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Teaching Methods for the Instruction of

Listening and Speaking

Katie BainEnglish Language Fellow

Participants will learn research-based methods for teaching listening and speaking skills and will design lessons that they can use in the classroom.

Objective

Your Best Strategies Your Most Difficult Challenges

Best Practices vs. Challenges

meaning-focused input meaning-focused output language-focused learning

fluency developmentThe Four Strands of a Good Language Course

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

How can you learn to do something if you do not spend time doing it?

How can you listen well if you do not practice listening?

How can you speak well if you do not practice speaking?

The Time-on-Task Principle

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

Receptive Skills Students’ main focus is on making

meaning, understanding, and comprehending the input they are receiving.

In order for this aspect to be helpful for students, the input students are receiving needs to be somewhat familiar to them, with only a few words or phrases that are unknown to them.

Meaning-focused Input: Learning through Listening and Reading

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

Productive Skills This strand focuses on students

´producing meaningful utterances by either speaking or writing.

For these activities to be useful in the classroom, students need to be discussing and writing about topics that are familiar to them, which require minimal use of outside support for production.

Meaning-focused Output: Learning through Speaking and Writing

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

The deliberate learning of aspects of language, such as grammar, pronuciation, vocabulary, punctuation, spelling, etc.

The ultimate goal for language-focused learning is for students to produce and receive accurate messages, but the instructional process is focused on the form.

Language-focused Learning

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

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

The students´focus is on conveying and understanding meaning.

Students can be challenged by the teacher to try to speak or listen at a pace that may be difficult for them at first.

Becoming Fluent in Listening and Speaking

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

ACTIVITIES!

the listening “text” is brief (1 – 3 minutes) the purpose for listening is identified and shared

with learners the listening “text” is supported by visual clues the listening exercise requires an appropriate

response the listening “text” is repeated several times the activity provides immediate feedback the activity has elements that contribute to

motivation

Characteristics of An Effective Listening Activity

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

1. Help learners focus their attention2. Set up the activity3. Let the learners do the activity (whole

class, pairs, groups)4. Evaluate the activity5. Provide follow up

Facilitating Listening/Speaking Activities

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Picture Descriptions Real-world purpose: To understand English question

words and respond appropriately. Find a large magazine photo. Show the picture to the

entire class and ask a series of questions related to the picture. Elicit responses from learners.

For additional practice, put learners in pairs.

Activity 1: Picture Description

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

As a class, or from one learner, elicit an account of a real experience from work, community, family or friends.

Write the account on the board as the learner speaks.

When finished, orally ask comprehension questions about the account written on the board. Utilize a variety of WH-information questions, yes/no questions.

Language Experience Approach VideoActivity 2:Language Experience Approach

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Question Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4What is your name?

What do you like to do in your free time?

What is your favorite holiday? Why?Tell me about your family.

Activity 3: InterviewsMiller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Examples of Minimal Pairs

Activities That You Can Do

• pat, bat• lift, list• have, has, had• base, vase• bat, vat• peas, keys

Minimal Pairs List

• Same or Different

• Odd Word Out

Activity 4: Minimal PairsMiller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Activity 5:Dictation

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Past Right Now Future______________________________________________________

Every Day

Prepare short lists of 10-12 level-appropriate sentences that are pertinent to the life skill topic or subject matter currently being studied. The sentences should utilize verb tenses already studied and practiced by learners.

Learners mark the tense of each sentence based on what they hear and check their answers with partners or as a class.

Activity 6:Past, Present, Future

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Locate a short, level-appropriate newspaper story that is pertinent to the life skill topic or subject matter currently being studied.

Prepare a set of 4-6 comprehension questions based on the article.

Read the story aloud at a natural pace while learners listen to get the gist.

Next, give learners the set of comprehension questions.Activity 7:

News Quips and Questions

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Locate 4-6 objects for which learners know the vocabulary words.

Place each object in a separate brown paper bag. In the manner of a riddle, give learners a series of clues about each object as its bag is displayed, (Examples: what color it is, what it is made of, what it is used for, who uses the object, how much it usually costs, what it weighs, etc.

When learners have heard all the clues, they guesswhat the object is.

Activity 8:What´s in the bag?

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

Choose a song based on what you are learning or what students need to know.

Give students copies of the lyrics with certain words omitted.

Students try to fill in the missing words.

Sing along! Hello Goodbye, by the Beatles

Activity 9: Song Lyrics

Make a list of 5-10 very simple sentences. As a whole class, or in groups of 4-5, ask each learner in turn to add a word, phrase, or clause to the sentence so it gradually expands and becomes more complex.

After a certain period of time, or when groups are unable to expand the sentence further, ask each group to write their final sentence on the board.

Activity 10: Expanding Sentences

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

1. Work in pairs or small groups.2. Using ideas from the presentation, create a

lesson plan to help students improve their listening and speaking skills.

3. Include the unit title, theme or topic, important vocabulary, lesson objective, classroom activities, and assessment plan.

4. Present your plan to the class. 5. I will collect the plans and type them up in order

to send them to you. You can then use the ideas created by your colleagues in your classroom!

Action Plan!

Unit Plan or TitleTheme or Topic of LessonImportant VocabularyLesson Objective: Students will…Lesson Plan Activities:Assessment:

Lesson Plan

Miller, Jane C. (2010). Listening and Speaking Activities for Adult ESL Learners. Colorado Department of Education, Adult Education & Family Literacy.

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

Sources