MATERIALS FOR

ENHANCING
LISTENING AND
SPEAKING SKILLS
“RIGHT TO SPEAK COMES WITH A DUTY TO LISTEN” – AMIT
KALANTRI

GROUP 3
INTRODUCTION
The ultimate aim of teaching listening and speaking skills to students
is not just for them to know the “what” and “how”, but also the
“when”- when to speak and when to listen.

Listen to Julian Treasure in his TED Talk as he provides input on the

importance of listening and ways how to listen better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSohjlYQI2A
AFTER LISTENING TO THIS TALK,
WHAT ARE YOUR TAKEAWAYS?
◦ Language is primarily speech. With comprehensible input (through
listening), students will be able to produce remarkable output
(speaking). Many researchers claim that “enhancing the speaking
skill is strongly related to the student’s progress in the listening
skill” ( Abu-Snoubar, 2017). Listening to various oral outputs using
the target language helps in enhancing oral skills. Moreover, being
an effective communicator goes beyond knowing the grammar,
vocabulary, or pronunciation of a language. It involves knowing
what, how, and when to speak given varied contexts.
After watching the video:
•What does the speaker say about the power of words? What
then do we need to consider before opening our mouth?
•Do you think the speaker was able to effectively get his
message ACROSS? Why or why not?
•Are the videos you watched a good source for input? In what
way?
•What other learning materials do you consider good sources
of input in teaching and speaking?
LISTENING
There are varied sources of inputs on listening which you can use to
enhance listening skills Listening materials that most teachers use are
from coursebooks that provide activities like dictation, cloze, listening
then rewriting, pronunciation practice, input from recorded scripted
dialogues and monologues through recordings, etc. Aside from these
"scripted texts", Tomlinson (2013) also provided a list of intake-rich
materials and activities They are given below:
•listening to the teacher reading poems, short stories, extracts from novels, etc. (an activity which could be used for 5
minutes at the beginning of every lesson),

•listening to teachers delivering a scene from a play,

•listening to the teacher telling jokes and anecdotes,

•listening to their classmates and peers reading poems, telling jokes and anecdotes, etc (but only if they have
prepared and practiced);

•listening to other learners reading aloud texts which they have enjoyed studying

•listening to others delivering a prepared speech on something that interests them (especially if the listeners have a
choice of presenters to listen to):

•watching sports events news events, documentaries, etc., with commentaries in the target language.

•listening to presentation discussions/debates on topics relevant to the learners

•Jouening to advertisements, radio programs and podcasts, music and watching TV and films

•engaging in discussion with their peers on controversial topics

•listen/watch to lectures and speeches like that of TED Talk through https://www.ted.com/talks and
English Speeches at https://www. englishspeecheschannel.com/ or from youtube

•listen to online programs like The BBC in http://news.bbc.co.uk/ and

•http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/news

•listen and try out interactive exercises on recent news stories at http://
www.breakingnewsenglish.com

•maximize free websites which provides excellent listening practice of the target language at

 http://englishspeecheschannel.com/
 https://www.ted.com/talks
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/
LISTEN TO ENJOY!
Choose and listen to two podcasts from this repository of best
motivational podcasts at
https://resonaterecordings.com/2019/01/best-motivational-podcasts/
Speaking

Tomlinson (2013) provides "a framework for developing materials

for spoken language" namely "(a) conceptualizing learner needs, (b)
identifying subject matter and communication situations, (c)
identifying verbal communication strategies, (d) utilizing verbal
sources from real life and (e)designing skill-acquiring activities"
(a). conceptualizing learner needs

Just like the teaching of any language skill, it is important to gain baseline data as to student's needs, interests,
proficiency level (through diagnostic and needs assessment), learning style, motivation, cultural preferences and
expectations.

(b) identifying subject matter and communication situations

Given student's preliminary data, teachers can now have a picture as to what kind of instructional content,
learning experiences, materials or resources and strategics they will design to suit to the profile of the learner

(c) identifying verbal communication strategies

In the selection and design of materials for the teaching of speaking, the teacher should incorporate
conversational strategies forvarious speech situations and contexts. These materials provide practice and
opportunities where students act upon their interlocutor's speech, employing different communicative strategies.
(d) utilizing verbal sources from real life

To modify materials, besides printed sources such asmagazine articles or pictures as a springboard for
communication, course developerscan also integratevaried verbal interactions taken from real life and in the
classroom (Tomlinson, 2013) These are "unscripted" and "unstructured materials that provide FOR authentic
use of the language.

(e) designing skill-acquiring activities

This time, the teacher creates relevant, appropriate, authentic and contextualized speaking tasks to help the
leamers achieve their goal to become ellective communicator Providing effective communicative tasks is very
important to help students acquire the target skill

For the past years, there have been an increase in the availability of materials for the teaching of language
skills. Teachers are no longer left in quandary as to where to start and what to do However, one should also
take note that spoken language in the real world is dynamic and ever-changing, thus, materials and activities
should address such variations.
Task 1. Taking the Step

Refer to the suggested framework of Tomlinson (2013) for developing materials for spoken language. Provide 3-5
questions that address the things to be considered for each step. These questions may serve as your checklist to
ensure that you have taken careful considerations for each step in developing your materials.

(a) Conceptualizing learner needs

For what grade level will the materials be made?

(b) Identifying subject matter and communication situations

(c) Identifying verbal communication strategies

(d) Utilizing verbal sources from real life

(e) Designing skill-acquiring activities

Task 2. Creating the LM for Listening and Speaking

The goal of this task is for you to create your own instructional material, provide a video tutorial
on how to create and use it and upload/share the material online.

1. Check out this video entitled "Material Development for Listening and Speaking Activity | ESL
CLassroom" accessible at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=71-yidyFdrQ

This is an animated video on how to create and use specific instructional materials (Wheel of
Fortune and Class Memory Quiz) for the teaching of listening and speaking

2. Choose two instructional materials for the teaching of listening and speaking for any grade
level.

Create a tutorial video using your mobile phone or an animated explainer video using
Powtoon.com (just like the video provided). The video should contain the what and how of the
instructional materials you have created.

4. Upload this video in your class website or in Youtube to add to the repository of instructional
materials for ESL. Don't forget to invite your friends to like and share.
Task 3. Let's do a Podcast

Aside from using the available podcasts online, you can also create your own
podcast or audio content. In creating these materials, you also enhance your
speaking skills at the same time provide for a good source of input to your
future students.
1. Visit this site - 21 Podcast Recording Tips for Polished Episodes, at https://castos.com/podcast-recording-tips/

2. Create your own podcast or audio content using any audio recording device for each of the following:

Read a poem/short story/or share an anecdote, then give your own takeaway after reading the chosen Inspire
your listeners material.

Talk about your favorite song/s

Inspire your listeners by sharing a motivating story, encouragement, etc.

3. Remember to keep your podcasts short, perhaps 5-10 minutes only.

4. To make your podcasts more interesting, do not forget to add enhancements like background music etc.
INTERNALIZATION
Summarize what you have learned in this lesson and
tell you classmates how you are able to overcome
any learning challenges by posting it in this wall or in
your own facebook wall.
THANK YOU!