Adding details into the picture.

Students listen to some description and complete the picture according to it.

e.g.

 

Tapescript

Policeman: Well, now. We're looking for three people. Two young men and a woman. One of the men is black, the other is white. The woman is also white. The black man is about twenty-five. He has short, curly black hair. Very short, actually. And a very thin moustache. We understand that he sometimes wears a small, plain gold earring in his right ear and that he often wears dark glasses, er, you know, sunglasses. He was the driver of the car, we think. Now the second man we're looking for - he's white and about twenty-five to thirty years old. Er, now he's also got curly hair, but it's rather long and ifs light brown. Not blond, but not dark, either... you know, fair yes, that's it fair. He has a full moustache but no beard. We think he has a small scar, it's half-moon shaped, on his forehead, just above his left eye... er... we think his name might be John or Jock or Jack... something like that. And now the third person we're looking for. Well. She's about thirty years old. She's got blonde, wavy, shoulder-length hair. She wears glasses, we think, er rather square, heavy-looking glasses and she sometimes seems to be wearing a silver chain around her neck, with some sort of medallion on it, you know, a St Christopher, or something like that...

(taken from Listening in Action, unit 5)

Outlining

Outlining the text.

Students read / listen to the text and make its outline.

e.g.

The long hiccup by our medical reporter, Mary Lawson For many people the subject of hiccups is a joke, but for Harry Mendis, a fifteen-year-old schoolboy from Birmingham, it was something quite different. His hiccups began one Sunday lunchtime and continued day and night for two weeks. After the first week, Harry was desperate and his parents took him to hospital, but it took another week for the doctors to cure his attack. Harry, who is now back at school, described what happened to him. “I began to hiccup after eating a curry from my local takeaway. I drank a glass of water but that didn't do any good. That evening I had hiccups every four seconds. We tried everything to stop them. I held my breath and drank cold drinks. My father even tried to give me a shock but that didn't work either.” After a week of sleepless nights, he went to hospital. The doctors took an X-ray of his chest but they couldn't find anything wrong. “They gave me some tablets and my hiccups slowed down, but it was another week before the tablets worked completely and my hiccups stopped.” Harry was very lucky. The world record holder is the unfortunate American farmer Charles Osborne, who hiccupped constantly for sixty-eight years. He eventually stopped in 1990, but nobody knows why.

The outline:

1) Harry Mendis, a fifteen-year-old schoolboy.

2) Harry suffered from hiccup for a long time.

3) How it all began.

a) trying to stop it;

b) two-weeks long hiccup;

c) at the hospital.

4) All is well that ends well.

5) Other examples.

Asking/Answering Questions

Questions to the text.

Students listen to text and answer questions.

e.g.

What jobs do these people do?

a Donald Agnus c Neil Allinson

b Anne Barnett d Eddie Hibbert

 

Post-listening activities

Dramatizing

Listening skit.

The teacher composes a short skit; a group of students is selected to be the characters of the skit. They listen to the detailed instructions and follow them.

e.g.

The waiter, hold a pad of paper in your left hand and a pencil in your right hand. Adjust your apron. Ask in a nervous voice: May I take your order?

Dramatizing a dialogue.

Students act out a conversation.

e.g.

An Interesting Film.

Mrs. Kim:	Hello, Bill. Hello, Lynn.
Bill:	Hi, Mrs. Kim. Is Jim in?
Lynn:	Is he coming with us to the film?
Mrs. Kim:	Oh, Jim's sick.
Bill:	Here he is! Hi, Jim.
Lynn:	Are you sick, Jim?
Jim:	Is it an interesting film?
Lynn:	It's Billy the Kid.
Bill:	And it begins in six minutes.
Mrs. Kim:	Jim, if you're sick…
Jim:	Quick! Or we'll miss the beginning of the film!

(taken from Ship or Sheep? by A. Baker)

Dramatizing a scene.

Students look at the script of a video and act it out.

e.g.

Interview

Chris	What's a house assembly? What does that mean?	John	A whole range of subjects. I would think that ours is very similar to most other schools. English and maths are seen to be the two most important subjects,…science, languages, art, design, drama, humanities subjects.
John	Well, my main job at school is as a housemaster. I'm responsible for 150 pupils of ages at school, and they will come over and meet in the house block.
Chris	What subjects do the children do?	Chris	What do you teach?
John	I have a degree in history and I teach in the history department.

(from People and Places by Bob Marsden and Nick Mclver, BBC English)

Miming

One-way body language communication.

One of the students imagines that he's caught a cold and he can't speak. He is to show what he wants in different situations (at the at the airport, at the hotel, in the theatre, etc.)

e.g. I have to catch an early train tomorrow. Could you wake me up at 5.30 a.m., please?

(The idea was taken from Drama Techniques

in Language Learning by A. Maley, A. Duff)

 

Role-play

Act out a situation.

Students are to role play the situation.

e.g.

Role card A:You are a customer in a cake shop. You want a birthday cake for a friend. He / she is very fond of chocolate.

Role card B: You are a shop assistant in a cake shop. You have many kinds of cakes, but not chocolate cake.

Simulation