What are they Talking About?
Aim: |
to practise listening for gist and identifying clues and distractors |
Target Audience: |
students |
Relevance to SfL: |
Speaking and Listening Entry 2, Phase 2a |
Organisation: |
whole class then pairs |
Materials needed: |
- Photocopy one Worksheet A per student.
- Give out the Worksheet. (You could tell students that these are typical questions in Phase 2a of Skills for Life Entry 2 Speaking and Listening if you wish.)
- Using the first question as an example, check that students understand the question and the three options.
- Read or play a recording of Worksheet B and elicit the correct answer (a café). Ask students to note what words they heard which led them to choose the answer and discount the other options (a good place for a coffee and a sandwich or a hot snack / close to the college / not far from my house).
- Students read the remaining questions and listen to the relevant listening scripts. These become progressively more difficult as students have fewer pictorial or linguistic clues.
- When Worksheet A is completed, students compare their answers and discuss any differences.
- Feedback with the whole class to establish the correct answers and establish the clues in the listening script. Repeat the listening to consolidate the answers.
Notes/Variations:
- For weaker classes, you might consider doing these activities at regular intervals rather than all at once, and repeating the listening phase before students check their answers.
- Copy the listening scripts onto an OHT so that students can listen and read in a final consolidation phase.
- For extra listening practice, ask detail questions orally for each of the texts, as well as gist questions.
- Gist questions could also be asked orally only, rather than using Worksheet A.