. This semester, our guest lecture topics have been:
- Organic Chemistry — Nanochemistry
- English and Philosophy — Introduction to World Literature
- Molecular Biology — Neurological Basis of Epilepsy
- Marriage and Family Therapy — Cognitive Distortions
Next semester, I would like to schedule these more often, perhaps on a biweekly basis, and include professors from the Engineering, Computer Science, and Management departments to get a wider variety of subject matter.
Student Assignments: The following class day, students hand in a typed summary and reaction to the lecture, as well as an organized copy of their notes. I let them have time to rewrite their notes in an organized fashion before handing them in for a grade. This helps them take this seriously and as a learning experience. Overall, they seem to enjoy these lectures.
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| Class Visits |
I also require my students to audit a different mainstream university class four times throughout the semester. Each time, they are to email the professor for permission, attend the class, and take notes. Afterwards, they hand in their notes and a typed reaction. |
| Research Projects |
| Group/Pairwork |
I usually assign students a topic, such as an endangered species, or a type of automobile. Then, they use the computer lab time to research their topic using specified web resources, such as online videos on National Geographic (www.nationalgeographic.com).
Presentation of information
- Prepare a presentation of the highlights
- Record an audio summary of the information
- Videotape students giving the summary
Further listening practice
- Have students create a 5 question quiz based on their presentation, recording, or video
- Have studetns take notes while listening to other students' presentations
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