1. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute OBJECTIVES You will understand: 1. Various listening resources available on the Internet for teaching listening. 2. Various techniques for using listening resources on the Internet. You will be able to: 1. Use Internet listening resources to teaching listening.

2. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute INTRODUCTION The Internet has become a rich source of both authentic and adapted listening texts for English language teaching. Sources vary from established news and publishing organizations such as CNN and the BBC, to individual teachers who simply want to make their material accessible to the public. Because of the wide range of sources of the listening texts, there is a corresponding wide range of quality. The biggest challenge is finding and selecting quality authentic and adapted material for use in the classroom. Another development is the increase in the types of listening texts available. Where previously there were only audio files available for Internet-based listening, the availability of video files, Podcasts, and YouTube now provide a wealth of additional options for listening materials. This module will look at good sources for all of these materials as well as different ideas for how to use them.

3. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Introducing technology such as the Internet into your classroom introduces other challenges outside of regular language teaching challenges. Moving beyond CD and DVD players and video players introduces additional challenges with the use of technology. These challenges may include:  The level of teacher comfort with technology and trouble- shooting  The level of student comfort with technology  Access to a computer lab/ratio of students to computers  Increased student independence and a corresponding loss of teacher control

4. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY Technology is changing rapidly, and the users at the forefront of this change may be the generation to which the students belong, not the teacher’s generation. Teachers have to reconcile themselves to the fact that they will have students who know more about the technology than they do. This does not mean, however, that the students know more about how to use the technology for language learning purposes.

5. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute AUTHENTIC LISTENING MATERIALS There is an enormous amount of authentic listening material available on the web. All of the major media organizations have audiovisual and audio material of the most current news and world events. Some of the most well-known are www.cnn.com, www.bbc.com, and www.cbc.ca. (This authentic material is generally of a high quality.)

6. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute ADAPTED LISTENING MATERIALS English language teaching publishers, such as Longman, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press have extensive online resources to support their major textbook series. These resources include adapted listening texts. The major news providers, such as CNN, the BBC, and CBC also provide adapted news clips created specifically for English language learners. There are also extensive teacher-made adapted listening texts and accompanying material posted on teacher websites. The quality of these resources varies greatly; finding something good is essentially a question of trial and error.

7. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute PODCASTS One of the latest trends in listening texts is the use of podcasts— segments of digital audio files, (as short as a radio segment or as long as a lecture) that can be downloaded onto a computer or an MP3 player. The added value of podcasts is their portability—students can listen to them anywhere at their convenience. Podcast listening can be assigned for homework or used in class, as with any normal listening text. There are three types of podcasts available for downloading:  Authentic podcasts that native speakers would listen to  ESL/EFL teacher-created podcasts made with a specific language target in mind  Student-created podcasts

8. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute AUDIO BOOKS Many authors will have portions or whole versions of their books in audio format on their websites. Audio books tend to be read at a slightly slower speed than other authentic listening materials, because the authors (or the people who read the audio book) take the time to clearly enunciate their words, in order to clearly communicate their ideas.

9. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute YOUTUBE/ONLINE VIDEO STREAMING YouTube is a conduit for anyone to post video material and may be accessed by anyone who is on the Internet. It is a good source of authentic and adapted audiovisual material. Be aware, however, that the quality of the videos varies greatly. Good material can be fun, creative, current, and relevant to students. (Bad material can be REALLY bad, so choose carefully.) Any of the activities suggested in the previous modules on using TV shows, news shows, commercials, and movies may also work with YouTube audiovisual texts.

10. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES o Describe the challenges you have had personally, in using Internet-based listening resources. o Describe some strategies you can use to overcome these challenges.

11. ACE TESOL Diploma Program – London Language Institute Complete task journal question 2 OR 3 and submit via email to jenrjones@rogers.com or jennifer@llinstitute.com (preferred), or print and hand in. jenrjones@rogers.com