TEACHING RECEPTIVE SKILLS: LISTENING AND READING.

PROBLEMS IN LISTENING: People speak too fast to follow They can not tell where the words start and stop People pronounce the words they just do not recognise They can not work out details They can not even get the general message They do not know what attitudes people are expressing They can not pick out the most important parts for understanding

THE TASK –FEEDBACK CIRCLE Lead-in Pre-task work (optional) Set clear task Play the recording or students read the text Feedback on task conclude

THREE GUIDELINES: GRADE THE TASK, NOT THE MATERIAL TASK FIRST- THEN RECORDING PROCESS RATHER THAN PRODUCT

Examples of listening tasks: LISTEN AND… ARGUE AGAINST THE PROPOSITION CHOOSE THE CORRECT PICTURE LISTEN AGAIN UNTIL YOU HAVE LEARNED THE POEM BY HEART SAY A REPLY TO EACH COMMENT YOU HEAR

CHOOSE THE BEST ANSWER DECIDE WHICH PERSON IS SAYING WHICH SENTENCE FOLLOW THE ROUTE ON THE MAP WALK/SIT/MOVE ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS DRAW A PICTURE

TAKE DOWN THE MESSAGE, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBERS PICK UP AND SHOW A CORRECT PICTURE

GUIDELINES FOR LISTENING SKILLS WORK IN CLASS: Keep the recording short Play it 2 times at least Let students discuss their answers together Do not be led by one strong student Give help only if they are completely stuck (DVD- feedback after an exercise)

TYPES OF LISTENING: GIST LISTENING (EXTENSIVE LISTENING) (BOTTOM-UP)- GETTING THE GENERAL MEANING LISTENING FOR DETAIL (TOP-DOWN)

POSSIBLE ROUTE MAP FOR A LISTENING LESSON: Discuss the general topic Predict the specific content Predict the structure (who speaks? What kind of questions) Gist listening for overview Gist listening for attitudes More careful listening for complex meanings Listening for small details

LISTENING IDEAS: News headlines Jigsaw listening Home recordings Live listening Guest stars.

PROBLEMS IN READING: Lack of vocabulary I need the dictionary all the time It is very slow Because it is slow the pleasure or interest is soon lost

READING FOR DETAIL (INTENSIVE) skimming=read quickly to get the gist of the passage scanning= move eyes quickly over the text to locate a specific piece of information. Skimming and scanning are both “top-down skills”.

POSSIBLE ROUTE MAP FOR A READING LESSON: Pre-text Introduction and lead-in First task (pre-reading)-prediction from from illustrations, key-words, headlines), reading questions about the text.

POSSIBLE ROUTE MAP FOR A READING LESSON: 2. Text Skimming tasks (check text against predictions, guess the title from the choice of 3 options, put events in the right order) Scanning tasks Tasks to focus on general meaning (answer the questions, make a sketch, fill out a form, find out which picture is being described, compare viewpoints) Tasks to focus on detailed meaning Vocabulary or grammar exercises, use of dictionaries)

POSSIBLE ROUTE MAP FOR A READING LESSON: 3. Post-text Follow- on task (role-play, debate, writing task, personalisation) Closing (reflection).

Specific ideas for reading tasks: Put these illustrations of the text in the correct order Put these cut-up paragraphs in the correct order Find words in the text that mean the same as the words in the list Read the text and find mistakes in the illustration

Specific ideas for reading tasks: Read the text and make a list of particular items Give a headline to each section of the article Insert the sentences into the text Discuss or write the missing last paragraph of the text

EXTENSIVE READING READERS- books published specifically for learners. They are graded and have grammar and vocabulary exercises.

Extensive reading activities: Do not always start at the beginning! Try jumping in at the middle and reading one page. Predict what happened before Create a situation totally different from the book and allow students to improvise Review the book for a TV programme. Meet the author, discuss and argue.