ru basics Jill Hadfield CharlesHadfield www.ru SimpleListening Activities JillHadfield CharlesHadfield OXTORD I I NI VERSI TY PRES S www.ru Contents Foreword AL AN M AL BY lntroductlon Actlvltles L Greetingsand introductions 2 The alphabet 3 Numbers 4 T.lliog the time 5 Personalinformation 6 Countries 7 Nationalities 8 Locatingobjects 9 Feelings 10 Families U. Colours L2 Shapes 13 Partsof the body L4 Describingpeople 15 Clothes 16 Roomsin a flat L7 Furniture 18 In town 19 Directions 20 In the market 2L Shopping 22 Foodand drink 23 Leisureactivities 24 Daily routines 25 Jobs 26 Housework ' 27 Abilities 28 Rules:'must'and'mustn't' 29 DescribingactionsI 30 Describingactions2 www.ru Foreword There is a formidable rangeof materialspublishedworldwide for teachersof English as a Foreign Language.However,many of thesematerials, especially thosepublishedin English-speakingcountries,assumethat the teachers using them will be working with smallish classesand have abundant resourcesavailableto them. AIso many, if not most, of thesematerials make implicit culturally-biased assumptionsabout the beliefs and valuesof the teachersand learners. This situation is ironic in view of the fact that the vast majority of English as a ForeignLanguageclassroomsdo not correspondat all to theseconditions.
Typically, classesare large, resourcesare limited, and teachershavevery few opportunities for training and professionaldevelopment.AIso,the cultural assumptionsof teachersand learnersin many parts of the world may .vary quite significantly from those of materials writers and publishers. This book is an attempt to addressthis situation.The authorspresent 30 lessonsat elementarylevel,eachwith the samemethodological framework.The lessonsare explainedin cleat accessible language,and none of them require sophisticatedresources.Instead,they call on the basic human resourceswhich all teachersand learnersbring with them to class. The languagepoints coveredare onesfound in a typical elementarycourse, and the topics are thosewhich form part of everybody'sdaily lives,for examplefamilies,homes,and leisureactivities. Most importantly, however,the book offersa framework for teacherswho lack training and support.
The hope and the expectationis that such teachers will begin by following eachstepof a lessonquite closelybut, astheir confidenceincreases, will adapt and add to the techniquespresentedhere, respondingto the particular needsand abilitiesof their learners. This is an important book one of the few attempts to addressthe problems of the'silent majority' of teachersworldwide who havelittle or no training, and few resourcesto work with. AL AN M AL EY Assumption University Bangkok, Thailand www.ru Introduction English is taught all over the world, by all sorts of teachersto all sorts of learners.Schoolsand classroomsvary enormouslyin their wealth and their provision of equipment.Learnersarevery different from place to place.But, whatever the conditions in which you are working, there is one resourcewhich is universal and unlimited: the human mind and imagination.This is probablythe one singlemost valuableteachingand learning resourcewe have. Nothing can replaceit.
In eventhe most'hi-tech'environment,a lack of imagination and humanity will make the most up-to-date and sophisticatedresourcesseemdull; conversely, the most simple resourcescan be the most excitingand useful. We havebeen fortunate to spend quite a lot of our time working not only in'hi-tech'environments with computersand video,but also in classroomswhere there is little more than blackboard and chalk and someout-of-datecoursebooks.Someof our most interestinglearning and teachingexperiences(asConfuciussaid,a teacheris'always ready to teach; alwaysready to learn') havebeen not in the comfortablewell-resourcedsmall classroomsof a private languageschool,but in classroomswhere only the minimum of equipmenthasbeen available.Equally,someof our most memorableteachingexperiences in'hi-tech' classroomshavebeen when we haveabandonedthe cassetteor video or glossy coursebookand got to work with that most preciousresourceof all, the learners'ownexperienceand imagination. Teachersoften haveto usematerialswhich are out of date,or contain subject-matterirrelevantto their particular group of learners.For example,we havehad great difficulty explaining the conceptsof the fridge -freezerand microwave oven to Tibetans.In the sameway, learnerswho havespent all their lives in northern countries might have difficulty with an exercisefrom an African textbook which asksif they prefer yam or cassava.So over the last few yearswe havebeen trying to design materials which can be usedin aswide a rangeof teachingsituationsaspossible. The activities we suggestare as flexible as the human imagination is creative;they are'teacherresourcematerial'which teacherswill be able to adjust to suit their particular environment.
In thinking about universallyapplicable,'lo-tech'materialswe havecome up with a list of criteria that needto be met. The materialswill need to: be usablein large classesaswell as small. be suitable for adult learnersas well as secondarylearners,and if possibleeasilyadaptableto a primary context. be centeredon the universalsof human experience.ru Introduction cover the main languageskills and have a useful baseof grammar and topic vocabulary.
be traditional enoughto be recognizableby all teachers,and thus give them a sensegf security,while providing communicative activitiesfor learners. be non-threateningin the demandsthey make on learners. be teacher-based'resource material'rather than books for learners. assumethat no technicaland reprographicresourcesare available and be basedon the human resourcerather than the technical.
be culturally neutral,not context-bound,and thus be flexible,easily adaptableby the teachersto their own culture and teaching context. be flexibleenoughto complementa standardsyllabusor coursebook. Simple ListeningActivities This book containsthirty activities,designedaccordingto the criteria above,for developingthe listeningskill at elementarylevel. Eachactivity has three main stages: Warm-up-This introducesthe learnersto the topic and focuses their attention.
Listen and respond-This is the main part of the activity. The learnerslisten to a text and respondto what they hear in a variety of ways. Follow-up-This stagegivesthe learnersthe opportunity to practisewhat they havelearnedusing the other languageskills. aaa" " Warm-up Before the learnerslisten to a text, it is very important to prepare them by doing a'warm-up'activity.
This meansgiving them some idea of what the text is going to be about, either by telling them or askingthem to guess. Beforeyou begin the activity,you may alsowant to pre-teach difficult new vocabulary.But don't pre-teachall the new vocabulary.Guessingnew words is an important listeningskill and it is a good idea to give the learnerssomepracticein this. Prepare the text beforethe lessonand decidewhich words would be easy for your learnersto guessand which would be difficult. Pre-teach only thosewords which would be difficult or impossibleto guess from the context, but which are essentialfor understanding the text.
Leavethe othersand try to get the learnersto guesswhat they mean-don't do all the work for them!You can explain diffrcult words or expressions later on in the lesson.ru Introduction Warm-up activities should be very short-they should take not more than about five minutes. All you are aiming to do is to get the learnersinterestedin the topic and familiarize them with some vocabulary. Listen and respond Mary learners find it diffrcult to develop the listening skill. Why is this?One reasonis that learnersmay not often hear-or at least needto understand-spoken Englishoutsidethe classroom.The best way to improve their confidenceis to provide them with regular listening practice.
It may be that you are worried about your own English,that it is not of 'nativespeaker'standard. But it is much more important that your learnersshould havepracticein listeningthan that they should alwayslisten to a so-called'perfect' model. After all, it is likely that they will often need to understand non-native speakerswhen they use English in the outside world. If possible,though, it is good for them to havepractisein listeningto a variety of voicesspeakingEnglish.
In a few activities which include dialogues,for example5'Personalinformation' and 21 'Shopping',we have suggestedthat you invite a colleagueto act out the dialoguewith you. Another reasonis that learnerstry to understand every word and get completelylost, becauseduring the time they havespent worrying about one phrase or word, the speakerhas said three or four more sentences. Alwaysaskyoursel('What is the main messageof this text?What are the main points?' Concentratefirst of all on helping the learnersto understandthosemain points. Only then, if necessarSshould you focus on detailsof the language.
There are many different techniqueswhich can be usedto encouragelearnersto listen for the main points. For example: * Listen and complefs-lsa1ng1s listen and use the information given to complete a picture, map, diagram, table, or chart. w Listen and correct-Learners listen to a text which contains a number of factual mistakes.They identify and then correct the mistakes. rt!t; Listen and do-Learners listen to a seriesof instructions or actions,and do tlrem as they hear them.
:s Listen and draw-Learners listen to a description of a person, place,or object and draw it asthey listen. r; Listen and guess-Learnerslisten to a descriptionof a person, place,or object and guesswhat it is. Listen and match-Learners listen to a description and match it to, for example,pictures,people,objects,or places.ru Introduction Listen and reorder-Learners listen to someinformation and useit to put somepicturesor sentences in the correctorder. There are examplesof all thesetechniquesin this book.
Materials A listeningtext is provided in most of the activities.This may be in the form of sentences, a descriptivetext, or a dialogue.In some cases,it is a good idea to adapt the text to suit your teaching situation and the learnersyou areworking with. For examplein 20 'In the market',the lessonwill be more interestingfor the lg31ng15-3ndthey will learn more-if you describethe kinds of food that they seeand eat every day. In the caseof some texts, especiallythosewhereyou are describingyour own experiences and preferences, for example22'Food and drink'it is better if you talk from notesrather than readingout a text. Practiseon your own, usingjust the notesto help you speak,until you feel confident.Evenif you do need to follow a text closely,it is important to becomefamiliar with it beforethe lesson.
In severalof the activities,we haveprovided pictures,plans,or chartsfor you to copy.Thesemay be drawn on the board, on large piecesof paper ('posters'),or on piecesof card ('flashcards').In the caseof largepicturesand plans,postershaveobvious advantages over drawingson the board: you can preparethem in advanceand they can be storedand usedagain.Try to find a cheapsourceof largesheetsof paper for posters.In Madagascar, for example,the teacherswe worked with found the sheetsof paper usedfor wrapping vegetablesin the market were ideal for making posters.A good way to fix postersor flashcardsto the board is to pin a length of string along the top of the board like a clothes-line.You can then useclothes-pegsto peg your postersto the string! Realobjectsor'realia' can be usedas an alternativeto drawings,for examplein 12'Shapes'and 20'In the market'. Procedure During this stageof the activity the learnersare first encouragedto listen for the main points in a text, and only after they havedone this to listen in detail.The procedurestagehas five basicsteps: 7. Explain clearlywhat you want the learnersto do and checkthat they haveunderstoodbeforegoing on. 2 When you are sure that the learnershave understood what to do, read the text or act out the dialoguewithout stopping.Tiy to speak as naturally as possible-as if you were telling a story or talking on the telephone-rather than just readingout loud.
The first time you presentthe text, the learnersshould just listen.ru Introduction The secondtime you presentthe text, get the learnersto do the task while they listen. You may need to read, or act it out, more than once for the learnersto complete the task successfully.Again, remembernot to stop. 4 Get the learnersto checktheir answersin pairs.Then checkthe answersyourself with the whole class. 5 Only now is it time for the learnersto listen to the text---or parts of it-in detail and for you to help them with the words and expressionsthat they found hardestto understand.Sometimesyou can predict what thesewill be and have explanationsready,but sometimesyou will not know what gavethem most difficulty until they tell you.
(Alternatively,they might even have found it so easy that you have little explaining to do!) This stageof the lesson involvesa lot of interaction betweenyou and the classas you find out what gavethem trouble and help them with it. Here are some things you can do at this stage: Check the answersand write them on the board as the learnersgive them to you. Then go over the text again, re-reading the relevant phrasesand explaining anything the learnersstill don't understand. Choosesomeparts of the text to work on in detail,for examplea sentencethat seemedparticularly difficult.
Put a seriesof blankson the board, one for eachword in the sentence: (If you want to make this easier,you can write some words in.) Readthat part of the text again,asking the learnersto fill in as many words as they can. Build up the sentencewith the classuntil all the gapshavebeen filled. When the meaning of a word can be guessedfrom the context, repeat the phrase or sentencein which it occurs and ask the learnersto guesswhat the word means,or to suggestother words that could replaceit. Selectsome useful phrasesor expressionsfrom the listening, write them on the board, and ask the learnersif they know the meaning.
If not, explainit to them. Give the learnerScopiesof the listening text or write it on the board. Let them read and listen at the sametime. This is a useful technique becauseit helps them to relatethe spoken and the written word.
However,don't use it too often, or the learnerswill put lesseffort into understanding the text earlier in the activity.