TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A INTRODUCTION 2 1 Rationale of the study 2 2 Aims of the study 3 3 Participants of the study 3 4 The scope of the study 3 PART B CONTENTS 4 I Theoreotical background 4 1 What a[.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A INTRODUCTION .2 Rationale of the study 2 Aims of the study 3 Participants of the study .3 The scope of the study PART B CONTENTS .4 I Theoreotical background .4 What are authentic materials? Why should we use authentic listening materials? Benefits of using authentic listening materials II Ways of using different types of authentic materials Radio Video clips: .8 The Internet III Designing listenimg tasks using authentic listening materials for students partaking in the Provincial English Contests .10 Exercise 1: 10 Exercise 2: 12 Exercise 3: 13 Exercise 4: 14 Exercise 5: 15 Exercise 6: 16 skkn Exercise 7: 16 Exercise 8: 17 Exercise 18 10 Exercise 10 .19 11 Exercise 11 .20 12 Exercise 12 .21 13 Exercise 13 .22 14 Exercise 14 .22 15 Exercise 15 .22 16 Tapescripts .23 IV Performance results 42 V Implications for teachers when applying authentic listening materials into language classroom 43 Learner’s language proficiency level: 43 Learners’ interest of the topic: 43 Cultural appropriateness 43 Preparation .44 Staging the lesson 44 Exploiting the listening text .44 PART C: CONCLUSION 45 Page | skkn PART A INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Listening, the most frequently used form of language skill, plays a significant role in daily communication and educational process In spite of its importance, listening ability development has received only slight emphasis in language instruction Nevertheless, English classrooms, where comprehensive listening serves as a primary channel for learning, require that students function effectively as listeners It is therefore important for English teachers to prepare students for successful by implementing authentic listening materials in the classes The question of how to help learners develop effective listening skills brings attention to the methods we use and the type of materials we introduce our learners to The aim of all listening lessons should be to allow learners a greater degree of independence when confronted with listening to the foreign language in a real world context, and that means using authentic texts Authentic texts are any spoken texts which have not been specially prepared for language learners, and they are often delivered via technologies like radio, television/video, and the Internet or CD-ROM In the age of globalization today, preparing students for real life situations is of great concern for many English language teachers and for students and their parents as well For a motivating high level course for English major students at high school, using authentic materials is one of the mainstays which can help meet the expectations In addition, authentic materials will bring students closer to the target language culture, and therefore will make the learning process overall an even more enjoyable and thus, motivating Moreover, the use of authentic listening materials in the test paper of the Provincial Contest for Gifted Students in recent years can both challenging and be rewarding for high school teachers and students In the teaching context of our High School for Gifted Students, English major students here can get access to a variety of listening materials However, most of these materials are specifically designed for testing purpose and may help students enhance their scores in listening exams like IELTS or TOEFL but not prepare them for the real life communication challenges To solve this problem, one effective way is to apply real listening materials in the classroom With the growing availability of the Internet, TV programs both teachers and students have easy access to a broad range of authentic listening materials However, many teachers feel that such recordings are too difficult to be exploited for listening activities in the classroom Therefore, in this paper, I would like to suggest some ways to devise activities which will help English language learners achieve an Page | skkn understanding of authentic listening texts These activities are particularly helpful for English major students Aims of the study The study aims at: - Giving an overview of authentic materials and sources to obtain them - Suggesting some ways to design exercises from the authentic materials so as to help English language learners develop their listening skills - Introducing some websites and programs for teachers and students to exploit authentic materials Participants of the study This study is based mainly on my teaching experience when applying authentic listening materials into my teaching at our High School for Gifted Students during school years from 2016 to 2021 I use these materials in the morning lessons for 11 th form students majoring in English I mainly use authentic listening materials as a kind of listening practice for excellent students who take part in the Provincial Contest for Gifted Students The scope of the study As the main aims of this study is to suggest some ways to adapt authentic listening materials into the teaching curriculum, it will be helpful to acquaint high school students with real-life communicative situations Accordingly, their language competence will certainly improve The study would like to suggest several sources from which materials can be adapted Thus, it may serve as a useful guideline for teachers who wish to explore the use of authentic materials in their everyday teaching The study also gives some suggestions for teachers to design some forms of exercises so as they can use in their every day lessons The topic is: The adaptation of authentic listening materials for promoting listening skill in classroom and the provincial contest for gifted students Page | skkn PART B CONTENTS I Theoreotical background What are authentic materials? Authentic materials are print, video, and audio materials students encounter in their daily lives, such as change-of address forms, job applications, menus, voice mail messages, radio programs, and videos Authentic materials are not created specifically to be used in the classroom, but they make excellent learning tools for students precisely because they are authentic There are two main categories of authentic materials—print and auditory English as a second language (ESL), adult secondary education (ASE), and adult basic education (ABE) students all can benefit from using authentic print materials ESL students often use authentic auditory materials, although ABE and ASE students also may find them useful Why should we use authentic listening materials? In the age of globalization today, students need to be exposed not only to varieties (not just one) of English such as British, American, Australian, Japanese or Singaporean English but also to the ‘real language’ in order to be able to cope with different versions and real challenges awaiting them in the outside world There are several reasons why teachers should use authentic materials, especially for higher-level English major students at high school First, authentic materials texts will have a number of features that cannot be found in textbooks In fact, there is a considerable gap between authentic language and textbook language Gilmore (2007) claims that the language presented to students in textbooks is ‘a poor representation of the real thing’ The textbook language is modified from authentic language sources to encourage learning and accomplishment for the student. Also, designed materials lack several elements present in authentic spoken English such as realistic intonation, natural rate of speech, or background noise, etc Therefore, students become better prepared for the real world when authentic listening materials are used in classrooms as textbook supplements Another important reason is the students' motivation and interest Authentic language helps students get closer to its speakers, and understand them better It seems exotic and exciting with its flavour of everyday life Authentic materials are also specially relevant for English major students many of whom have the aim of studying overseas So for students to actually be able to communicate and interact socially in the target language environment, the use of authentic materials seems an essential preparation Page | skkn Benefits of using authentic listening materials Many teachers and students realize the role of authentic materials in language teaching and learning They believe that authentic materials scaffold students' learning of a target language more sufficiently (Guariento & Morley, 2001; Wilcox & Oaks, 1999; Weyers, 1999 cited in Al Azri & Al-Rashdi, 2014) Authentic resources offer great advantage over materials created for the purpose of language teaching and learning, both linguistic and non-linguistic Linguistic Advantages Studies concerning the use of authentic materials have shown that they have a positive effect on learners' achievement Otte (2006, cited in Al Azri & Al-Rashdi, 2014) found that authentic materials successfully help develop students’ listening skills and also their motivation Following are some benefits of authentic materials discussed in various research papers and studies Authentic materials: guide learners toward the language they need for their particular context; provide exposure to real language relate more closely to learners ' needs help learners to produce better language help learners to acquire the language faster motivate learners to communicate, because they help make communication ‘real’ provide words and constructions that students probably never see in nonauthentic formal materials encourage teachers to adopt creative teaching approach 3.2 Non-linguistic Advantages In addition to the linguistic advantages, authentic materials also have some nonlinguistic benefits They make a positive contribution in the field of language teaching and learning in that they: have a positive effect on learner motivation and encourage them to learn better makes learners more confident to deal with real life situations Help prepare learners for the ‘real’ world of communication; boost their confidence Page | skkn improve the learners' cultural awareness Students will learn better and benefit greatly from the use of authentic materials Teachers can adapt their use of authentic materials to suit the language proficiency level of the students Drawbacks of using authentic listening materials Although the use of authentic materials is beneficial to students and their learning of a foreign language, there are many difficulties that teachers face in making use of such materials Even when they see it as desirable, many teachers are discouraged from using authentic materials due to the practical difficulties they encounter Finding appropriate authentic texts or audio recordings and designing tasks for them can be an extremely time-consuming process It takes time to look for an appropriate text or audio recording in terms of relevant knowledge, language or interest, etc Authentic materials may contain difficult structures and lexical items that students have not been exposed to before or some cultural references uninteresting or irrelevant to students (Jennie, 2015) What’s more, using authentic materials in developing listening skills is even more difficult and time-consuming when the teacher need to listen to the recordings and check the transcripts (if any) or even worse, when there is no transcript available, they need to listen again and again (if necessary) to make sure they can catch the content, the important details and the language used before actually designing tasks Many teachers just avoid using material from an authentic source because they lack knowledge of how to select an appropriate recording or how to exploit the material All these pitfalls discourage teachers and make them stick to the safer and less time-consuming course book From the literature and overview, it is obvious that the advantages of using authentic materials outweigh the disadvantages Therefore, we teachers should consider them seriously as a successful aid in teaching a foreign language II Ways of using different types of authentic materials Radio Using real-time radio in class is one of the more easily accessible forms of authentic listening practice we can give our learners The airwaves are filled with programs twenty-four hours per day, and the low cost of radios means that most language teachers can obtain a radio and take it to class Radio stations such as BBC World Service (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA) are constantly on-air Meanwhile, many non-English speaking countries also broadcast some programs, or even have dedicated stations, in English Although radios are easy to access, they are Page | skkn perhaps the most difficult of aural text for language learners to listen to The reason for this is that all non-verbal information is missing, information which can aid in helping understand the message, and the learner has to focus on the skill which is most difficult for him or her listening In order to use radio programs with learners, teachers need to select a program at a suitable time for their class and decide on some global listening tasks for the learners For instance, with an intermediate group of learners about to listen to a radio program on travel we might adopt the following procedure: * Stage 1: Pre-Listening Today we are going to listen to a program on the radio for ten minutes about Harvest festival Before we listen answer my question: - What can you see from the picture? What are people doing with those festivals? When is it held? The radio guide tells us in that this program is about Havest Festival around the world * Stage 2: While-Listening Activity 1: Fill in the blank with words or phrases: Teacher gets students to listen and the tasks designed Somewhere in the world a farmer plants many (1) into a field The farmer waters the fields Soon, after sun, water, and time, the seeds grow into _(2) They are fruits, or vegetables or grain The plants are full and ready to be used It is time to take the fruit or vegetable or _(3) from the plant It is time for the (4) Activity 2: Decide whether the following statements are True or False: People have been celebrating the harvest for millions of years During the festival, people celebrate and drink They wish to have better crop next year * Stage 3: Post-Listening Groups of three have a short discussion about what you heard from the program Then each group make a presentation on what they have taken notes of the listening Why or why not? In using the radio in the way suggested here we allow learners access to native speaker models, something which might be missing from their normal classroom experiences Also, we place the focus on extensive listening for pleasure and take the emphasis off testing what the learners hear (that is why we ask the learners not to write while they listen) Page | skkn Video clips: Using video clips in the classroom allows the learners access to more information when listening That is, the learners can now see what is happening as well as listen to the text and learners can develop their listening skills in a richer language context For example in the lesson Unit 8: Celebrations ( English 11), I show a video of about minutes about The Story of Thanksgiving day by SteelehouseMedia.com what they think about those people in the video This listening activity is used as a post step in a lesson The Internet There has been a rapid increase in the development of Internet facilities This has been prompted, partly, by the more powerful computers we have these days and has been partly driven by the users' demands for more interesting and innovative applications of the technology We are able to direct our learners to sites on the Internet where they can practice their listening as long as they have access to the appropriate computer software Below are some websites that can be used for the teachers tocreate listening tasks as well as for students to study themselves 3.1 BBC (Online): http://www.bbc.co.uk/ The news broadcasting site offers a lot news articles and reports Both teachers and students may take full advantage of the BBC’s World News TV service, with hundreds of short videos and programs to watch The video page has one-minute world news reports, plus plenty of other short videos on business, science and entertainment I often download the One Minute World News for my advanced students as the speed of the listening is often a challenge for them Moreover, this is the lastest news all over the world so students are so motivated and enthusiastic when listening to it 3.2 BBC (Radio): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/ BBC Radio is a separate service that allows users to listen to radio programs online There are countless radio programs to choose from, but I recommend starting with the categories page There students will be able to choose from news, sports, entertainment or documentary programs to listen to 3.3 CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/ Like its British counterpart, CNN provides an excellent video channel, on which teachers and students are able to catch the latest news. CNN also offers a podcasting service with shows for a wide variety of interests CNN Page | skkn offers transcripts for some of these shows, giving students an additional resource to improve listening skills with 3.4 Earthwatch Radio: http://ewradio.org/ Earthwatch Radio was produced at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by staff and students at the Sea Grant Institute and the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies The stories covered a wide range of subjects concerning science and the environment, with special attention to global climate change, the Great Lakes, and the oceans Recordings from this websites are effective in both developing listening skills and providing students with a wide range of scientific terms Regarding educational purpose, the extracts also help students become aware of protecting the environment 3.5 Repeat After Us: http://www.repeatafterus.com/ Repeat After Us was created by a high school student with a true love of literature. Here, students will find a variety of recorded texts, classified into three categories: beginner, intermediate and advanced There is a lot of original material in this site, so for listening practice, students should go to recorded texts, and from there choose poetry, drama, prose or even children’s short stories if the previous categories prove to be too difficult 3.6 CBC Podcasts: http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/podcasts/ The Canadian broadcasting company has an astounding variety of news, sports, and entertainment programs – and a whole lot more. Teachers and students may download the MP3 file or subscribe via iTunes so they won’t miss any of their favorites 3.7 NPR: http://www.npr.org/ Provincial Public Radio offers 24-hour Program Stream or Hourly News summaries which may be suitable for students. Additionally, it offers podcasts on topics that range from animals to world news 3.8 The British Council: http://www.britishcouncil.org/ There are some great podcasts that can be downloaded from the British Council’s website. All of which feature native speakers and come with a script that can be exploited by both teachers and students 3.9 Newsy: http://www.newsy.com/ Of all of the websites that offer news reports on video, Newsy is my favorite because they offer the transcript directly below the video, a big plus for ESL Page | skkn ... adaptation of authentic listening materials for promoting listening skill in classroom and the provincial contest for gifted students Page | skkn PART B CONTENTS I Theoreotical background What are authentic. .. use authentic listening materials as a kind of listening practice for excellent students who take part in the Provincial Contest for Gifted Students The scope of the study As the main aims of. .. and thus, motivating Moreover, the use of authentic listening materials in the test paper of the Provincial Contest for Gifted Students in recent years can both challenging and be rewarding for