(1) Student activity: transcribing and analysing a podcast
On Thursday, 9 – 10 am, my main class, GO5 pre-intermediate general English course, had their one hour of the week in the computer lab. with me. I got them to listen to themselves on a previous podcast, transcribe what they heard in Word, and correct their mistakes. I went round helping them. That went quite well, though one Saudi Arabian student whose literacy skills are still virtually non-existent (despite intensive coaching), did not achieve the task. I have made a generic worksheet, which I will post in the Yahoo Groups Files area. I had suggested this as an activity, and am happy to report that it does work pretty well, focussing the students on their own performance.
(2) Message to Brooklyn
We normally record our podcast on a Friday morning, in my second lesson with GO5 class. But this week, Friday is half-term holiday (just one day in 12 weeks – couldn’t they have given us a bit more?!), so we recorded our podcast on Thursday, yesterday morning. I had wanted to record a video message, to respond in kind to Richard’s class’s video message, but a number of people weren’t keen, so it didn’t happen. Even getting the women to allow their photo to be taken was like pulling teeth! One very reluctant woman student only agreed when she realised it would be a group photo.
I had had the idea that rather than doing personal introductions, which we’d kind of already done in episode 2, we should move onto a new topic, and I thought talking about our homes in our home countries could be interesting. I brought in a box of Cuisenaire rods (small coloured pieces of wood of different length), so that we could we could construct little copies of our favourite room at home or similar, and talk about those. (I thought this might encourage reluctant students to appear on video, as essentially they would just be providing a voice-over description, rather than appearing on camera in person.) But this idea was not met with enthusiasm, and so the topic kind of descended into a more general personal introduction.
I kicked off myself, to make the whole thing democratic, putting myself on the same level as the students. Bo Yang was second. He had the idea we were going to talk about our hometowns, so that’s why he talked about Beijing. Then Suliman talked. He’s been teasing Martha about her little sister – that he’s in love with her, and so on – a private joke. It lightened the tone of the show, so that was very welcome! Hye Mi referred to The Bridge, a nightclub in Oxford city centre, which many of the students go to on Wednesday night, (which unfortunately has a negative impact on attendance on the following morning.)
One student, a Saudi Arabian male, wouldn’t participate, despite much urging from his fellow Saudis. He wouldn’t say why, but said he would next time.
Actually, I should have published the show as a special episode, apologising to our regular listeners, as the show was addressed not to our normal in-school audience, but to students in another school.
6 responses so far ↓
1
Geoff Taylor
// Feb 17, 2006 at 9:05 am
Learner activity: Podcast Transcription & Analysis
Type of learners: secondary or adult learners
Educational contexts:
(1) formal study situation, e.g. class or individual student with teacher, face-to-face or distant
(2) informal or self-study mode, without a teacher
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This lesson asks you to:
1. listen to a recording of your voice
2. make a transcript of what you say (= write down the words you hear)
3. study what you said, and check for mistakes, and if suitable, try to correct them
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1. Visit [insert name of podcast] at [insert URL of podcast] or select the podcast in your podcast listening program, or on your iPod or other MP3 player
2. Choose an episode which includes a recording of your voice that you would be interested in studying (analysing).
3. Listen to the podcast (or the part of the podcast) with your voice, and at the same time, make a transcript of it. That means: write down what you hear. If possible, type what you hear into a computer program with a spell checker, for example, Microsoft Word. (If you spoke for a long time, perhaps only write down part of your whole speech.)
4. Check the transcript of your speech (that you have written), and try to see if you have made any mistakes and try to correct them, including:
• grammar, for example, forgetting to use the past forms of verbs, or forgetting “a/an” or “the”
• vocabulary, for example, I “stand up” at 7 o’clock every morning. (should be “get up”)
• pronunciation, for example, not pronouncing the “s” at the end of plural nouns, or wrongly pronouncing the “ed” in regular past simple verbs
5. Get a teacher (or other expert language user) to check your work, if possible.
2
Ricardo Green
// Feb 19, 2006 at 5:25 am
We are each of us, speech instructors and speech students alike, learning the conditions for the possibility of establishing a rapport in the Speech Communication classroom. This fundamental condition is one of Listening and being present both to what we love as well as what we’d rather not hear or see, as we listen to Others and Our Selves, whether the Speech class is a Basic Speech Class in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, or in Flushing, Queens, or a Fundamentals of Speech class in the Orthodox Jewish division of the same college, or, a Bardwell Road Centre English class, for all that matter!@! Who, by the way, are the Greatest! Here goes our ShoutOut To England To Stop Being So Shy! (You’ll find their link on the Sidebar at #1 which is what they are, Number #1!) at:
http://nitantiao.podomatic.com
Our maxim is that of a Listening-Speech, my students are teaching me, even as I record them, to better evaluate them even here, and on personal CDs they take home to show family, parents, friends and peers.
This podcast episode is recorded on a RealVideo format at a broadband stream rate, and can be download here:
http://www.profgreen.tv/SelfIntrFeb13c.ram
As any further speeches merit inclusion, on this podcast page, they shall simply be listed in a video and audio format with links, below.
Thank you, Geoff,
Your are the Life of this Yahoo Group!
Richard Green
3
geofftaylor
// Feb 19, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Many thanks, Richard. I have watched all your students video recordings with delight. Good work, you!
4
Ricardo Green
// Feb 23, 2006 at 8:47 am
Geoff: It was and is great to share with all of “You,” Geoff Taylor: British, American, and Worldy, for All of your teaching experiences, not only in Egypt, Austria, and elsewhere,… hence, as you have the chance, I would appreciate your evaluation of the programming, on http://www.folkalley.com and, that which comprises your musical interests as well!! (It was fun to share country music with you and your students!)
G-D Bless, Is there an English equivalent to the “Road Rise Up To Meet You!” For it is What We Wish Ya’ll in England, as I dance a jig just now on FolkAlley.com until I hear from you Again,
Ricardo Verde
5
EFL Geek: ESL & EFL in Korea
// Mar 28, 2006 at 9:13 am
More New blogs…
The other day I received a couple of comments from a new EFL blogger based in China, I believe the blogger is a native Chinese but with excellent English skills. Anyhow the blog is titled: The Courage to Teach (TCTT). Recieving those comments inspired …
6
Peter Thompson
// Jul 19, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Great work, I’m getting a lot of ideas on how to use podcasts properly.
I’m researching podcasts at the moment – anyone who is interested, please complete my survey at
http://linguacast.ncl.ac.uk/
Peter Thompson’s Podcast research.
Or contact me direct -peter.thompson@ncl.ac.uk