Please provide a brief description (one to two paragraphs) of your podcast in the comment box below. Please include your target students, short description of the lesson, and goals/objectives.
Decide on your topic and plan your podcast. Again, you could choose any ESL/EFL/ELL topics intended for a particular group of students (e.g., IEP students, high school English students in Mexico or Turkey, or professional “business English students,” etc.).
Think about the relevance of this chosen topic in relation to your goals as you incorporate the use of mobile and iTunes technology to supplement language teaching and learning. What are the differences between an in-class lecture and a podcast that your students could listen to while working out or preparing for a test, for example? What are the items you would like to include here?
Organize your presentation and write a draft of your script. You will be the main person talking on your project but consider including other recorded data (e.g., you could include audio clips recorded online, short interviews of students or other speakers, etc.) that can relate to your presentation.
Listen to sample ESL podcasts available online (class presenters have provided links to related language-based podcast; get ideas from PODCAST ALLEY: http://www.podcastalley.com/ or ESL PODCAST ENGLISH CAFÉ: http://www.eslpod.com/website/index_new.html# -- provided by Paco).
Practice and record your audio file. Create your file using Audacity or any podcasting software you prefer. Once you have downloaded Audacity, you will need a microphone to record your audio file. Audacity is very easy to use with numerous tutorials available on YouTube (type “Audacity Tutorials” at the YouTube search box).
Listen, edit, and finalize your podcast.
Upload your file to iTunesU.
My podcast will be using tongue twisters to help listeners practice English pronunciation. Because I feel strongly that a podcast should be a form of entertainment, with some attempt at a “radio show” feel, the podcast will assume a pre-existing episodic structure, with individual segments. This “episode” will focus on the sounds Θ and ð, and offer three tongue twisters highlighting those sounds. Listeners will be encouraged to both listen to the tongue twisters, and to repeat them as they are read slowly.
ReplyDeleteThe podcast also presupposes the existence of an accompanying website. Though I won’t actually create a website, the podcast will make numerous references to it, as a place where listeners can contact me, read transcripts of that episode’s tongue twisters, and submit tongue twisters for broadcast in later episodes.
Since this would be a publicly available podcast, it would be appropriate for a wide variety of audiences, who would find the podcast through Google searching or casual surfing. Thus, listeners might include teen or adult language students, or ESL speakers of any age seeking a fun way to improve their pronunciation.
The podcast could also be used as a listening assignment in a formal language class setting, and also as a speaking assignment, requiring students to memorize the tongue twisters for recitation in class. (In fact, this latter might be a solution to the question of how to encourage mobility in educational use of podcasts. Assuming students wouldn’t feel embarrassed at walking around campus repeating tongue twisters, it’s an activity that doesn’t lend itself to sitting in front of the computer.) Students could also be asked to write their own tongue twisters to challenge their classmates.
My podcast, entitled “Michelle’s EFL - Episode 1,” is designed for individuals in outer or expanding circle countries who need to communicate with a wide variety of native English speakers. Designed as a listening activity, the podcast features spontaneous and recited speech of three native speakers, each of whom speaks a different variety of English (one British and two American dialects). The goal of the podcast is to build awareness of the different ways English is pronounced by various native speakers, thus enabling learners to better comprehend the different varieties of English they are likely to encounter in the workplace. This podcast would be useful for individuals who already have to communicate with native speakers professionally, or for those who hope to land a job requiring such skills. It would be especially useful for learners who hope to work in tourism or at a call center. EFL teachers could assign this listening activity as homework and have the students discuss it during the next class period. There is also an option for a speaking exercise, if desired.
ReplyDeleteIf the EFL teacher is a NNS, this podcast would be particularly helpful as it provides samples of NS English. And, even if the teacher is a NS, it’s useful because it provides samples of varieties of English in succession, allowing for instant comparison of pronunciation. EFL speakers who aren’t enrolled in classes but happen to stumble upon this podcast will no doubt find it useful as listening practice. It’s helpful that this is a mobile recording because learners will want to go back and listen to it several times until the differences in pronunciation become very clear and ingrained in their brains.
I got the idea for this podcast because, as an L2 Spanish speaker who used to work in tourism, I really appreciate the importance of understanding a variety of dialects. Like English, there are many different varieties of Spanish. After a couple years living and working in Ecuador in the late 80s, I thought I spoke and understood Spanish perfectly. Imagine my dismay when, upon returning to Atlanta, I found I had trouble understanding many of the Mexicans who live here. I had to have my Ecuadorian husband translate Mexican Spanish into Ecuadorian Spanish for me! Similarly, on numerous occasions traveling abroad I’ve had to “translate” Australian and Scottish (or was it Irish?) English into American English for NNS English tour guides.
My podcast is designed for intermediate English learners. For this group of learners, I assume that they have already accumulated all the basic knowledge of English grammatical structures and built a large quantity of vocabulary. Under this situation, their needs in English learning are mostly expansion of vocabulary, accumulation of native expressions and improvement of pronunciation.
ReplyDeleteIn this podcast, I recorded a VOA special English health report. VOA special English reports are very popular among English learners, as the contents are not very cognitively demanding, thus the learners can understand without any difficulty. In addition, the reporters are very articulated, which makes the VOA reports a powerful material for learning pronunciation and practicing listening. However, it also provides some reasonable challenges for the learners due to the new vocabulary and expressions. Although the target level learners can achieve comprehension without knowing some of the words, explanation of these words spontaneously will provide more opportunities of input. Based on this idea, I inserted my explanations of the difficult words I predicted between the sentences.
Although the learners may still do not know how to spell the new words and expressions from this podcast directly, the way of locate the original video on line will be provided. In this way, the learners can also get the transcript of the VOA report.
The topic of my podcast is idioms, in particular, idioms that include words denoting food items.
ReplyDeleteIdioms are important part of langue use, and as McCarty (2005) points out, they are culture specific and thus have the status of “badge of membership” in a particular community. Idioms present difficulty to second language learners because phonological, syntactic and lexical forms of idiomatic expressions do not coincide with their semantic and pragmatic functions. Due to this fact, ESL students may experience difficulty in understating and learning new idioms.
The main goal of this podcast is to help students to understand the meaning of some common food-related idioms and be able to recognize them in text/speech and be able to use these idioms in their own speech.
The target population of this podcast are adult learners of English in an ESL, North-American setting. Since the idioms selected for this lesson are fairly easy and commonly used phrases, the proficiency level of the target ESL population is beginner-low-intermediate. Also, the category of idioms selected to the podcast – food-related idioms - should be an interesting and engaging activity for the leaners.
At the beginning of the podcast students get introduced with the definition of an idiom and its features. After that students are offered to listen to a short text which contains food idioms. After students listened to the text they are offered an explanations and examples of all the idioms included in the text. In the following task, students listen to short conversations which include some of the target idioms. At the end of the podcast students are asked several comprehension questions which should help them to connect what they heard during the presentation with their previous knowledge and observations with regards to idioms. Finally, in the conclusion part of the podcast, students are given some advice on how to find idioms, their meaning and the best way to learn idioms.
To make my podcast more interesting and entertaining, I used music fragments at the beginning of the podcast, between the different tasks, and at the end of podcast. Also, to avoid the monotonous way of presentation, some parts of the podcast, including dialogues, are recorded using the voice of a native English speaker.
My podcast was conceived as part of a series that address students’ beliefs about language learning. The materials were designed for upper-intermediate to advanced EFL learners who have not had much chance to get in contact with sociopragmatic features of language. The idea for designing such materials came about after discussing the need for students to travel in order to fully acquire a second language.
ReplyDeleteMany instructors and students argue that in order for one to fully develop their language skills one has to be in the target culture for a significant amount of time. On the other hand, some argue that one can still learn enough without having to leave their home country. In an EFL context, it is easier for students to acquire syntactic and morphological features of language. Normally, pragmatic and phonetic features are usually more difficult to acquire, since they are difficult to come in contact with (or even be aware of differences of this level). Because of that, the podcasts wanted to firstly attempt to make students are of pragmatic and sociocultural differences in speaking. Secondly, the podcast attempted to instruct students of variation on register and individual’s variables in their effects on speech. By doing so, the materials are expected to incite students to notice these peculiarities of speech on their own, thereby promoting learners autonomy and enabling them to monitor their progress as second language learners more effectively.
My podcast is designed for upper-intermediate English learners in an EFL setting. The students are presumably 18+ who are intending to travel or relocate to the United States for an extended period and this particular podcast was conceived as part of a theoretical series on various cities throughout the United States. I, naturally chose Atlanta as my subject. The goal here is to provide listeners/learners with a brief overview and introduction to the city (it's landmarks, it's status within the US, and it's cultural influence/symbols) and what to look for and do with one's time.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to have spoken in an articulate manner but in a way that is relatively natural and representative of the Atlanta population (whatever that may constitute). The goal here was to provide solid listening and pronunciation with relevant cultural knowledge and information along with some focus on lexicographical and phonetic features that are so handily transmittable via a podcast (as opposed to written/read synopsis). Moreover, I find it a just task to bring to light lesser known cities for those living abroad. It is something I would have greatly appreciated in my Spanish classes. There was always a great dearth of actual cultural and exploratory background into the varying possible countries. Now, that being said, Atlanta surely lacks the cultural heritage of countless countries abroad, but there are still bits of knowledge that ought to be imparted upon EFL students, certainly those that are to be traveling on business or pleasure.
For this podcast, students will listen, take notes, and respond to a lecture. This class is an advanced academic lecture and note taking class that is designed to prepare international students for lectures in an English-medium university in the United States. Almost all of these students have already passed the TOEFL examination and are enrolled in this class as a last preparatory class before entering the university setting. Students are required to weekly engage in pre-listening activities related to the lecture and skills related to listening and note taking, listen to the podcast of the lecture and take notes, email their notes to the instructor, and participate in an online chat with classmates discussing the questions related to the lecture.
ReplyDeleteThis particular lecture is the second part of an economics lecture. The first was an introduction to the law of supply and demand, and this lecture is more illustrative in its presentation of understanding supply and demand. This lecture may be a topic many of these students would encounter in their undergraduate studies here in the United States. However, even if the students do not take an economics course, this lecture will provide them with an opportunity to improve their listening and note taking skills. The goal of this podcast is for students to apply the tips they have learned related to listening and note taking in order to effectively take notes and understand the main idea of the lecture. They may not understand everything the lecturer discusses, but they should understand the main ideas and key concepts. Before the lecture begins, the instructor will remind the students of these tips and skills discussed in previous lessons. Once students scan a copy of their notes of the lecture, a transcript of the lecture will be sent to them in order to better help them with comprehension. Since this course is an online course, the instructor has developed a website for students to use to download the weekly lectures, to participate in weekly discussions with classmates, and to interact with the instructor.
The podcast I have recorded is an alternative lesson for my Academic Writing level 6 class to become more familiar with the writing process. They are upper-intermediate ESL students, they are all in their early 20s, and will be attending U.S. universities once they pass the TOEFL. The class I am teaching is a prep class for the TOEFL prep class, if that makes sense. I wanted to provide them with a review of what the writing process is, while validating that it is indeed useful to practice this process, because successful writers DO in fact use it.
ReplyDeleteWhile this podcast was created for my specific teaching classroom environment, I believe it could be useful in many other environments as well. By having several speakers from several different English varieties, and lots of different voices on this podcast, I hope to provide my students with opportunities to hear and understand many different dialects of English and offers good listening practice by giving information more than once, and by giving the students the opportunity to soak up information that we will then review in class.
The tone and mood of this podcast is purposefully calm and relaxed. By engaging my students in a way that is not over-stimulating, I hope to involve my students, but not overwhelm them.
My podcast is intended for study abroad students on an exchange program with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This is the program that I was with when I studied in Senegal. Part of this program's requirements was learning Wolof during our stay. During our orientation in the US, we took some introductory Wolof lessons to get us started; our first month would be living with a Senegalese family in Dakar. As helpful as the orientation was, it was also extremely inconvienent for most of the students because it took place in Wisconsin. The majority of the program's participants came from other universities; only one student of eight attended UW. A series of podcasts would have been the perfect solution for this orientation. Previous students could have shared their experiences, students could have practiced their Wolof lessons during the three week gap before we left for Senegal and no one would have had to drive eight hours to the home of the cheeseheads.
ReplyDeleteThis podcast gives an introduction into Wolof and also explains a little bit about Senegalese culture. Greetings are discussed, as well as a register differences and jokes. The purpose of the podcast is to expose the students to native speakers and to practice greetings and other phrases that they'll need when they begin their homestay. The clip at the end is transcribed in Wolof and is translated into English. Ideally, students would be able to access the transcript on the website too in order to have more exposure to authentic Wolof before they arrive.
The mood of the podcast is funny and relaxed. It's meant to imitate the type of advice I received from former program participants. It's not something that was really discussed much in the Wolof classroom; an older man teaches Wolof for this program, so the classes were a bit formal and grammar based.
If anyone wants the transcript to get a closer look at the clip at the end, just let me know and I will send it to you.
My podcast focuses on SAT words, and my target audience is high school students in an ESL setting. I chose to do a podcast that is essentially the introduction to new material of ten SAT words. I would assign listening to the podcast before ever discussing the words in class. I have taught high school students before, and vocabulary was one of their weakest areas. I actually focused about one-fourth of the class on SAT vocabulary, and at first it was really hard to get them motivated. I learned quickly that if they heard the words in songs that they liked, their interest improved tremendously. As a teacher, I learned you can never be afraid to put yourself out there, and to capture your audience. I intended for this podcast to give the students the initial SAT vocabulary exposure. In which in class, I would follow it up with many activities, and ultimately an assessment. I think showing that these words appear in music that the current high school generation enjoys listening to (and some they would find funny) is a great way to expand their horizons.
ReplyDeleteWithin the podcast each of the ten words were pronounced in citation form, spelled, defined, given a synonym, and pronounced in context: a sentence and a song. Before, my students never had the opportunity to hear the words outside of class. Unfortunately that meant many of them learned the words, but pronounced them incorrectly. That is essentially why I think this podcast could be of great use to the students. Also, my students frequently had problems with spelling and I thought especially because they could not see the words they should hear the spelling. I decided to define the word, and then give a synonym because many times on the SAT all the students will see are synonyms. However, one of the issues I ran into in my classroom was the students did not understand the meaning of the synonym. That is why I decided to define them in a sentence first in order to make sure the meaning was clear, and then give them an easy one-word definition. Overall, my intention was to provide a new level of exposure and opportunity for learning in an enriched fun sort of way.
This podcast is aimed to EFL middle school students in Mexico, particularly for students in second grade (aged between 13-14 years old). As EFL students, these adolescents do not have the opportunity to practice the language outside the classroom, so they may find podcasts as something helpful to develop their listening comprehension. Another possible advantage is that podcasts could also be used as a tool for exam-preparation practice. In this Podcast, the goal is to indentify clothes. There are two stages in the podcasting session: in the first stage students listen to a vocabulary list of items in isolation and, in the second stage, they hear vocabulary items in context when a native speaker is interviewing some people who are shopping clothes. Personally, I am convinced that any language must be learned in context. So, when students listen to the people in the interview, they do not just identify expressions and vocabulary but they also identify how the language occurs in a real context.
ReplyDeleteIn the teaching field, most of the theories discuss the importance of exposing the student to the target language. That is, instructors should speak the L2 as much as possible in the classroom so that students can get accustomed to the target language. However, when it comes to grammar points or expressions a little bit further of students’ level, L1 might be used to explain and clarify those issues. Brown points out that “in an EFL environment where the instructor and learners share the same language, brief explanations using L1 may benefit learners’. Based on this idea, I expose EFL middle school students to the English language most of the time, but I also clarify some words and expressions using students’ L1. That clarification is really brief and it occurs almost at the end of the podcasting session.
Finally, I would like to say that podcasts seem to be another tool to be used in and out the classroom. Although, theses audios are too much time consuming in the designing step, in the long run they could be a great voice-saving tool, especially for teachers with a number of classes to teach. I know some teachers in my country who teach up to eight classes per day (over forty students per class), me included. In those cases, the voice is really debilitated at the end of the day. So, I will pass them on the idea of podcasts.
My podcast is related to my assistantship, which is in the development of an online teacher education program for Mexican EFL teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe objective of this particular podcast is to introduce the section of the program dealing
with training in the pedagogy of speaking in the English as a foreign language classroom.
This particular program is aimed at teachers in middle school public education EFL programs
with very specific needs concerning not only training in pedagogy, but also language skills.
The section of the course which this podcast introduces deals with the teaching of speaking
and covers different approaches to teaching speaking, classroom teaching skills, pronunciation teaching, and the use of technology for teaching speaking.
The idea for this podcast came directly from my class of advanced language students.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the semester, I did a need’s assessment survey. In it, nearly all of my students indicated that they had trouble understanding reduced forms. As a result, I designed this podcast to be an additional supplement to be used in conjunction with an in class reduction discussion. My goal for this podcast is to raise my students’ awareness of reduced forms in English.
My objectives for the lesson are as followed. Firstly, I provide students with a brief background on reduction. This includes a discussion on its definition and causes. I then discuss briefly the concept of schwa. This explanation is followed by a discussion on the reduced forms of got to, have to, and want to. I then move on to reductions that occur in modals and in questions. In each subcategory, students are exposed to both the full and reduced forms. The lesson finishes with a dialogue that features some of the previously mentioned reduced forms.
The podcast I have prepared is designed for one of my classes in Turkey. It is an EFL context. The students are upper-intermediate level students at a university.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the podcast is to show the students the significance of idiomatic expressions and make them be familiar with three of these idioms. The podcast is seen as the fisrt podcast of a series in which students are introduced idioms in groups such as idioms related with mouth, ear etc. in the target language, English. Therefore, after learning how important they can be in conversations in English, in this podcast they are given three idioms related with ear.
The lesson procedure is as followed;
1. Introduction
2. What are idioms? Are they really important to learn?
3. Listening to a story to find out the idioms
4. Listening to an interview with a non-native TA
5. Three idioms of the day
6. Summarize and homework remind
7. Some web-links for studying idioms
The goal of this podcast was to review verbs as far as timing. I teach a class of upper-level students who are somewhat familiar with the different tenses and aspects but have never had a formal introduction to the subject. Most of what they know has been picked up through listening to English speakers and attempting to make sense of the different forms. For this reason, I tried to use as many graphics as possible in order to show the timing differences between the verb forms.
ReplyDeleteI tried to make this podcast as interactive as possible. It begins with a review to the topic then includes an activity, authentic examples, and a short quiz. For the authentic examples, I took clips from songs and news sources that included context that could be interpreted based on verb timing information.
Formatting my podcast this way allows me to include interactive activities with many visuals without having to make a large number of costly print-outs. Unfortunately, my classroom does not have any computers, but I could use a TV just as well if I burned the podcast to a DVD.
I’ve worked with many English language learners (ELLs) and they all agree that speaking on the phone is difficult. My podcast intended is to help intermediate level ELLs be more confident and successful when giving information during a phone call. I have illustrated some of the does and don’ts for clear messages using a couple of example phone calls to a pizzeria. As a bonus, I’ve read the spelling alphabet that is used by pilots on domestic and international flights.
ReplyDelete