Teaching Listening: principles, techniques and technologies

Abstract
A lot of teachers find that listening is a tricky skill to teach. This session is your golden opportunity to 'hack' this skill. During this session you will design, try out and discuss a range of listening activities informed by research and expand your knowledge of online resources and tech tools for teaching listening.
Session Objectives
By the end of the session, participants will have:
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created materials aimed to scaffold out-of-class listening and started to encourage their learners to listen out of class in a systematic way
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analyzed what proficient listeners do and what implications this has for teaching listening
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looked at a framework for listening lessons and analyzed the principles that guide the choice of listening tasks
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increased their repertoire of listening activities, including activities that make use of technology
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collected a library of online tools, resources and websites that can be used to address the common listening problems and that are useful in their contexts
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had hands-on experience using the activities and the tools in their contexts, reflected on this experience and received support and feedback from course moderators and other course participants
- engaged in discussions and shared their tips on teaching listening with and without technology
Target audience
Both experienced and inexperienced teachers of teenage and adult learners who are prepared to dedicate up to 5-7 hours a week to the session.
Certificate
To qualify for a certificate of participation, you need to participate in all discussion tasks during at least three weeks out of five.
Syllabus
Weekly Content
Week 1 (14-20 Jan. 2018)
Introduction
The participants will:
Autonomous listening out of class
The participants will
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participate in a live session with Lizzie Pinard (14 January at 4 PM GMT) and read materials on establishing an out-of-class listening scheme
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share (via a discussion question) their favourite listening resources for out-of-class listening (both authentic resources and resources aimed at language learners) and explore resources shared by the course moderators and other course participants
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create a plan/log for scaffolding their learners’ out of class listening in order to (optionally) launch this listening scheme with one of their groups (opportunities to report on the learners' attitude and progress will be provided during Weeks 2 and 4), using the log template provided.
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share the materials they’ve created, receive feedback from the course moderators and other course participants;
- leave feedback on other course participants' work
Week 2 (21-27 Jan. 2018)
Traditional listening lesson framework: Dos and Don'ts
The participants will
(3) find out ways to make the classroom listening experience more learner-centered and life-like
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read and watch a short video related to teaching listening and compare it to their own approach to teaching listening
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discuss and share tips on using authentic materials with lower level students
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design a listening activity/lesson based on authentic material and, optionally, try it out in class
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share their activity/lesson plan and handouts (and reflection, if they have tried it) and get feedback from the course moderators and other participants
- leave feedback on other participants' work
- follow up on the work they started during Week 1: revisit their out of class listening schemes by sharing a link to their autonomous listening plan (including logged notes on progress made with it) and commenting on other participants' plan/progress.
Week 3 (28 Jan.-3 Feb. 2018)
Beyond the comprehension approach: critical thinking and high order thinking (HOT) listening tasks
The participants will
- participate in a live session with Jennie Wright (28 January at 4 PM GMT) during which they will:
(1) try out a variety of high order thinking (HOT) listening tasks
(2) discuss ways of implementing high order tasks in the classroom
- learn five key terms on the topic of critical thinking;
- watch a short video related to critical thinking and evaluate current listening tasks;
- read about critical thinking in language teaching (free pdf booklet) and share your evaluation of your favourite task from the booklet;
- design a high order thinking listening activity and, if possible, try out the activity in class;
- share their activity (and reflection, if they have tried it) and get feedback from the course moderators and other participants;
- leave feedback on other participants' work.
Week 4 (4-10 Feb. 2018)
Beyond the comprehension approach: decoding skills
The participants will
Week 5 (11-17 Feb. 2018)
Practical activities for teaching listening decoding skills
The participants will
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participate in a live session with Olya Sergeeva (5 February 4 PM GMT) during which they will
(1) learn a range of practical classroom activities for teaching listening decoding skills and
(2) look at software tools that make it easier to create listening decoding activities;
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read about practical listening decoding activities and watch lesson fragments showing work on decoding skills;
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try out two software tools that make it easier to teach decoding skills;
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design a listening decoding activity for their learners (and, optionally, try it out in class);
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share their activity (and, optionally, a recording if available and a reflection, if they tried it) and get feedback from the course moderators and other participants;
- leave feedback on other participants' work
Conclusion
The participants will
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evaluate the session
- reflect which ideas and tips presented during the session were the most useful and plan how they will develop further as a teacher of listening
Session Communication Tools
1. Schoology
2. Facebook group (optional)
Other technology tools:
Week 1:
Listening resources aimed at language learners, such as
Authentic listening resources (youtube channels, podcasts, etc)
Week 2:
- any technology for the learners to play audio/video files (e.g. the learners’ phones: BYOT - bring your own technology);
- speech recorders, e.g. in a mobile phone;
Weeks 4 and 5:
Session Sponsors
IATEFL BESIG
Join this session
Registration begins on January 8, 2018.
To join this group:
Registration begins on January 8, 2018. |
- Go to schoology.com and sign up.
- Use the session access code PQMXT-959H4 to join the session. (If you're experiencing any sort of difficulty joining the session, please contact Olya Sergeeva at olyaelt@gmail.com)
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[optional] If you'd like to connect with other session participants on Facebook, you could also join our Facebook group.
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Moderators
Moderators: Fill in the table for all session moderators and co-moderators. You can change or add to the list later. Co-moderators are expected to take part in the training session along with moderators.
Name (last, first)
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Email address
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Location (country of residence)
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Biodata (not more than 50 words)
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Picture |
Olya Sergeeva
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olyaelt@gmail.com
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Russia
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Olya Sergeeva is a business English trainer and Cambridge certified CELTA trainer based in Russia.
She got interested in listening during her Delta studies over four years ago. Since then, she has been running listening courses aimed at helping learners understand authentic accents. Her particular interests lie in the use of technology for creating effective listening activities and materials. She's a co-creator of http://www.tubequizard.com/, a free tool that generates listening decoding quizzes based on subtitled Youtube videos (nominated for the British Council ELTons award 2017).
She blogs and shares some of her listening materials at http://eltgeek.wordpress.com/
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Elena Wilkinson
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elenayarizko@gmail.com
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Russia
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Elena Wilkinson has been teaching English (to children, General English and Business English) for over 11 years. She holds an MA in TESOL from Concordia University, USA. She is also a Cambridge certified CELTA trainer and enjoys sharing her experience in teaching English in the USA and Russia with others.
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Richard Cauldwell |
richardcauldwell@me.com |
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Richard Cauldwell has taught English in France, Hong Kong, Japan, and the UK, where he worked at the University of Birmingham.
Since 2001 he has published electronic and print materials for listening and pronunciation. Two of his publications have won British Council Innovations in ELT awards (ELTons): Streaming Speech (online course) in 2004 and Cool Speech (iPad app) in 2013. His Phonology for Listening: Teaching the Stream of Speech published in print in 2013 and as an eBook in 2014 has been shortlisted for three awards, and has received high praise in reviews from many sources, including TESOL Quarterly, and the Journal of the International Phonetic Association
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Jennie Wright |
tefl-helper@hotmail.co.uk |
Germany |
Jennie Wright is a teacher, teacher-trainer, blogger and ELT author based in Germany.
With over 15 years of experience in language teaching, her blog features free professional development resources for teachers: http://teflhelperblog.wordpress.com/.
She also co-authored Experimental Practice in ELT: Walk on the wild side which is published by www.the-round.com.
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Lizzie Pinard |
lizzie.pinard@gmail.com |
UK |
Lizzie is a teacher, researcher and materials writer currently based in the UK. She has taught in the UK, France, Romania, Indonesia and Sicily. She holds an M.A. in ELT and a Delta. She is also the author of the ELTON award-winning intercultural communication module Compass (http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/integrated-skills/compass/). |
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Marina Kladova |
Kladoffam@gmail.com |
Russia |
Marina Kladova is a Chief Methodology Officer at Skyeng. She's a Delta qualified teacher and ELT manager based in Moscow. She is really into teacherpreneurship, organizes online conferences for English teachers and she enjoys sharing her experience and ideas with other teachers.
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Maria Matheas |
saehtam@hotmail.com |
Thailand |
Maria Matheas has taught English in a wide range of contexts for over 16 years. She had a keen interest in learning technologies and is currently working towards the MA in Digital Technology, Communication and Education with the University of Manchester. She is now based Thailand where she mentors teachers. |
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Helen Haga |
himepromo@gmail.com |
Brazil |
Hellen has got a degree in Library, but she is passionate about teaching and assisting English teachers, thus becoming an English teacher in 2011. She also holds a Cambridge CPE and a CELTA. Particularly interested in listening and pronunciation, she took the EVO session on listening in 2017 and now is looking forward to the opportunity of sharing experiences with fellow teachers. |
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Daniela Martino |
dlmartino76@gmail.com |
Argentine |
Daniela L. Martino is a teacher of English and Sworn Translator (Universidad de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina) She holds a Diploma in Education and ICT and is currently doing an MA in Technology-mediated Learning (Universidad de Córdoba, Argentina). She has been working as an EFL teacher at different levels for twenty years. She has also been an EFL pre and in service teacher trainer, lecturing in Applied Phonetics since 2009. Her research interests include the integration of ICT in teaching programmes, particularly in the teaching of segmental and suprasegmental features of spoken English. |
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Evgenia Antonova |
mad.hatter.ea@gmail.com |
Russia |
Evgenia Antonova has been teaching English in the area of IT for 5 years. She is really interested in teaching listening and has hands-on experience in that field. The listening EVO session in 2017 contributed a lot to that experience, and now she is ready to support and encourage other teachers taking part in the event. |
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Veronica Arena |
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Argentina |
Veronica Arena is a teacher from the I.E.S. en Lenguas Vivas "J. R. Fernández" and has been teaching English to adults in-company for over twenty years now. She is the owner and Director of Studies at Needs Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a course designer, a materials developer and is in charge of assessment. She believes that listening comprehension is the most important aspect of communication and thus she has become a video professional editor to help learners acquire listening strategies, which will help them cope with real English situations. She has been actively involved in EVO sessions for the last six years. She attended "Teaching Listening" last year and as a result she organized an open and free workshop on this topic for learners from all around the world. Veronica believes that we only grow, both personally and professionally, when we are able to help others reach their goals. |
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Primary Contact:
Olya Sergeeva (olyaelt@gmail.com)
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