Planning a listening skills lesson using authentic materials can be quite daunting. However, such a lesson will be so much more rewarding than one which relies on coursebook materials which, let’s face it, tend to offer nothing more than some dodgy acting in unrealistic situations.
Read more: A Listening Skills Lesson PlanTo choose your audio, you need to ask yourself similar questions to those you ask when planning a reading skills lesson.
I have chosen this TedTalk to use with my B2 level business English students.
Will my students enjoy listening to/watching it?
Yes, it is relevant to their current work situation and a topic which often comes up in our classes.
Is the length suitable?
This recording is around 4 minutes long, which is manageable. Any longer, I would have to consider either breaking it down into smaller chunks or just using an excerpt.
Is the level of English suitable?
Yes, my B2 students will find it challenging enough but I don’t expect any major problems.
Does it have a particular language focus I could exploit before or after the listening skills practice?
There are some useful words which students may regularly hear/read in their international work environment.
My Lesson Plan
- Arouse interest and pre-teach some lexis.
Give the students the following words and ask them, in small groups, to predict what they think the recording will be about.
2. Feedback on pre-listening task
Gather students ideas of what the recording will be about and put their ideas on the board (giving them something to focus on while watching/listening)
3. Provide the students with practice in listening for gist.
Simply ask the students to watch/listen and see if their predictions were right.
4. Provide the students with practice in listening for detail.
Ask the students to watch/listen again and make notes on the “four things which work well” in hybrid working. You can provide the students with some clues if you like as I have below but this might not be necessary (think about what your students can handle).
| Key Point | What she says – add to the notes below |
| Anchor Days | – overlap with …….. – watercooler….. |
| Plan spontaneity | – structuring unstructured time – 6-7 minutes – one word |
| Use the right tools to communicate | – video ….. – email …. – take a break – one-to-one ….. |
| Commit to the new culture | – who? – mixed messages… |
5. Post-listening fluency task
As a round-up to the lesson I would suggest having the students discuss the pros and cons of hybrid working.
6. Alternative post-listening task or something for the next lesson
It could be a good idea to get students to write a summary to give to their manager based on what they have learned from the video.
Have you got any good listening skills lesson ideas that you can share?
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