May 7 webinar improving listening and speaking with free online tools

KAT I E B A I N E N G L I S H L A N G UA G E F E L L O WB A R R A N Q U I L L A , C O L O M B I A

Improving Listening and Speaking with Free Online

Tools

M I G U E L M E J I A F L O R E ZE N G L I S H I N S T R U C T O R - B N CB A R R A N Q U I L L A , C O L O M B I A

Agree or Disagree?

Agree or Disagree?

I think teaching listening and speaking

is really easy!

Agree or Disagree?

I love online learning tools and use them all the time in my

classroom!

Agree or Disagree?

I can’t use online tools ever because I never have an Internet

connection in my classroom.

Agree or Disagree?

I know where to find free online tools.

Agree or Disagree?

Students are more motivated when they use online tools.

Agree or Disagree?

This webinar is gonna be

FUN!

Webinar Objectives

1. Participants will be reminded of some basic principles of teaching and learning listening and speaking skills.

2. Participants will encounter many tools for using free online tools to improve listening and speaking skills in the classroom.

3. Participants will have FUN!!!

Components of Listening and Speaking Instruction

Components of Listening and Speaking Instruction

1. Meaning-focused input2. Meaning-focused

output3. Language-focused

learning4. Fluency development

(Nation, I.S.P., Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge, New York. )

Meaning-focused Input

Receptive SkillsStudents’ main focus is on making meaning,

understanding, and comprehending the input they are receiving.

i + 1

(Nation, I.S.P., Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge, New York. )

Meaning-focused Output

Productive SkillsThis strand focuses on students producing

meaningful meaningful speech that they can use in the real world.

(Nation, I.S.P., Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge, New York. )

Language-focused Learning

AccuracyGrammarPronuciationVocabularyPunctuationSpelling

(Nation, I.S.P., Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge, New York. )

Getting to Fluency

Students make the best possible use of what they already know.

The students’ focus is on conveying and understanding meaning.

(Nation, I.S.P., Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge, New York. )

Computer-Assisted Language Learning

Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) The use of computer technology in the classroom

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Computer technology for language learning

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) The use of the computer technology to enhance

speaking, listening, and pronunciation skills for language learning

(Chinnery, George M. . "Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources." English Teaching Forum. 43.3 (2005): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.)

1981-1999

The concepts fit together.

Online Listening and Speaking Tools

ReceptiveDone by an individual or a single group of users.Students receive information from text, images, audio or video.

(Chinnery, George M. . "Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources." English Teaching Forum. 43.3 (2005): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.)

Online Listening and Speaking Skills

InteractiveTwo or more users interact at the same time.Students speak and respond to others in real time.

Beginning Level Activity: Get the Gist!

1. Listen to an audiofile as a class2. Ask students a “gist” question:

Example: Was the story about the Internet or newspapers?

3. Listen again and again, with readiness prompts

Example: Listen for…the prediction of the future of the newspaper. List at least one prediction.

(Chinnery, George M. . "Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources." English Teaching Forum. 43.3 (2005): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.)

Intermediate Level Activities

T/F or multiple choice questionsStudents work in pairs or groups to create a

headline for a storyStudents script and record their own

narration to match a topic, using structures they identify after listening many times.

(Chinnery, George M. . "Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources." English Teaching Forum. 43.3 (2005): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.)

Advanced Level Activities

Students discuss to compare and contrast two audio files on the same subject.Example: Listen to a story on the same subject from

CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. Compare and contrast the differences in the way news is presented or how different networks present the same topic.

CNN IRS ScandalFox News IRS ScandalMSNBC IRS Scandal

(Chinnery, George M. . "Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources." English Teaching Forum. 43.3 (2005): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.)

Ready-to-Go Create-Your-Own

www.esl-lab.com www.literacynet.org/cnnsf www.americanenglish.state

.gov http://www.voanews.com/

http://www.npr.org/http://edition.cnn.com/http://tv.msnbc.com/http://video.nationalge

ographic.com/video/kids/

http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video

Websites for Activities

Digitally Recording Student Speech

Have students record and upload presentations on Youtube.

Record short utterances in class and have students send the videos to eachother and prepare and record responses as homework or classwork.

(Reilly, 2012)

Action-Packed Video Clip

Show an action-packed video clip.Have students write and then share

sentences about them with partners and then as a class.

Example: Indiana Jones Stunts

(Reilly, 2012)

Songs

Students bring songs to class and bring cloze activity handouts for them.

(Reilly, 2012)

Community Member Talk

Invite a friend or colleague to the class in person or via skype to discuss a topic that is important to the class (the environment, public health, education, crime, etc.).

Broadcast a Ted Talk. http://www.ted.com/

(Reilly, 2012)

Voice of America

Voice of America: Pre-reading

1. Explain the topic.2. Have students brainstrorm a list of words

they expect to hear.

Voice of America: During Reading

Students listen several times. Students put check marks next to the words

that are repeated as they listen.

Voice of America: Post Reading

Students use the words that were most repeated and write, then share, a summary sentence of the news story.

Voxopop

On Voxopox you can create conversation groups students can join by recording and posting their own voices.

Create a Group!

Accounts, groups and discussions on Voxopop are very easy to create and join.

Online sources for discussion topics

The Internet TESL Journal has many discussion topics you can use in class and virtual settings. http://iteslj.org/questions/

Lots of Discussion!

Each discussion topic can have dozens of interesting questions.

TIP: You can have students respond to your questions on Voxopop, and give them follow-up question to ask their partners, for extensive and ongoing conversation.

Reading Companion

Reading Companion is a free software and service created for students in public schools.

Students can practice and reinforce listening, reading, and pronunciation.

On reading companion you manage classes and groups and assign interactive books to read.

Reading companion works with voice recognition software that allows learners to improve pronunciation and fluency.

ESL Video

ESL video provides free interactive listening activities and quizzes for further listening practice.

Sample Quizzes for Beginners and Children

What are ESL Video quizzes like?

On ESLvideo.com listening quizzes go from very basic ones up to high-intermediate quizzes.

Suggestions for using ESL Videos

Maximize the video screen for a little bit of challenge.

Browse and take quizzes in advance to check everything is level/content appropriate.

Keep copyright laws in mind when creating your own video quizzes.

Anything2mp3.com

If you feel like creating your on listening activities, you can use Anything2mp3.com to convert any audio track from a video to an mp3 file.

Download an audio file and then create a listening activity quiz to suit your students needs.

Anything2mp3 supports a wide range of video sharing websites like…

Make a Movie!

BNC Barranquilla Library Video

Download a Free Trial

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=premiere_elements&loc=us

What other ideas do you have?

Use your cell phones to record other ideas for using the Internet to improve student Speaking and Listening using Online Tools.

Email them to ktbain53@gmail.com.Videos will be uploaded to my blog!

Sources

Chinnery, George M. . "Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources." English Teaching Forum. 43.3 (2005): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.

Lowrey, Annie. "Do millenials stand a chance in the real world?." New York Times 31 March 2013, Sunday MM12. Web. 19 May. 2013.

Luzon Marco, Maria Jose. "Internet Content-Based Activities for English for Specific Purposes." English Teaching Forum. 1.1 (2002): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.

Nation, I.S.P., Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge, New York.

Reilly, Peter. "Understanding and teaching Generation Y." English Teaching Forum. 1 (2012): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.

THANK YOU!

Katie Bain and Miguel Mejia Florezktbain53@gmail.com

mermeflorez@gmail.comwww.colomboamericano.org

www.elfellowkbain.wordpress.comwww.americanenglish.state.gov