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Teaching Young Learners – Listening

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TASK: design two listening activities for beginner young learners or teenagers

1. Airport announcements

Age: Teenagers

Aim: Practice listening to schedules

Practice listening for times, cites, airlines (airport information)

Preparation: Collect some pictures of the cities mentioned in the announcement

  1. The teacher put up pictures on the white board (kangaroos, beach, hotel, Big Ben, Mickey Mouse, Suitcase, airplane).
  2. The students make educated guesses for what the pictures are. And what the subject is.
  3. The teachers explains the subject is ‘holidays’
  4. The teacher gives an example ‘I go on holiday to Madrid in Spain’ then gets the students to ask each other ‘where do you go on holiday?’
  5. The teacher gets feedback from the students trying to elicit cites
  6. The teacher puts up pictures of cities on the board.
  7. Students look at them in groups and try to work out which cities they are.
  8. The students or teacher writes up the names of the cities on board.
  9. Each student has to choose one city she would like to visit. Why? Give three reasons. This can be done in pairs.

10. The teacher puts a picture of an airport departure board on the whiteboard and tells the students that they are going on holiday. The teachers can elicit some times from the pictures as an example.

11. Then the teacher gives each learner a form and gets them to write the name of the city on the form (below)

12. The teacher pre-teaches airline names

13. Students listen and complete the information they hear in the departure lounge announcement on the form.

City 
Airline 
Flight number 
Gate number 

14. Feedback. The teacher can get the students to find out who has the earliest flight and the latest.

2. Sports and Numbers

Age: Teenagers

Aim: Practice listening for numbers

Practice: Years, facts, times

Preparation: Pictures of sports and famous sports stars

  1. The teacher shows pictures of sports. This introduction gives some idea of the context that they are going to listen to.
  2. The teacher asks ‘what sports do you like?’ Personalisation of the activities is very important here. A pair-work discussion about the sports they play or watch, and why, will bring them into the topic, and make them more willing to listen.
  3. The teacher then explains that each sports has its stars and produces a picture of David Beckham as an example of someone who is associated with football..
  4. The teacher then produces some more photos of famous people eliciting their name and putting them on the board.
  5. The teacher now spends a little time establishing some ideas of the famous people to transfer or activate their knowledge.
  6. The teacher writes on the board. 1) How old are they? 2) When did they start playing? 3) When were they born? 4) How many years have they played? 5) How many competitions have they won? 6) How much do they earn a year?
  7. The teacher then allows the learners to predict possible content. The teacher gives the learner a choice of things that they may or may not expect to hear. This is done by the use of card with the answers plus additional wrong answers to make it a little more difficult.
  8. The teacher asks them to choose those they think will be mentioned. (All the potential answers are laid on the groups table.
  9. The teacher plays the tape them get them to grab the right answer
  10. The teacher plays the tape again.
  11. The teacher gives them a sheet to fill in  the correct answers
Who?Q1Q2Q3Q4Q5Q6
         
         
         

12. The teacher reviews the answers.

13. The teacher has a feedback session and sees if anybody knows about other sport stars.

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That first TEFL class

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So, someone asked me what I thought about starting with a new school abroad and how would a new teacher prepare for such an adventure that would help them settle in smoothly. I thought I should share my ideas with you hopeful educators. Hopefully, it gets you thinking a bit more and helps you along.

…..I would say beforehand go into the school and meet everyone to show them you are willing to learn more about the school and to show that you are friendly. This may be a good chance to find out what books are being used (you could actually take the books home then) and what is the curriculum; also the ages of students, their backgrounds, and their levels. I worked for a school that had 15 levels from basic to advanced, so it is good to know what you will be teaching. I would also see what hours I am working and how long I have the students for. In a high school you may have them for a whole term but in a language school only 30 hours (4 – 6 weeks).

I think you should mention that you would set up a few observations beforehand (and in those first few weeks). With these observations, you may actually be observing the class(es) you will be teaching, the students will be glad to say hello, this may be beneficial when you have that first class. This could be good as you get to see the teachers in action and how they use the classroom (classroom management). It would also be good to get a mentor. He or she could help you with the school’s teaching approach and also observe you in those first classes just to help you along. I would also go out for a drink with the teachers beforehand or have lunch together. They may even have a teacher’s room where they can show you all their available materials and of course your desk.

There are many private schools out there where there are 15 to 20 in a class (high schools I had 60).  Above all, this kind of work has a very communicative approach because more than likely the students learn English but not with a native speaker. They usually have to sit and listen. Think about pair work, group work, students facing the board, and being able to come up and write at any time. Your classes need to be active and student-centered because in many ways you are the facilitator.

(420 Words)

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