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1d: Teaching tips on how to use one-directional audio and video with language learners

There are lots of ways of using audio and video clips with language learners - either learners you're teaching in a face-to-face classroom, or ones you teach by distance. All of the below can be used for either with minimal need for changes.

News programs

Before the lesson, you can visit news sites such as http://www.cnn.com or http://www.itn.co.uk , choose a news item that has a related audio/video clip, and prepare a worksheet around that. Do a pre-listening activity, hand out your worksheet and send them to the listening activity. The rest is pretty much like a regular listening activity.

Note: news sites change frequently and quickly, so preparing lessons a week in advance or so is not recommended!

Pronunciation exercises

You can record a number of minimal pairs for students to listen to and copy. You then also make a recording containing just one word of each of the pairs, and hand out a worksheet with all  the words. Students listen to the recording and mark the words they hear.

This can also be done as a bingo-type exercise: student write down the words into a bingo-grid however they like. You record all the words in random order, students listen to it and the first student to hear three words in a row/line wins.

Students in turn can record individual words of the minimal pairs, making a note of which words they were saying. You (as the teacher) can then listen to the recordings, write down the words you hear, and compare them with what the student meant to say. This can then lead to remedial pronunciation work.

Dictation: this keeps falling in and out of grace, but can be very useful in my opinion! You record a passage and let students listen to it; they write down what they hear. They can then compare their answers or give/e-mail you their results for correcting.

Now it's your turn!! Please go to the discussion board, go to the "Block 3" topic area and add your idea.

This site is maintained by Eric Baber of NetLearn Languages and Web Solutions. Please e-mail me with any comments about this site.