Module 21 - Teaching Listening

5/25/2019 Module 21: Teaching Listening
Table of contents
Unit 1: Lesson Planning
Unit 2: Projects
Unit 3: Key Points
Unit 4: Build a Strong Foundation
Unit 5: Listening and its Sub-Skills
Unit 6: Strategies
Unit 7: Active Listening
Unit 8: Supporting Listening
Unit 9: Structuring Listening Lessons
Unit 10: Total Physical Response
Unit 11: Listening Activities for Younger Learners
Unit 12: Listening Activities for Older Learners
Unit 13: Listening Games
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Unit 1: Lesson Planning

Critical Point 1
1. Lesson planning
Before we explore these skills, it's important to remind you that all your skills lessons need to be planned.
If you try to wing any lesson without proper planning, things will fall apart. So always plan ahead.
Lesson planning is not at all difficult. The vital key is to have a set route to follow. By having a set route
to follow, your lesson planning will get quicker and more efficient. And you'll look forward to delivering
well-planned, effective lessons.
TEFL Fullcircle recommends that you use the Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP) model for
designing your lesson plan and putting your teaching into action in the classroom.
A complete lesson plan using the PPP Technique will contain the following stages/elements:
1. Introduction: In this part of the lesson you will introduce yourself and explain the objective of the
lesson to your learners.
2. Warmer: A quick warm up activity to get your learners acclimatised to English.
3. Presentation: You teach the new item.
4. Practice: Controlled practice where learners practise using the new items.
5. Production: Free practice which lets your learners become more creative.
6. Review/Summary and Reflection: This is a chance to reflect on the lesson and find out what the
learners enjoyed.
7. Cooler: This is a chance to end the lesson with a short fun activity and say goodbye.
Using this model, here is the route to follow when planning your lessons.
TEFL Fullcircle Lesson Plan
Teacher's Name: Level of Students:
Date: Age of Students:
Time of lesson and length: Nationalities:
Learning Aims/Objectives: Learning Outcomes /Success Criteria:
To know / To understand
Resources to be used: Potential Problems:
Strategies to deal with problems:
Introduction / Warmer
Lesson Activities:
Timing Stage Interaction Reason for activity
Detail:
Activity 1:
Activity 2:
Activity 3:
Reflect and Cooler:
Extension Strategies:
Homework: Cross Curricular Link and use of IT
Some of the headings above are self-explanatory, so we will skip these ones.
Scenario: Let's imagine you are introducing your young learners to prepositions of place (in, behind,
under) for the first time. Here are suggestions for the key elements of your lesson plan:
1. Your Learning Aims/Objectives are likely to be: Introduce prepositions of place for first time;
introduce 3 prepositions of place (in, behind, under)
2. Your Learning Outcomes / Success Criteria are likely to be: Learners will know and understand
these elements and will able to utilise these in speech and writing.
3. Resources to be used: This is to remind you about the resources you will need to have to hand, e.g.
flashcards, whiteboard, box, toy rabbit, table, gap-fill exercises, written responses materials etc.
4. Potential problems: This could be that some learners may need a review of recently required
vocabulary. For example, the previous classes focused on Wh- structures (Where is the...?) and the
response structure (The ... X ... is...), utilising 'here' and 'there'.
5. Strategies to deal with problems: Review the structures in the point above.
6. Introduction: Explain the objective of the lesson to your learners, in simple terms
7. Warmer: This could be a Crisscross game. All learners stand. Learners raise their hand when they
wish to answer. If correct, the learner chooses where he wishes to sit. Repeat until all learners are seated.
Ask what we say when we are looking for something (Where is the...) and what is said in response
(The...is). Then show flashcards-ask what these are, pointing to box, rabbit, and table (previously
acquired language).
Timing:This will depend on how much time is allotted to each lesson by the school authorities. Let's
assume it is 55 minutes. Here is a general guide to the different stages:
Introduction: 5 minutes
Warmer: 5 minutes
Presentation: 10 minutes
Practice: 10 minutes
Production: 15 minutes
Review/Summary and Reflection: 5 minutes
Cooler: 5 minutes
If the time allotted is less than 55 minutes, reduce each section proportionately
9. Stage: Insert the seven stages listed in the point above.
10. Interaction:This is to remind you who will be doing the talking, and with whom, during the various
stages. It is a constant reminder for you that the learners should be doing most of the talking-not you.
11. Reason for activity:Insert the explanations given for each stage at the top of this section, i.e. beside
'Presentation', put 'Teach new item'.
12. Detail:Here you will write in what will take place during the various stages. For example, in our
scenario:
Activity 1 (Presentation stage): This could be: Write the target preps on board - in, behind, under.
Demonstrate pronunciation. Learners repeat on own then as group then round-robin till OK.
Demonstrate meaning and usage-say: Where am I/is the rabbit, Anna? Intended response: In front
of the table/desk. Write these on the board. Do this for all preps, changing position accordingly.
Then choose singles and pairs and groups to repeat Q/A structure using the Flashcards.
Activity 2 (Practice stage): This could be :Test comprehension - tell them to put hands in their
pockets, under theirtable, behind their heads' etc. and ask other learners using the Q/A model.
Gap-fill exercise in pairs, written responses to Qs using the model. Answers corrected as a class.
Activity 3 (Production stage): This could be: In pairs, practise the model, using any object or
flashcard. Some pairs to demonstrate their conversations using any objects.
13. Reflect and Cooler: Ask them what they enjoyed and didn't enjoy, and why. Finish with a Cooler:
This could be a 'Where is it? and Scrambled game -check answers as a class. Small prize to first pair with
correct answers and sweets for the rest.
The reflection element is critical. Many teachers, experienced and inexperienced, often omit this very
important element.
First you need to guide your learners on how to self-reflect and its purposes.
From then on, build a reflection element into every lesson plan. Reflection can be promoted simply by
asking these kinds of self-assessment questions:
What went well?
What did you enjoy about the lesson?
What did you not enjoy?
Could you have done something differently?
Could I have done something differently?
By asking such questions you are triggering metacognition processes and practices within the learners.
Why do this? The benefits are great:
These metacognition elements encourage deeper learning. The more they apply their metacognitive
skills, the better they will reflect and the deeper their learning will become.
Young though they are, they will often provide succinct comments which will help you when you
are reflecting on teaching future lessons.
14. Extension strategies: This could be other activities you have planned to add to the lesson if the
learners finish quicker than you anticipated. Or it could be utilised to state activities that you have
planned specifically for more gifted learners if they finish before the bulk of the other learners.
15. Homework: Note homework practice exercise. Issue this before the Cooler, otherwise you'll find it
difficult to get their whole attention.
Re homework, find out first what the school's policy is on homework and adhere to this if there is one.
Assuming there are no restrictions,give them homework for around 75% of your class time with them.
That is, if you 4 lessons per week, give them homework for three out of the four classes. It's always good
to have one lesson, often the class before the weekend, where there's no homework - as a treat.
Ensure it's a short and meaningful piece of homework. Also, try your best to involve parents in the
homework, even if they do not speak English. Native-speaking teachers and admin staff will be very
happy to make you a list of sentences addressed to parents in the native language, to encourage
involvement. For example:
Dear Parent/Guardian
For today's homework, the children need to find these three words in the attached story: cherry, cheese,
chocolate
When your child finds them, please ask them to underline each word.
Then ask your child to repeat each word to you six times, slowly.
Next, please ask your child to write each word three times underneath the story. Please check that your
child does this.
Please ensure your child brings the sheet back to me at the next lesson.
Thank you very much for your help.

Signed:
This homework piece is short and meaningful (focusing on the particular sound at the beginning of these
words [t ʃ ]). It involves scanning, producing speech and writing - and it involves the parent or guardian.
16. Cross-curricular link or IT: Mention any cross-curricular links or IT work. Re any cross-curricular
link, it's important to get to know what your learners are learning in other classes at that time. Perhaps
your learners are learning numbers in their L1 maths class whilst you are helping them with numbers in
your English class, whilst they are reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Reflect on such links and how
they can help your approach in your classroom.
It's as easy as that!
Unit 2: Projects
Think 'projects'
When you are teaching young learners, don't just think about one-off events. Think about how you can
extend a particular event into a longer, more substantial project, with the initial particular event providing
a springboard into other interesting areas of learning. The storybook, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' is a
good example of this.
Younger learners will love this story and will want you to read this and will want to read bits themselves,
over and over again. So, this story will serve as a good catalyst for many learning activities.
Here are just some of the activities that you could carry out. There are many more:
Speaking activities: asking and answering questions; rhyme; repetition of key bits of vocabulary
and phrases (on Monday, on Tuesday; but he was still hungry)
Writing activities: labelling; vocabulary sets. e.g. pertaining to different types of food;mini surveys
of their classmates' favourite foods; food diary of what the learners eat and compare this to each
other and the Very Hungry Caterpillar
Grammar activities: noticing small grammar points raised by you (one apple, two pears); learning
some functions and structures (How many? and There is/are)
Word classes activities, e.g. adjectives:tiny, big, fat, beautiful
Pronunciation activities: rising and falling intonation in lists; individual sounds: [t ʃ ] as in cherry,
cheese, chocolate
Singing and learning songs about butterflies
Similar word beginnings activities:cherry, cheese, chocolate
Theme of growth and change - a good opportunity for getting the learners to think about and talk
about this in relation to humans
The life-cycle of a butterfly - mapping the stages, making drawings, making wire butterflies to
hang up in the room, raising butterflies from caterpillars in the classroom, observing and noting
their growth, identifying differences in the butterflies
Learning strategies such as predicting, guessing, hypothesising , sequencing (putting the days of the
week in order or the life cycle steps in order), memorising (what he ate on Tuesday), researching
(what caterpillars actually eat and drink), etc.
Cross-curricular links (as in our lesson plan above):
Science: the life cycle of a butterfly
Maths: numbers, counting, sizes (e.g. wing spans), symmetry and shape (wings are symmetrical)
Geography - where butterflies live and migrate to
Environment and the planet-benefits (e.g. pollination) and drawbacks ( e.g. larvae eating
vegetables); some in danger of extinction ( learners gain awareness of values and citizenship)
Art and design: making cardboard or cloth models of caterpillars, and making patterns and
colouring
Music, drama and movement: singing songs and rhymes, reciting poetry and taking part in
performances for an audience, and moving like a caterpillar and butterfly
During cross-curricular activities, learners will be involved in a number of learner strategies, e.g.
comparing, contrasting, classifying, sequencing, problem solving, and researching.
So, from this very short story of just over 200 words, there's more than enough materials to run a project
for a whole term.
Unit 3: Key Points

Listening is the most neglected of the four language skills. Listening is often seen as the easiest of
the four skills and hence requiring less practice - but this is untrue.
Listening difficulties can arise for a number of reasons; for example, through L2 learners being
unable to distinguish different sounds or being unable to make out what a fast speaker is saying.
Listening must be integrated with the other three skills (speaking, reading and writing).
Early work must be based on the sounds of the language. This is more difficult for Chinese and
South Korean learners than, say, Italian and Spanish learners. So, learners are not all the same.
A key objective, through time, will be to let the learners experience a wide range of styles, e.g.
formal and informal.
The listening materials must also aim to let the learners respond to the speaker, so that listening is
one part of an interactive programme of learning.
Unit 4: Build a Strong Foundation

When teaching young learners, the main emphasis at first should be on listening and speaking. Reading
and writing skills can be developed later in the programme.
Listening is of huge importance. Through listening, learners are preparing to replicate the sounds they
will make when they speak. When learners receive lots of listening input and lots of listening practice,
speaking will naturally follow (to different degrees) from this and both skills will become integrated.
In addition to supporting the onset of their speaking skills, listening skills can also prepare the way for
reading skills:
1. Listening provides preparation for comprehending stories:
Ability to grasp the concept of a sequence of events, e.g. He closed the door and went out
Ability to actively listen to stories
Ability to comprehend a story that has been read or told to them
2. Listening provides preparation for the decoding of words and phonics instruction:
Ability to discriminate between sounds they have heard, e.g. /b/ and /p/
Ability to identify rhyming sounds
Ability to separate the sounds of words into syllables
By developing listening skills that focus on phonological awareness, children will be better prepared to
participate in phonics instruction which, in turn, will make it easier for them to later decode and read
words.
For example, in English there are lots of single syllable words that rhyme. Rhyme is a core component of
many songs, poems and chants. When learners recognise the rhyming words and their patterns, they will
be better placed to decode and read words that follow a similar pattern.
Unit 5: Listening and its Sub-Skills

Your job is to provide the learners with particular tasks that target specific sub-skills - not simply listening
for information but also targeting sub-skills such as listening to instructions, predicting etc.
Here are the key sub-skills that you will help the learners to develop, depending on their ability, age and
level:
General listening
General listening tasks can be provided for learners at any level. They can be quite brief for beginners or
considerably longer for older learners.
The text may take the form of a short dialogue, or a description, and a number of general questions may
arise from the text. The questions will often be given to the learners after they have listened to the
dialogue or the passage.
Listening for specific information
Some listening practice tasks can also require the learners to listen out for particular pieces of
information, just as we do at the airport departure lounge or in the train station. In this case, the learners
have to be aware of the task before they listen to the passage or the dialogue.
Listening for the message
With some listening tasks, the learners may listen for a complete message rather than for specific pieces
of information. The question, or questions, can be given to the learners either before or after the listening
task.
Following instructions
Following instructions, or directions, can provide an excellent form of listening practice.
These activities are commonly designed around charts, tables, diagrams, maps, drawings and so on. The
learners may not be required to say anything immediately in response, but may transfer information
received from the speaker (or tape) onto a table, map and so forth.
In this way they demonstrate their understanding.
Predicting
The skill of predicting what comes next can be effectively used to focus the listening taskand provide a
clear guide to a learner's level of understanding.
Listening for gist
The learner will listen to a text and try to formulate the main idea(s) of the text. A variation of this
activity would be to have learners listen to a text and then have them assign a title that best reflects the
main idea or theme.
Discerning attitude (older learners)
Learners will listen to a text and infer a speaker's attitude or general tone, which can be either implicit or
explicit.
Unit 6: Strategies
Key Strategies for Developing Young Learners' Listening Skills
If your learners are going to be able to operate effectively, they need to be exposed to a wide variety of
different listening activities. This section will outline some of the most common approaches.
Questions and answers
Very short exchanges can be used to provide elementary or lower intermediate learners with practice in
listening and understanding. Exchanges like this can later be practised by the learners themselves, and
preferably recorded.
Recording the learners on tape is almost always universally enjoyed by learners even when they
laughingly protest a little at the beginning because they are shy about hearing their own voice on tape.
Then they want to do it again and again!
Short dialogues
The way in which the dialogue is recorded will affect its authenticity; traffic noise or café noise in the
background adds a further degree of authenticity.
Short passages
Unlike dialogues, it's not so easy to make the language authentic in a short passage; however, a story with
a touch of humour always appeals to learners. A wide range of factual questions could be prepared
together with one or two deductive questions.
Reordering information
The learners are given a number of items on paper, written out in the wrong order: actions, description,
events and so on. They are also given one or more specific tasks, and then they listen to the text. The
task(s) may involve categorising information, reordering actions in the correct order, classifying events
and so on.
Information transfer
Information transfer activities involve learners translating part of the spoken message into a new format,
such as a table, chart, picture, map and so on. They may then use this new format to carry out a further
activity, such as working in pairs with a friend to solve a related problem.
More generally, note that information transfer activities involve any transfer of any information in a text
or utterance to a new format: a listening passage to a table; a reading text to a dialogue; a telephone
conversation to a map and so on.
Dictation
Dictation went out of fashion in language teaching for a long time, but it can be a valuable form of
listening practice and it has now returned in revised forms. The important thing is that the
dictation passage should normally be one which the learners have met already.
It would normally be inappropriate to give them a dictation passage that they have never seen before. This
would be tantamount to a test, which is very different from practice.
Jigsaw listening
This involves learners listening to different parts of a passage or a conversation (or different passages and
different conversations), and then coming together in pairs to try to complete a particular task. Each
person has different information.
The task might, for example, involve completing another dialogue or filling in a table or drawing a map.
With a large class, the learners can first be divided into two different groups so that they listen to two
different tapes.
Then they get together in pairs with one person from each group. It is possible to prepare such materials
yourself, but you will occasionally find that jigsaw listening and reading tasks are provided in your
coursebook.
Unit 7: Active Listening

Maximising Active Listening
Young learners are easily distracted and thus it's easy for them to lose focus. And for them, listening can
be hard work as they try to concentrate for lengthy periods. It can all become a bit tiring and stressful for
them.
It's easy to assume that when we're reading a very interesting and exciting story such as 'The Gruffalo' to
young learners that they're taking in every word. It's not quite like that.
Even where they look as if they're listening (just as adults do) their mind can easily be in another world, a
world far away from 'The Gruffalo'.
We should never expect young learners to take in every word we say or read to them. That would be
impossible. But we should always aim to maximise their learning attention.
So what can we do to try and maximise their listening attention as much as possible and help them to be
reasonably good and active listeners?
Here's what to do to maximise their active listening:
1. Choose engaging tasks
Choose engaging listening tasks, e.g. stories, songs, little poems etc. These are the tasks that young
learners love. So, you'll get their immediate attention.
Ensure that the input is comprehensible input in the first place. The language needs to be at their level.
Otherwise they will switch off. So adapt the text as necessary.
Ensure the material is familiar as much as possible. It's true that lots of stories are not familiar. However,
spending plenty time beforehand, explaining what they are about to hear and building up anticipation,
will make up for the lack of familiarity.
2. Encouraging them to actively listen
Explain why they have to listen. Make sure the learners are clear about why they are listening, what
the main point or purpose of the activity is.
Set specific tasks. For example, in 'The Gruffalo':
Keep sentences short and grammatically simple. The first task could be to listen out for the first
animal the mouse meets and put their hand up when they can say which animal it is.
Another task could be to listen in for what the Gruffalo has in his mouth - 'terrible teeth' - and put
their hand up as soon as they hear this.
Use exaggerated intonation and gestures to hold the learners' attention.
Emphasise key words: in 'The Gruffalo' these could be Terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and
terrible teeth in his terrible jaws.
Limit the topics talked about to what is familiar to the learners. For example:
Have you ever seen a mouse? Where was that?
I wonder if the Gruffalo is bigger than your mum/dad/ Mr. Chan, the Head of School.
Keep repeating and paraphrasing frequently.
Do several types of reading with different types of tasks on each occasion. For example:
Listening and repeating
Listening and miming
Listening and predicting or guessing what will happen next
Listening and replying to your question (which you've already briefed them on)
Listening for words that rhyme
Listening for words that are about to be repeated in the text: terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and
terrible teeth in his terrible jaws
Follow this advice and you'll help your young learners to become active listeners.
Unit 8: Supporting Listening

It's critical that you give the learners support with their listening as much as you can.
Here's what to do:
1. Use appropriate material
Always choose material that is appropriate for the level of your learners, and the culture that they come
from. It should not place any additional burdens on the learners.
Aim for some quick wins to build their confidence. Ensure they understand (perhaps by you using
snippets of their own language) that they will not understand every word.
Start with getting them to listen for specific words that they have already learned, e.g. names of objects in
the classroom, animals or insects in their environment, colours, small numbers etc.
Make a big issue of it when they get the words right. Praise them.
Start their listening learning with easier activities such as a listen and do activity, e.g. Put the red card in
the red box.
2. Explain the purpose
Tell them what they have to do. Are they to listen just for pleasure? Or is there some other purpose, for
example:
To improve their concentration span
To develop their memories
To improve pronunciation
To become familiar with new words or patterns
To reinforce concepts, e.g. size
To interact with others
3. Use different situations and styles
Ensure your learners experience a wide range of situations. This is very important because of their need to
interpret different situations correctly and to be able to respond appropriately.
Ensure they experience, through time, a range of speaking styles that they listen to.
4. Aim for responses, through time

Depending on age and level, the listening materialsshould also aim to let the learners respond to the
speaker, or the tape, in a direct way so that listening is one part of an interactive programme of learning.
In other words, the learners will not merely listen, but will also respond with answers, questions, actions,
group discussion, form filling, drawings and so on.
5. Adjust the length of material
Ensure that the length of the material is appropriate for your learners. This might take the form of three
short lines of dialoguefor elementary learners, or as much as three or four minutes of listening for more
proficient learners.
6. Ensure an appropriate rate of speech
The listening material may be taped, or perhaps you will read it to the learners yourself. It is important
that the material is presented at a speed that is appropriate for your learners.
Although some teachers are often keen on authentic language that reflects all of the elements of real
speech such as sound interference, hesitation, repetition and so on, this might not be suitable for more
elementary learners.
Unit 9: Structuring Listening Lessons

Here are some practical tips on how to structure an effective listening lesson. In this section, we will use a
new story as the example for the lesson.
A listening lesson is best structured in three stages:
Pre-listening
While-listening
Post-listening
1. Pre-listening
Set expectations: Learners should have, in advance, a good idea about the kind of text they are
going to hear.
Stimulate the learners' interest in the topic, to raise motivation.
Personalise the context and create anticipation.
Pre-listening activities include:
Highlighting key background information by showing the cover or pictures
Asking learners to predict what they think the story is about based on the cover and illustrations
Encouraging questions to personalise the topic and build their anticipation. You can return to these
at the end and ask the learners if they have been answered.
Using illustrations or mime to elicit ideas or key vocabulary
2.While-listening
In this stage, you should ensure that the children have something to do as they listen. This will help
them focus their attention and stop them becoming restless or distracted.
In addition, though, these activities will enhance other skills.
Here is an example of a listening for specific information task:
For example, in two stories we mention throughout this course you could do the following:
'The Gruffalo'
In 'The Gruffalo' the mouse meets several animals who would like to eat him. The learners could be given
a sheet with a list of these animals plus some other ones that are not in the story. When they hear an
animal mentioned, they put a tick beside the animal on their sheet.
Also, as mentioned previously, the Gruffalo is described several times as having:Terrible tusks, and
terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws.
Again, on a sheet they could be asked to place a tick every time this description is mentioned.
In 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', the caterpillar eats all different kinds of food on different days. The
learners could be given a list of food the Caterpillar eats, along with others he doesn't eat. They have to
put a tick against the ones that are mentioned.
Also, in this story, he eats particular types of food on different days. So this challenge could be to note
down what he ate on a particular day of the week.
There are lots of other while-listening activities you could use. Here are some examples:
1. Listen and repeat
This is very useful where a story has a lot of repetition.
2. Listen and differentiate
In this type of activity you can get them to focus on specific features of pronunciation in a text, e.g.
listening out for rhyming words or repeated rhythmic patterns. Or it could be listening out for a specific
new word or chunk you have just covered before the activity.
3. Listen and perform actions/follow instructions
Here you give them simple instructions and they follow these, e.g. performing a specific action when they
hear specific words.
4. Post-listening
In this stage you would check their comprehension in more detail.
The learners then practise the new language they have learned with their peers.
And then they can move on to a freer activity, e.g. doing a role play, writing a short story etc.
Unit 10: Total Physical Response

Total Physical Response (TPR) activities are some of the very best for giving listening practice to
younger learners. Initially you can use them for listening practice and later for speaking practice.
They are simple but effective and they involve a lot of teacher talk or teacher singing.
What's important in TPR activities for listening is that the learners don't need to give verbal responses.
They only require to give non-verbal responses. (Through time this will lead to giving verbal responses.)
Their non-verbal actions help them to make sense of the content.
Learners listen to rhymes songs or stories, and mime to them without having to produce the language.
TPR links language learning to physical actions and ensures that learners hear lots of English in
meaningful contexts without having to say any words.
The key principle of TPR is that learners have lots of opportunities to absorb the language before they
have to say anything.
Here are a couple of classic examples. If you're not familiar with all the lyrics, you can get these easily
from the Internet.
Example 1
1. This is the way you wash your face
wash your face, wash your face.
This is the way you wash your face
All on a Saturday morning... etc.
2. Head and shoulders knees and toes

Knees and toes
Head and shoulders knees and toes
Knees and toes... etc.
These will give you lots of opportunities to sing and talk and will give the learners lots of opportunities to
listen to new words, using familiar contexts , e.g. parts of the body.
First you can model them on your own, then with a couple of learners and then the whole class can join in
miming the actions.
Remember there's no obligation for them to speak at this time. Gradually, though, through repetition of
the activities, you'll start to see the learners speaking some of the words or chunks of language.
Be more adventurous:
You could make up your own songs or rhymes. For example, to the tune and rhythm of the 'This is the
way you wash your face', you could change it to something like this:
This is the way we line up quietly (+chorus)
This is the way we enter our class (+chorus)
This is where we put our bags (+ chorus)
This is the way we sit at our desk (+chorus)
This is the way we open our book (+chorus)
This is the way we read our book (+chorus)
This is the way we return our book (+chorus)
This is the way we leave the room (+chorus)
This is the way we say 'Bye' to Miss Brown (+chorus)
And so on. At each step they would mime the action.
TPR is also associated with games like 'Simon Says' which adds the challenge of listening and
understanding, so you can eventually move on to these types of games where they practise their listening
and decision-making skills.
Lots of listening practice in the early years can be built around the TPR approach.
Unit 11: Listening Activities for Younger Learners

There's a wide range of activities you can use for enhancing the listening skills of younger learners. Here
are some examples:
1. Non-verbal response activities such as TPR - in song or chant form
2. Rhymes
Don't just choose rhymes that you like. Think:
Is it right for their level of listening in English?
Does it fit with their overall development to date, e.g. do they like physical action rhymes?
Can some of the language be transferred into useful conversation (later)?
Does the rhyme offer the opportunity to personalise it with other learners' or siblings' names?
3. Mimes based on action stories, rhymes and songs
A good example of this is 'The Gruffalo'; for example, in 'The Gruffalo', the look on the mouse's face
when he first meets the animals that want to eat him.
And especially when he meets a real Gruffalo after it being a figment of his imagination for so long.
4. 'Listen and do' activities
There are lots of these activities where the learners listen to your simple and concise explanation and
carry out the action:
Listen and draw, or listen and colour. This is often used to help children focus on key nouns and on
adjectives that describe colour, size, shape and so on: e.g. draw one more leg on the spider; colour the
empty square green etc.
Listen and label.The learners are given a drawing or diagram. For example, they are given a stick-type
drawing of a person and they have to put little sticky labels provided beside, say, the person's arm, foot,
ear etc.
Listen and guess/identify. This is lots of fun. You read out a description of 'something' and the learners
have to guess/identify what it is. They can say what it is or draw it.
Listen and match.This is matching pictures to your spoken words.
5. Simple ticking exercises, e.g. true/false
There are lots of opportunities to check listening comprehension with simple tick-box or true/false
exercises. For example, after reading 'The Gruffalo' several times, these simple but enlightening true/false
questions could be asked:
The mousemet a fish
The mouse met a snake.
The mouse first met a fox.

The Gruffalo is called John.
At the end of the story, the Gruffalo is afraid of the mouse.
6. Listening to stories
Young learners love listening to stories, often the same story on many, many occasions. So it's an area
rich of possibilities for enhancing their listening ability. We will explore stories in depth in Module 25.
Remember this: These activities not only offer excellent listening practice. They also offer opportunities
for ensuring that multiple intelligences are catered for, e.g. colouring, sticking labels, making things,
organising items into sets and so on.
Unit 12: Listening Activities for Older Learners

For older listeners, it will be much of the same, but with these modifications:
1. Make the activities more challenging
You could start to introduce riddles into some of the rhymes.
In addition, you should use rhymes that can take them further out of their immediate context and
environment, in line with their developing knowledge of the world.
The labelling, guessing and matching activities can be made a bit more complex in line with their
increased knowledge of the language and its words and chunks of language and their increasing cognitive
ability. As can sequencing and classifying.
The simple ticking exercises can gradually be replaced with challenges that require more than a true/false
approach, e.g. more answer choices with, perhaps, some distractors they need to think about.
2. Make the activities longer and a bit deeper.
For example, we mentioned an activity above: listen and guess/identify. For older learners, you could use
a longer text which contains a group of people and from listening to a passage and listening to their
descriptions, the learners have to identify a specific person, e.g. the policeman.
3. Introduce more challenging stories, and storytelling
Older learners also love listening to stories. The stories you choose will be more in-depth, e.g. include
more character development.
But you can also introduce them to storytelling, where you're unlikely to have any props apart from a
drawing of the main character. These could be folk tales from their own country and the world outside.
Or they could just be abbreviated versions of some outstanding tales such as Moby Dick or Treasure
Island. Or again, they could be based on a film with an excellent story such as Braveheart.
4. It's time to give them other voices to listen to.
It's time for them to listen to language from different sources on tape, CD or the TV.
By listening to these other voices, they'll notice differences in:
The rate of speech
Different tones
More formal language
Different accents
Unit 13: Listening Games

A Few Enjoyable Listening Games
Here are a number of points to remember when getting them involved in games:
Don't make the tasks too complicated or difficult.
Prepare the learners properly so that they know what to do.
Let them work in pairs or groups rather than having to perform in front of the class.
Ensure they have fun.
Give out a small prize to the winning pair or group. Employing whatever strategy you choose to,
ensure every pair or group wins throughout the term.
What's my name?
Before you finally pack your case before heading off to your new and exciting life, throw a couple of
puppets into your case. Young learners love puppets and the personas that can be created around them.
And you can hold puppet shows to embed learning or just to have a bit of fun.
There will be great excitement when you show your puppet for the very first time. Make a big issue of
what's in your box. Draw it out slowly, till it appears fully. In pairs, ask them to guess what the name of
the puppet is. Give them lots of chances. If it's not chosen, start to give them clues - it's a boy, it begins
within a 'g' sound etc. Eventually, they will get it. Whichever pair gets it first can hold the puppet first.
The puppet will become the class mascot and The Voice of Experience. As opposed to you always being
this, you can ask, for example, 'Ellie the Elephant' or 'Gruffy the Gruffalo' what she/he thinks about some
idea/decision/learning point):
Do you think that's right, Gruffy? Oh, you think it should be 'cats', not 'cat'.
Will I give the class homework, Ellie? Oh, you think they've been so good and they should not get
homework. OK, no homework.
Who should get a little prize today, Ellie?
Tell the learners that Gruffy likes to change his name each week - that's just the way he is. The pair of
learners who do a really good job during the week can choose Gruffy's new name for next week and they
can take him home over the weekend. Ensure all pairs get a chance to name the puppet as time goes by.
What's the Word?
You spell out short words quickly, and the learners have to shout out the word.
Hands Up!
You write up 5-10 words relating to what the learners have been currently studying. You then incorporate
these words into a passage. Read out the passage. Learners put their hands up as soon as they hear each of
the words.
Missing Word
You write up 5 words relating to what the learners have been currently studying. Read out a short passage
- incorporating 4 of the words. After the passage has been read out, learners suggest the missing word.
That's Not Right
You read out an incorrect sentence-nothing too difficult, e.g. An elephant big is. Learners have to decide
what the correct version should be.
Yes and No
A well known game
A Learner has to respond to questions from the group or class without saying yes or no and without undue
hesitation. She should answer the questions fully, but if she says either yes or notion someone else will
take her place and have a turn fully, but if she says either yes or no then someone else will take her place
and have a turn.
Let's now explore speaking.

Module 21 - Teaching Listening

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5/25/2019 Module 21: Teaching Listening

Unit 1: Lesson Planning

2. Warmer: A quick warm up activity to get your learners acclimatised to English.

3. Presentation: You teach the new item.

TEFL Fullcircle Lesson Plan

Teacher's Name: Level of Students:

Date: Age of Students:

Time of lesson and length: Nationalities:

Learning Aims/Objectives: Learning Outcomes /Success Criteria:

Resources to be used: Potential Problems:

Strategies to deal with problems:

Timing Stage Interaction Reason for activity

Reflect and Cooler:

Homework: Cross Curricular Link and use of IT

Review/Summary and Reflection: 5 minutes

9. Stage: Insert the seven stages listed in the point above.

What went well?

What did you enjoy about the lesson?

What did you not enjoy?

Could you have done something differently?

Could I have done something differently?

Thank you very much for your help.

It's as easy as that!

Word classes activities, e.g. adjectives:tiny, big, fat, beautiful

Singing and learning songs about butterflies

Similar word beginnings activities:cherry, cheese, chocolate

Cross-curricular links (as in our lesson plan above):

Science: the life cycle of a butterfly

Geography - where butterflies live and migrate to

Unit 3: Key Points

Unit 4: Build a Strong Foundation

1. Listening provides preparation for comprehending stories:

Ability to actively listen to stories

Ability to comprehend a story that has been read or told to them

Ability to identify rhyming sounds

Ability to separate the sounds of words into syllables

Unit 5: Listening and its Sub-Skills

Listening for specific information

Listening for the message

Following instructions, or directions, can provide an excellent form of listening practice.

In this way they demonstrate their understanding.

Listening for gist

Discerning attitude (older learners)

Questions and answers

Unit 7: Active Listening

Here's what to do to maximise their active listening:

1. Choose engaging tasks

2. Encouraging them to actively listen

Set specific tasks. For example, in 'The Gruffalo':

Use exaggerated intonation and gestures to hold the learners' attention.

Have you ever seen a mouse? Where was that?

Keep repeating and paraphrasing frequently.

Listening and repeating

Listening and miming

Listening and predicting or guessing what will happen next

Listening for words that rhyme

Unit 8: Supporting Listening

Here's what to do:

1. Use appropriate material

2. Explain the purpose

To improve their concentration span

To develop their memories

To become familiar with new words or patterns