From Listening to Speaking

English only class

Listening for gist(central idea).
Get the general idea
Listening intensively
Get specific facts

Model of a good sequence

for listening activities

Getting the listening level

right
Too easy: students get all answers right the first time.
Give questions related to the topic in advanced.
Dont accept answers from the strongest students.
Encourage pair-checking.
Make it clear they dont need to understand everything.

Authentic listening Vs Graded

listening
What is authentic listening material?
Background noise.
False starts
Hesitations
Repetition and rephrasing

What is graded listening material?

Controlled language
Vocabulary lists
Not colloquial
Over structured

Preparing for listening

Anticipating
Give a reason to listen
Ask information questions

Adapting listening up or down

level

Grade the task not the listening

track

Split the listening track in sections

Allow students to listen to the

track as many times as they
need.

Students decide when to

pause it.
Peer checking between
listening activities.
If too complex focus on
recognizing key words.

Sample tasks
Task 1 lowerintermediate
(students unable to
answer detailed
comprehension
questions)

Task 2 upper-intermediate/advanced
(students able to provide details )

Dictation
Sentences
Dialogs
Using CD player or not
This is a technique where a text is read twice at
normal speed and the students write down key
words or phrases, after which they reconstruct the
text together in small groups.

Selective listening for text

reconstruction
Dialogs
Biographies
Stories
One part of the class writes details
( Names,dates, major events )
The other part writes main verbs they hear.
Pair and reconstruct the story .

Revision dictation
Choose between five and ten questions or sentences
containing language recently studied by your classes.
Dictate these.
Pair check or small group check
work together. Allow them to ask you to repeat
specific sentences as part of their group checking.
Read through once more for everyone.

Students get useful language like: Can you say that

again? Sorry ... I didnt hear
the verb. Can you say that name again? Can you
speak more slowly/
loudly/clearly?

Using Songs
In class song facts

great motivator.
under-exploitation of the song.
relegate songs to Friday
afternoon or end of term treat
lesson.

Preparing the song

Use the song title, key words, pictures and photos in the
same way as when preparing reading texts or listening.
A sequence of drawings to illustrate the song can be
used for speculation.
On listening to the song pictures or phrases can then be
put in order.

If you have the music without lyrics or can play a guitar,

let them hear the tune beforehand.
What type of song might it be? romantic? sad? funny?
What type of music is it? fast? slow? funky? jazzy? etc.

Focus on vocabulary items

Listen and order the words as you hear them.
Fill in the missing words and check with the song.
Listen. How many times did you hear this word?.

Spot the difference. Change some words for similarsounding ones or ones which make sense
grammatically but do not make sense in the song.
Students read the lyrics and try to spot the strange
words. Then listen to the song and correct the
different words.

Focus on structure or meaning

Split sentences from the
song into two halves and
students have to match
them before and during
listening.
Ask students to order parts
of the song as they hear
them.
Give students a list of
verbs to order as they listen
to the song or as they read.

Listen and check the verbs are in the right place.

Blank out auxiliaries and students choose the right

one from a list on the board.
Put in a few key items that are wrong. Students
can listen and spot them or read the lyrics, predict
the wrong items and the check their predictions
/corrections on listening.

Ear training with blanks

Give a choice of two words where one is right
but the other sounds similar, e.g. night/right,
now/how.
Give a choice of two words for each space
but there is a slight vowel change, e.g. sin/seen.

Give a choice of two words for each space

but there is a consonant
change, e.g. moon/soon/noon,
fake/take/make.

Focus on stress and rhythm

Songs can encourage students to stress and
mouth movements.
Clap or tap along with the song. This helps
students get into the rhythm.

Say the song in rhythm without music, whisper it,

increase the volume.
attempting to sing it. Students who dont want
to sing can mime.

Me with the floorshow

Kickin' with your torso
Boys getting high
And the girls even more so
Wave your hands if your not
with the man
Can I kick it?
(Yes you can)
I got
(Funk)
You got
(Soul)
We got everybody
I've got the gift
Gonna stick it in the goal
It's time to move your body

Babylon back in business

Can I get a witness?
Every girl, every man
Houston, do you hear me?
Ground control, can you feel
me?
Need permission to land
I don't wanna rock, DJ
But your making me feel so
nice
When's it gonna stop, DJ?
Cos you're keepin' me up all
night.

Focus on pronunciation
One half of a rhyme and ask students to put
them back and then listen to check.
Take out all words with the same consonant
cluster or confusing vowel sounds and ask
students to match them.

Take a song with distinct rhymes and give it

to students as a written text with no
punctuation.
Students punctuate the paragraph and find
the rhymes.
Play the song and get them to check and
write out the lyrics.

My
tea'sgone
gone cold,
cold, II'm
wondering
why why
I got out
ofout
bedof
atbed
all at all
My
tea's
wondering
I got
The morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all And
the morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all
even if I could it'd all be grey but your picture on my wall It
And
evenme
if I that
could
it'd so
allbad,
be grey,
your picture on my wall
reminds
it's not
it's notbut
so bad
it reminds
me
thatlast
it's night
not so
bad
I drank too
much
got
bills to pay my head just feels in
it'spain
not so bad
I missed the bus and there'll be hell today I'm late for work again
And even
I'm there
imply
that
might not last the day
I drank
too ifmuch
lastthey'll
night,allgot
bills
to Ipay
And
thenjust
youfeels
call me
and it's not so bad it's not so bad and
my
head
in pain
I want to
thank
giving be
me hell
the best
day of my life
I missed
the
busyou
andforthere'll
today
justfor
to be
with
you is having the best day of my life
I'mOh
late
work
again

and even if I'm there, they'll all imply that I might not last the
day
and then you call me and it's not so bad
it's not so bad and
I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life

Focus on discussing lyrics

Song lyrics can be open to a large number
of possible interpretations.
These types of song lend themselves
well to speculation when people or places
are not clear.
Songs might refer to you or I or us or
them without the listener being clear of
the identity.

Focus on identity
Listen/read and say who the singers are
talking about.
Younger people/older people/people the
same age
Who do they and we refer to?
Is the singer talking about a man or a
woman? How did you decide?

Focus on feelings of the

singer/narrator/subject matter
Do you think the singers have a positive or a
negative attitude? Why?
Do young people in your country share this
positive attitude?
How does the singer feel?
Happy/confused/angry/worried?

Speculate beyond the song if

it is a tale or story
What did the singer
talk about when
he/she.
What do you think
will happen next?
What would you do
in this situation?
Roleplay.

Using video
Videos provide Visual
clues. (place, facial
expression and gesture)

Exploit the video with the

sound off and use
prediction; provide lyrics.
Then listen with no picture
to the music.
Finally combine picture,
sound and written lyrics.

Tips and solutions

Active viewing. Dont just switch on and sit back for
forty-five minutes. You need the help of tasks and a clear
plan to get students involved and really listening.
Short sequences. Use no more than one- to threeminute sequences, since you will be rewinding, reviewing and doing two or three tasks with the material.
Dont have the television on all the time. Switch off
completely when students are working on their tasks.

Cant Stop

Using off-air video

Break down your
sequences into sections of
a minute or so, but use
maximum three to four
minutes for a fifty-minute
lesson.
Use a recognition task with
lower levels but more
detailed comprehension
and vocabulary tasks with
more advanced students.

Role play from cartoons,

dialogues and video clips
After reading or
seeing a cartoon or
video clip encourage
suggestions of
parallel situations
from students and
alternative
vocabulary.

Recording or filming role plays

This encourages a
great deal of :
self-correction
improving
intonation and
pronunciation.
Self motivation.

Conclusion
Listening is one of the receptive skills and by
developing a better listening comprehension we can
motivate students to speak and gather all the
vocabulary and language acquired though out the
programs to communicate naturally and accurately.
At the same time students create contents and
improve
their
comprehension
and
oral
communication skills.

Thank You
Jos Carlos Cifuentes H.