Exploiting listening and reading texts
When you are going to use an extended listening or reading text rather than a few individual words, there is a basic
procedure which it can be helpful to refer to and follow if appropriate. This is a model procedure which can obviously be
adapted if necessary but it does provide a generally sensible starting point.
Establish context
In real life, whenever we listen or read anything, we know what the context is, we are aware of the situation, the location,
the kind of conversation, for example. These factors affect our ability to understand and make sense of what we hear and
read. In class, it’s necessary to introduce the students to the context before they listen or read. The context can be elicited
or prompted from earlier work, the course book, pictures, discussions and so on. Without ‘setting the scene’ like this, the
tasks can become unnecessarily difficult.
Pre-teach vocabulary
It is useful to teach certain key items of vocabulary before students begin a listening or reading activity. For example, if
they are going to listen to a conversation about people smoking, it may be necessary to pre-teach ‘to smoke’, ‘a cigarette’,
‘to give up’ and so on.
When pre-teaching language it is important to establish the meaning clearly. Try to elicit (see page 14) the new word from
students via prompts such as mime, pictures, definitions or whatever seems most appropriate. If no students are able to
provide the new word then, of course, you will need to supply it. Having supplied it, write it on the blackboard for students
to make a note of.
However, be careful not to swamp the students with new vocabulary. There may be many words the students don’t know,
but focus only on those that they will need to complete the task you are going to give them. Seven or eight new vocabulary
items is probably more than enough for a pre-teach stage.
Set gist questions
We need to give students a reason to listen or read. There is little point in asking the students just to read a text, for
example. When native speakers read, they know what they are reading and why. There are different kinds of reading. For
example, the way you find a number in a telephone book is very different from the way you read a newspaper. So the
students need to be given some purpose for their reading or listening.
This can simply be done through the setting of gist questions. Gist questions are general questions that refer to the overall
meaning of the text. They are usually not too difficult. The students listen or read only for that information.
If you don’t set gist questions, students may try and read all of the text in detail, focussing on trying to understand every
word. It is worth letting the students know that they do not need to understand everything because:
• That is not how we listen/read in real life.
• It is extremely difficult to do and can, consequently, be quite demotivating.
Play tape/read
For a reading text, set a short time limit. This again will encourage the students not to try to understand everything.
Check in pairs
After the tape has finished or the time limit is up, let the students check with each other to see if they have the same
answers. This gives the students the opportunity to speak. Also, if they have confirmed the answers with their partner, then
they will be more confident if asked to answer in front of the whole class.
Check answer in class
Elicit and confirm the answers in open class.
Set more detailed questions
Now that the students are familiar with both the context and text, they can be given more detailed comprehension
questions to answer. These questions will require the students to identify specific pieces of information and can be different
types. For example:
• Comprehension Where did Jim go?
• True or False Jim went to Russia
• Multiple choice Jim went to a) Russia b) China c) Canada d) Romania
Play tape/read again
For a reading, set a longer time limit at this stage. Because the questions are more detailed than gist questions, they will
require more careful reading.
Check in pair s
Again, after the tape or time limit, let the students compare their answers with a partner. Monitoring carefully will let you
know whether the students need to listen again or have more time for reading.
Check answers in class
Elicit and confirm answers in open class. In this stage, be prepared to play or focus on passages in the text which apply to
the particular questions you set.
For many years, the blackboard was the only teaching aid many teachers had. In today’s technological world, this is no
longer true. There is a wide range of modern resources available to many teachers. Technology provides variety in your
lessons and makes them more interesting for your students. Technology can help to present ideas in different ways,
generate new activities and stimulate discussion. But only if it’s used well.
In this section of the book we hope to provide a few practical ideas on using technology more effectively in your lessons.
We’ll be looking at the following resources:
• Overhead projectors
• Tape recorders
• Radio
• Television and video
• Computers and the internet.
When you are going to use an extended listening or reading text rather than a few individual words, there is a basic
procedure which it can be helpful to refer to and follow if appropriate. This is a model procedure which can obviously be
adapted if necessary but it does provide a generally sensible starting point.
Establish context
In real life, whenever we listen or read anything, we know what the context is, we are aware of the situation, the location,
the kind of conversation, for example. These factors affect our ability to understand and make sense of what we hear and
read. In class, it’s necessary to introduce the students to the context before they listen or read. The context can be elicited
or prompted from earlier work, the course book, pictures, discussions and so on. Without ‘setting the scene’ like this, the
tasks can become unnecessarily difficult.
Pre-teach vocabulary
It is useful to teach certain key items of vocabulary before students begin a listening or reading activity. For example, if
they are going to listen to a conversation about people smoking, it may be necessary to pre-teach ‘to smoke’, ‘a cigarette’,
‘to give up’ and so on.
When pre-teaching language it is important to establish the meaning clearly. Try to elicit (see page 14) the new word from
students via prompts such as mime, pictures, definitions or whatever seems most appropriate. If no students are able to
provide the new word then, of course, you will need to supply it. Having supplied it, write it on the blackboard for students
to make a note of.
However, be careful not to swamp the students with new vocabulary. There may be many words the students don’t know,
but focus only on those that they will need to complete the task you are going to give them. Seven or eight new vocabulary
items is probably more than enough for a pre-teach stage.
Set gist questions
We need to give students a reason to listen or read. There is little point in asking the students just to read a text, for
example. When native speakers read, they know what they are reading and why. There are different kinds of reading. For
example, the way you find a number in a telephone book is very different from the way you read a newspaper. So the
students need to be given some purpose for their reading or listening.
This can simply be done through the setting of gist questions. Gist questions are general questions that refer to the overall
meaning of the text. They are usually not too difficult. The students listen or read only for that information.
If you don’t set gist questions, students may try and read all of the text in detail, focussing on trying to understand every
word. It is worth letting the students know that they do not need to understand everything because:
• That is not how we listen/read in real life.
• It is extremely difficult to do and can, consequently, be quite demotivating.
Play tape/read
For a reading text, set a short time limit. This again will encourage the students not to try to understand everything.
Check in pairs
After the tape has finished or the time limit is up, let the students check with each other to see if they have the same
answers. This gives the students the opportunity to speak. Also, if they have confirmed the answers with their partner, then
they will be more confident if asked to answer in front of the whole class.
Check answer in class
Elicit and confirm the answers in open class.
Set more detailed questions
Now that the students are familiar with both the context and text, they can be given more detailed comprehension
questions to answer. These questions will require the students to identify specific pieces of information and can be different
types. For example:
• Comprehension Where did Jim go?
• True or False Jim went to Russia
• Multiple choice Jim went to a) Russia b) China c) Canada d) Romania
Play tape/read again
For a reading, set a longer time limit at this stage. Because the questions are more detailed than gist questions, they will
require more careful reading.
Check in pair s
Again, after the tape or time limit, let the students compare their answers with a partner. Monitoring carefully will let you
know whether the students need to listen again or have more time for reading.
Check answers in class
Elicit and confirm answers in open class. In this stage, be prepared to play or focus on passages in the text which apply to
the particular questions you set.
For many years, the blackboard was the only teaching aid many teachers had. In today’s technological world, this is no
longer true. There is a wide range of modern resources available to many teachers. Technology provides variety in your
lessons and makes them more interesting for your students. Technology can help to present ideas in different ways,
generate new activities and stimulate discussion. But only if it’s used well.
In this section of the book we hope to provide a few practical ideas on using technology more effectively in your lessons.
We’ll be looking at the following resources:
• Overhead projectors
• Tape recorders
• Radio
• Television and video
• Computers and the internet.
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