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Date Posted: 17:50:43 03/10/11 Thu
Author: Ludmila Ameno
Subject: Task 5-

Hey people, these are the following Listening tasks that I've selected and commented. Please tell me what you guys thought of that. I appreciate, and I remind that it is not reviewed yet,
Regards.

ps: This task we are supposed to do it indidualy and than later send the whole (and one file) for the whole group, isn't it?

Task 5- Choose three listening tasks out of them.
Write a position paper about their weaknesses and strengths. Would use them with your students? Why? Give reasons. Clearly identify the listening tasks you are writing about.

The following listening tasks were selected because they have excellent and relevant points about them, and they also have bad aspects contended in them. They were extracted from the websites below and they are numbered just to keep them in order as this text is written.
1- http://www.esl-lab.com/
Episode listened: Family Relationship
I would definitely use the listening activities proposed by this website with my students, because it is an excellent source for all levels specially beginners and intermediate students. The stories being described are real, when comparing to real life situations, it has real speakers of the English language using the idiom naturally with a steady flow in their speech, the activities are brief and they are a lot fun too. Other good points would be that the site already comes with a pre-listening topic discussion, which was intended to develop students’ critical point of view of the situation being listened, and it also has after-listening activities.
When adopting the listening activities from this website, teachers can easily practice with students: top-down strategies in which the students’ background knowledge can be activated and students can also make predictions of what they are going to listen (pre-listening); and bottom-up strategies, when teachers can tell students to listen for specific information and students create meaning of what they have heard (while listening and after listening).
The listening activity exhibits perfect pronunciation and also a very good empathetic listening among the characters performing the speech.

2- http://top25.podcast.com/
topic: News from all over the world
This website I would adopt and recommend to my advanced level students, because there they can develop even more their listening ability, by hearing real news and interviews reported by CNN spoke people and reporters from all over the world.
One bad point of this website would be the speed that the news are being reported, so it would be a good idea to leave this type of activity only for pre-advanced to advanced students of the language, who could then follow the flow of the speech. This is a very hard task (if not impossible) for lower levels to accomplish, and if teachers insist in doing that could then turn a good exercise into a demotivating task for lower levels of proficiency. It is natural if someone cannot get something done because one finds it too hard, than he or she will probably give it up of trying. Besides that, in the Top 25, teachers and students have the option of choosing what section of CNN that they want to listen to, from Global News, 60 minute, money related reports, Radio news, etc. All real life situations that are informing and instructing students about what is happening In the world, on the same time that students benefit their listening ability, they can also develop their critical literacy. Students will need a lot of focus an attention to get the message.

3- http://www.eslpod.com/website/index_new.html
topic: types of sandwich episode #665
This website I would definitely not adopt or indicate to my students, because it does not show how real speakers of the English language interact. The host of those conversations, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, speaks very slowly in order to make it clear every sound that he is producing. Although he has good intentions in doing this, the effect produced by the slow pace of the dialogue make it sounds forced and unrealistic. This is not how speakers of the language interact.

Apart of the downside, the listening activity promoted by this website would be a good exercise for people who are not too fluent in the pronunciation of the language and need to learn that.
Summarizing after reading and trying to build a point about the listening task, one can easily perceive that is not an ability which we tend to relevant as much as we do other human capacities. People are very eager to talk about their achievements and experiences than to listen to anybody’s point of view and suffering. Unfortunately not many people are good listeners, it does not matter the language being spoken. Although this skill is usually not done by many, it can be learned and improved if anyone desires to. In order to become a better listener one needs to practice to hear what is being said by the other, without interfering or trying to take control over the situation. In relation to the teaching of a foreign language, it is extremely important that teachers show and orientate students before, during and after the listening activity that is being played. By doing that, teachers can help students to comprehend better the listening input and can also contribute to the process of students creating metacogninitive strategies that will later make them strategic listener.

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