Often when teaching language I have told my students that they have just 2 ways to help their brain do what it is wired to do - acquire language. Teachers can find lots of original and fun ways to teach language but it is the learner's brain that is best placed to figure out how to produce language well, it will go on doing so throughout their future, beyond the classroom, if they give it the chance.
Despite there being 2 ways to help the language learning process by letting examples of usage in, many spend far too long only using one of them. What are the two ways?
- through the eyes: eg.reading
- through the ears: eg.listening
The "captioning effect" is well researched, a powerful way of combining both forms of input. It was my desire to facilitate listening opportunities online that first brought me into contact with Mark Childs at Warwick University many years ago. He supported my plan to run a professional development session on the importance of voice. I used a digital recording of a baby crying to open the session. That got everyone's attention and how they begged me to make it stop! I think it proved a point - human beings are touched at a very deep level by the souds we hear. Voice is powerful and too often we use our ears selectively as we get older, tuning out the voices we don't want to hear. Older language learners have to reconnect with the often uncomfortable feeling of listening.
This week I am delighted to be back working with Mark and another friend I have met through ALT, Jane Secker. With my #LTHEchat hat on, I am happy to say these two fab folk will be leading this week's @LTHEchat. And the focus is upon podcasting - a great way to use your ears. I am a fan and have been listening to podcasts for many years, using the old Juice podcaster back in the day. I love to listen to a comedy podcast before I go to sleep, more recently I have been inspired by the wonderful Pedagodzilla, enjoyed the 25 years of Ed Tech podcast , been interviewed for the Education Burrito and there's another interview on my work with eportfolios coming soon. These are just a few of my many subscriptions now on Google Podcasts. Digital technology has made it so much easier to catch up on conversations at a time and place that suits us. We have come a long way since the days of endless buffering online.
I embedded listening into my teaching from the early days. When I started teaching we used a reel to reel tape recorder to play audio in class, I later prouced personalised cassettes for students and found it greatly increased their engagement. Since all went digital I have used Soundcloud and digital recorders to provide audio and oral opportunities for my learners and indeed for many purposes. I was an early adopter of audio feedback and when done well this is really appreciated by students.
So is listening to podcasts just #podcrastination?
Well, if you want to learn and time is, inevitably, short why would you only use 50% of the resources available to you?
UPDATE:
My latest podcast on #eportfolio use is available now
https://podcast.mahara.org/2018360/11549188-teresa-mackinnon-professional-portfolios-values-and-transferable-skills
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