Classroom language when doing listening

Useful classroom language for

teachers for doing listening

Parts of the equipment Play (button) Fast forward (button) Rewind (button) Tone control Speed control Volume (control)

Parts of the equipment

Counter Speakers Speaker cables Lead The original A copy

Parts of the equipment

Cassette/ tape Cassette box (Student/ class/ workbook) CD

CD box Track listing

Things you can do with a CD/ cassette/ audio file

Press play/ fast forward etc Start the CD/ cassette/ track/

recording Skip (to the next track) Reset (the counter) Read the counter

Change/ adjust the volume/ Turn the volume up/ turn the volume downCue the tape/ Find your place on the tapePauseStopInsert the CD/ cassette/ the CD ROMEject/ Take out the CD etcChange the CD/ cassette

Change/ adjust the volume/ Turn the volume up/ turn the volume downCue the tape/ Find your place on the tapePauseStopInsert the CD/ cassette/ the CD ROMEject/ Take out the CD etcChange the CD/ cassette

Names of different question types

Multiple choice True/ false True/ false/ not stated Gap fill Sentence completion Matching

Different kinds of listening texts

Monologues Guided tours Stories Poems Lectures Speeches (e.g. political speeches) Anecdotes Public announcements

Different kinds of listening texts

Dialogues Debates Chat shows Situational dialogues (shopping etc) Conversations Business meetings Interviews

Useful gestures to use when doing listening Cupping your hand around your ear ("Listen") Cupping your hand around your ear and leaning in more towards the

speaker ("Listen more carefully") Cupping your hand around your ear whilst looking quizzical or a little

annoyed ("I can't hear the tape because other people are making noise"/ "I can hear something I shouldn't be hearing")

Putting your right index finger vertically in front of your sealed lips ("Shh"/ "Be quiet so other people can hear the tape")

Putting the tip of your right thumb and right index finger together, touching the left corner of your mouth with them, and then pulling them across your tightly closed lips ("Shut up!"/ "Zip it!")

Put your right index finger out in front of you parallel to your chest and turn it to make a circle at right angles to your body in the air with the tip of your finger ("One more time"/ "I'm going to play it one more time"/ "Do you want me to play it one more time?")

Pointing at the speakers/ CD player/ cassette recorder/ computer ("We are going to list to a recording")

Getting the equipment set up Does anyone know where I can plug

this in?"/ "Where is the socket in this room?"/ "Can someone plug this in for me?"/ "Whose turn is it to get the cassette recorder set up this week?"

"Where's the on switch, I wonder?" "Does anyone know what this flashing

light means?"

 

Lead in "What do you think the two people in the photo

are saying to each other?... We are going to listen to the real conversation. The first time you listen, just check if they say anything that we predicted"

"Match the questions and answers in your book, and then we'll listen and check."

"Which statements (about the Coliseum) do you think are true? Let's listen to a university lecture on Italian history and check our answers"

Explaining the task before you start Don't write anything the first time you listen"

"You don't need to write full sentences, just take notes" "Put the sentences/ paragraphs/ photos in order" "We'll do the first question together, then I'll play the rest through

without stopping" "I won't stop the tape, but we will hear it two or three times" "The questions are in the same order as the text" "It's a real (IELTS/ TOEIC/ etc) exam task, so it will play once/ twice, with

a pause (between and) at the end" "Listen and colour in the clothes with the colour that is says on the tape" "Listen and draw a line between the person and his or her favourite

food" "You'll need to change some of the words from the listening to make

sure they fit in the gaps (grammatically)"

 

Listening for general understanding tasks

"Listen to the whole text and just answer this one question- does the person speaking like Birmingham or not?"

"Just listen for what kind of conversation they are having, from the list at the top of the page. Is it an argument, negotiation, invitation or job interview?"

Prediction tasks "What do you think happens next (in the story)?...

Let's listen and check" "What do you think the numbers represent?... Let's

listen to what the person on the tape has to say" "Which graph do you think shows the real

unemployment rate in China over the last 50 years?... We are going to listen to an expert discussing each of the graphs. He doesn't think any of them are completely true, but listen for which one he says is most accurate."

"Match the photos/ descriptions/ charts to the different countries, then we will listen and check"

Listening for detailed comprehension tasks

"Listen for the differences between the sentences/ text here and what they say on the CD"

Listening for specific information tasks

"Write the name of the person who says each thing/ has each opinion next to sentences as you listen"

During the first time you listen "(As I said), we'll go through the first answer together

(to check you understand) first. So, listen just for question one...Did anyone get that part? I'll play just that bit one more time. Everyone got it? He says 12 cows, so the number is..? 12, good. So you draw a circle around...? 12 cows. Okay, go ahead. Let's see how you've done. You all seem to have the right idea. So, you understand what you have to do, right? Good. Here we go with the other questions. Remember, I won't stop again, so listen and draw the circles as soon as you understand"

 

After the first time you hear it Do you need to hear it again?"/ "One more time?" "How was that?" "(Did you get) anything at all?" "Let me have a look at (some of) your answers. Not bad,

you've got about 50% right." "I'll play it one more time (but stopping after each

answer/ section)" "I'll play it a little bit slower" [if you have speed control

on the computer or cassette player] "After you compare your answers, I'll play it one more

time"

 

Giving listening tips/ helping them towards the right answer

"He has a British accent, so remember that when he says 'can' and 'can't' the vowel sound will be different"

"If you aren't sure which option is correct, cross out the ones you are sure are wrong and then choose from the ones that are left"

"You should be able to guess this question/ some of the answers without even listening"

"Think about the grammar of the sentence" "What verbs usually go together with 'story'?... And which one fits in with the topic

of the conversation?" "It's a trick question/ a typical TOEIC question" "You should be able to judge quite a lot just from his tone of voice" "Think about what he is referring to" "It's a phrasal verb, but I think you can guess the meaning from the verb and

preposition" "While you are waiting for the recording to start, try to predict what you will hear" "Just because you hear a word written in the question doesn't mean it has the same

meaning. In fact, it's usually the sign of a trick question"

After the second time you hear it

"(Was that) a bit better/ easier?" "(Are we) nearly there/ getting there?" "Do you need to hear it a third time, or was that

okay?" "We'll go through the answers you've got so far,

and that should help you understand the whole thing better next time you hear it"

"We are going to do another task anyway, and that might help you answer these questions too"

Checking and correcting their answers

What did you get for question one?" "Does everyone agree?" "Put your hand up if you thought it was A. And B? And C? Most people

didn't put their hand up at all, so let's try again! A? ..." "The right word has exactly/ almost the same pronunciation, but a

different spelling/ meaning" "It did sound like that, but that doesn't make sense in this sentence" "Let's listen to just that one sentence one more time" "This time I'll pause it right after the word we are having problems with" "Let me write that sentence up (with a gap)" "Look at the tape script on page 23/ at the back of your books. Check

your own answers and ask me if you have any questions" "The two words are linked together, so the /d/ is the last letter of the

previous word"

Post listening exercises

"With your partner, discuss if you agree with each things that the person on the tape said. If you don't agree, work together to change the sentence and make it true. Let's do one example as a class. Does anyone agree with statement A? I didn't think so! So, how can we make it true? Good idea! Just add 'not'. That's a nice easy one, nothing wrong with that! So, where can we put 'not' in this sentence? ..."

"With the tapescript/ from what you have written down in your books/ from what you remember, have the same (kind of) conversation in pairs"

Post listening exercises

"Test each other on what you remember about the listening in pairs. The person asking the questions can have their book open, but the person who is answering has to have their books closed. Okay? So, can you two work together? Two, two, two, two. The person on my left. No, not your left, my left- I'm the teacher, so I decide! Ha ha! As I was saying, the person on my left asks the questions. Question, answer, question, answer. So, people on the right, books closed. Maria, you too please. Ready? Ah, I forgot to say. You don't have to start on question one, any question is okay. Maybe pick a difficult one, ha ha ha! Ready now? Okay, questions go!"

Post listening exercises

"Discuss the different listening tactics we used with your partner and together decide on which one will be most useful in the exam"

"Replace words in the dialogue to make it more interesting/ true for you"

"Write a continuation of the dialogue with your partner and then practice it so you can perform it for the class"

Moving on "We are going to look at some of that difficult

vocabulary in the next part of the lesson/ in the next exercise/ in the next lesson"

"Let's have a look at these sentences from the listening in more detail"

"I'm going to give you a similar listening exercise/ a reading on the same topic/ a pronunciation exercise on linked speech for your homework. Turn to page 73 (in your textbook/ in your workbook)"