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:

created materials aimed to scaffold out-of-class listening and started to encourage their learners to listen out of class in a systematic way
analyzed what proficient listeners do and what implications this has for teaching listening
looked at a framework for listening lessons and analyzed the principles that guide the choice of listening tasks
increased their repertoire of listening activities, including activities that make use of technology
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
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:

introduce themselves and start interacting with the course moderators and other participants
get familiarized with the course platform

Autonomous listening out of class

The participants will

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
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
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.
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

Participate in a live session with Elena Wilkinson (21 January at 4 PM GMT), during which they will
(1) analyze the core structure and discuss the dos and don't for a traditional listening lesson
(2) discuss the main differences between classroom and real life listening

(3) find out ways to make the classroom listening experience more learner-centered and life-like

read and watch a short video related to teaching listening and compare it to their own approach to teaching listening
discuss and share tips on using authentic materials with lower level students
design a listening activity/lesson based on authentic material and, optionally, try it out in class
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

participate in a live session with Richard Cauldwell (4 February at 4 PM GMT) during which they will present two approaches to teaching 'bottom-up' skills (also known as decoding skills): the use of authentic recordings, and the use of vocal gymnastics and look at research and examples that demonstrate the importance of teaching decoding skills;
read and watch videos about the typical ways in which English words and expressions differ from their 'dictionary' forms in real, authentic speech (so called features of connected speech);
try out a software tool that makes it easier to analyze pronunciation in authentic recordings by making it possible to quickly find and play individual sentences and words;
analyze features of connected speech in several authentic extracts, in order to gain confidence that they can clarify these features to their learners;
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 participant's plan/progress.

Week 5 (11-17 Feb. 2018)

Practical activities for teaching listening decoding skills

The participants will

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;
read about practical listening decoding activities and watch lesson fragments showing work on decoding skills;
try out two software tools that make it easier to teach decoding skills;
design a listening decoding activity for their learners (and, optionally, try it out in class);
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

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:

Interactive transcripts on Youtube
Youtube channels with high quality (human-produced) transcripts
Aegisub
http://tubequizard.com

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)

[optional] If you'd like to connect with other session participants on Facebook, you could also join our Facebook group.

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)	Email address	Location (country of residence)	Biodata (not more than 50 words)	Picture
Olya Sergeeva	olyaelt@gmail.com	Russia	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/
Elena Wilkinson	elenayarizko@gmail.com	Russia	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.
Richard Cauldwell	richardcauldwell@me.com		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
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.
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/).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Veronica Arena		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.