Thursday, March 20, 2014

Using the Transcript After Listening


Index of Ideas

            During a listening practice, I usually play the CD 3 times.
            1st time: Listening for main ideas
            2nd time: Listening for details
            3rd time: Listening using the transcript.

            (It depends of course on how the particular textbook is set up.  Sometimes I will use their questions instead.)

            Over the years, I’ve got a bit concerned that students weren’t really paying attention during the third listening.  I was pretty sure I saw a lot of eyes glaze over when I just gave them the transcript to read.  So I decided to insert a task for the 3rd listening, and delete some words from the transcript for them to fill in.
            This often means I have to retype the transcript up on the computer, which does take about 10-15 minutes, but I usually find it worth the time.  Especially for levels I know I will be teaching multiple times.
           
            And here are some other ideas I’ve been experimenting with:
            Similar to the Karuta (W) game I used with the vocabulary from reading , I have been taking the deleted words from the listening transcript and putting them onto small cards.
            Before giving the students the transcript, I have them get into groups of 3 or 4, and spread the vocabulary cards over their desks.  I then play the CD, and they have to listen for the words, and try to grab the correct vocabulary card when they hear the word on the CD.
            If the class is having trouble with this, then I do it another time, but this time I read the transcript myself, and pause before each of the vocabulary words.  Students, either from memory or inferring from context, must then grab the correct word before I tell them the answer.
            After that, I give them students the transcript with the deleted words.  They now have to match the vocabulary cards to the blanks.  And when they have completed this, I play the CD again for them to check their answers.

            All this can take some time, so I don’t recommend doing the vocabulary cards with every listening, but I do use it about once a term.  The students seem to enjoy it once.

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