BY SEAN SEBASTIAN GOMEZPENINSULA COLLEGE

Improve Listening Skills in Multilevel Classes with Streaming Video

Agenda

BackgroundRationaleWhat is narrative/paraphrase technique?DemonstrationIs it effective?What are the challenges?Extension activitiesSupplementary materials

Why video?

Students need large amounts of comprehensible input

Video (movies, sitcoms, soap operas) provides a rich source of listening input

The narrative/paraphrase technique allows the teacher to make this input comprehensible to a wide range of abilities

A dramatic storyline keeps learners engagedIf you have an Internet connection, streaming

video is always available and free

What and where is the streaming video?

Connect with English, a video series of fifty 15-minute episodes developed by WGBH Boston for ELLs

Google “Connect with English” - it’s the first hithttp://www.learner.org/resources/series71.htmlRegister - it’s very short and simpleClick on the VoD (video on demand) symbols to

stream the videoDouble click to blow up full screenGather people up front, turn off the lightsDon’t forget to plug in powerful speakers

What is the narrative/paraphrase technique?

Warm up: summary or questionsPlay a fifteen minute episode of the video (1 hr.

needed for lesson, not including wrap-up)Replay and pause often, narrating and

paraphrasing – describing scenes and characters on screen, simplifying dialogue

Frequent comprehension checks to monitor students' understanding and keep class focused Level 1: “What is this?” (a phone) Level 6: “Why did Steve quit?” (He feels

underappreciated, doesn’t earn enough money, and wants to spend more time with his family.)

Wrap-up (optional): discussion, summary, role-play, etc.

Let’s do a demo!

Is it just for listening?

Extension activities:Role-play scenes (all skills)Do a cloze activity with a segment (listening,

reading, writing) – could be for homeworkSummarize the episode in small groups

(speaking, listening) or in writing/homeworkDiscussion about events/characters in the

episode, or related themes: What is important to men/women in a relationship? (from Conversation Book 1)

Is it effective?

Research: Students using the narrative/paraphrase technique outperformed students in a standard ESL program in listening comprehension (Hastings 1995; Yu 1998)

Student Feedback: Narrative/paraphrase improves their comprehension dramatically; it helps them improve their listening; it helps them learn vocabulary, phrases, and idioms; it’s like watching a movie; Rebecca speaks slowly and they can understand.

Teacher Feedback: use with multilevel groups, teach vocabulary, grammar, idioms, expressions, culture, jokes, applicable to many settings (Adult Ed, IEP, K-12)

What are the challenges?

Working with a multi-level group: making video comprehensible to a true beginner, yet challenging a high-intermediate learner.

Convincing a beginner student who can’t follow the dialogue that they can still learn with this method.

Spending time to learn the episodes intimately and come up with a spectrum of questions.

Online Quizzes/Discussion in Angel

Connect with English Supplementary Material

Video Comprehension BookGrammar GuideConversation BookVideo ScriptPurchase materials:from AnnenbergBuy used copy online for inspiration/tweaking

(cheap); ex: Conversation Book = $4.50

Streaming Video, Multi-level Instruction

Fun and effective all-class activityLimitless material to use with this technique on Internet.Students can watch at home

All materials from this presentation: www.cwe4esl.weebly.com