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Joins in activities but may not speak |
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Comprehends instructions and routine interactions through non-verbal cues |
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Asks for translation or clarification from other L1 speakers |
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Comprehends in the registers in L1 applicable to school life within range expected at current phase of schooling |
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Challenge student’s capacity for higher order thinking
through linguistically simple trans-disciplinary problem solving activities e.g. group reconstruction of a geometric shape, tessellation ( Kay’s ‘ESL in Mainstream’ course notes)
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Allow time
to process language heard before expecting a response
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Weave short focused activities
that require active listening with alternate activities that don’t require this level of concentration (as a means of avoiding concentration loss and tiredness especially when there is an overload of unfamiliar language)
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Use simple, familiar, context-embedded language
around structured tasks supported with written models around experience based topics
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Accompany face to face
(use of an OHT rather than whiteboard ensures face to face) interactions such as simple instructions, directions, descriptions questions/requests, feedback (right, wrong) and other classroom activities with culturally familiar non-verbals (e.g. body language, gestures), slow careful speech (without sounding unnatural), repetition (prefaced by student name if necessary to attract attention), simplification into familiar forms, rephrasing, clear intonation (e.g. for questions vs statements vs imperatives/commands), stress on key words and visuals e.g. demonstrations, pictures, diagrams and accompanying written models/transcripts or symbols( e.g., for class topic ‘endangered species’ use a pie chart to show the ratio of endangered animals among the various classifications rather than modeling persuasive exposition on the topic )
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Model how to be a sympathetic interlocutor
(e.g., prompt and take initiative in sustaining interaction e.g., using sounds or expressions such as ‘is it?’, really?, mmmm, be patient allowing wait time, tease out meaning, politely ask for repetition- please say that again, recycle familiar words/structures rather than using alternatives –e.g., when giving feedback -right vs correct, model the responses required and use familiar intonation patterns e.g., in questions which include alternatives use upward intonation on the first alternative and downward on the second –is this a square? or a rectangle? ) when engaging in short two way interactions such as peer interviews exchanging personal information (age/birthdate, address, country of birth, likes/dislikes, ability/inability, physical features, appearances, daily/weekly routines) phrased in simple familiar forms with stress placed on interrogatives-who, when, where, what, how or to practice social formulae such as How are you? Did you have a good weekend? eliciting responses from student’s spoken repertoire
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Tabulate vocabulary
used in interviews exchanging personal information e.g., country, nationality, language and make an audio tape describing these details on each student in sentences then play the tape stopping to guide student in breaking words into syllables and marking, stress e.g., Bos/ni/an
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Use high frequency greetings and courtesy phrases
rather than unexpected alternatives e.g., ‘bye/see you Monday’ rather than ‘so long’; ’hello/hi’ rather than ‘greetings’
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Provide immediate feedback
to enable student to confirm whether or not the correct answer has been reached or whether hypotheses about the language are well founded
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Enhance predictability
by following text structures taught in written models- e.g., recount starts with orientation- who, what, when, where followed by series of events in sequence, drawing on background knowledge of topic
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Assign student to routine duties
(e.g. open the windows) and special errands (e.g. take this note to the office) accompanied by a peer
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Familiarise student with key vocabulary
such as action verbs related to classroom instructions (draw, open, write, sit, bring, copy, give, listen, look, repeat, wait), sequential conjunctions (first, last, before) and simple prepositions of place/motion (on, off, under, in, out, near) e.g., by modelling a simple word processing procedure using target instructional language (first, cut, copy, paste, on) which can then be incorporated into other instructions e,g, art/craft for student to follow
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Introduce games to practice vocabulary items
and short sentence structures- e.g., card games (requiring naming of picture/word on card) such as snap, concentration, bingo, fish (Kay and Melody’s New Arrival Programme) 4 students are dealt 7 cards each and any pairs are placed on table then turns are taken asking each other for cards to make further pairs and the player with the most pairs wins
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Emphasise the importance of being willing to admit non-comprehension
‘What do you mean?’ ‘I don’t understand’
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Provide opportunities for student to indicate comprehension
by giving listen and record/make/do/draw and listen and reply/repeat activities incorporating sequential conjunctions and locational phrases e.g., to mark a route on a map; to circle the corresponding picture (e.g., based on description of physical features) or numbers; to draw/assemble from an identikit (a kit containing pictures of hair etc) an animal or person from heard description; to arrange desk items according to a description such as ‘the ruler is between the books’; to identify deliberate errors in a description of a picture-e.g., given a picture of a classroom student listens to statements such as- the clock is near the calendar and marks each true or false; to enter information onto a retrieval chart or bar graph e.g., likes and dislikes in relation to foods, music, sports, hobbies; to label a diagram with parts; to set up the data projector; to make cookies; to imitate strong rhythm and rhyme in songs/raps/jazz chants; to test physical abilities- can you touch your toes with straight legs?; to find the person who has the appropriate response to an everyday utterance e.g., statements/enquiries and their responses handed out to each student to say aloud in order to find their match- I can’t come today at lunchtime-Oh what a pity!
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Take student on a tour of school/classroom
to familiarize with names of school areas, classroom items, subjects (on timetable) and directional vocabulary -– canteen, pencil, calculator, maths, left, right and to introduce to key personnel –principal, guidance officer, student services staff
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Become familiar with L1 culture-specific non-verbals
(e.g. Chinese point to nose when referring to themselves, Nepalese tilt head shoulder to shoulder to express ambivalence) as well as those which are common to English and L1
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Become familiar with L1 consonant/vowel configurations
in order to understand student’s difficulties in perceiving certain sounds in certain positions (e.g. Chinese and Vietnamese tend not to hear consonants in final position)
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Demonstrate sounds and corresponding positions of articulators
(tongue and lips) and teeth when student experiences difficulty hearing or producing an utterance
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Listen for different pronunciation in minimal pairs
that discriminate fine differences in sounds (phrases-wash the door/watch the floor; words in isolation or in carrier phrase-tea/tree, he’s/he is/his; sounds-/v/, /b/) and which emphasise sounds not perceived (i.e. those identified in contrastive analysis and commonly omitted or substituted such as plural ‘s’ indicating a change of meaning)
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Collect background information
such as assessments of L1 proficiency in various subject areas or information on interruptions in L1 language and literacy development to assist in subject selection–low L1 background knowledge in a subject will hinder development in that same subject in L2 while students with highly developed registers for specific purposes (e.g., L1 educational background of Chinese students in maths is often above that of native English speakers) will be advantaged if corresponding subjects are selected
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Invite L1 peers and adults
to explain school procedures and English content in class activities
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Green Transit Listening |
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Listening Activities for ESL Beginners |
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Listen to This |
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Where’s English? (lower secondary) |
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English onYour Own |
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On the way-listening |
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Newcomer Phonics |
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New Oxford Picture Dictionary |
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Starting to Listen |
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Jazz Chants |
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Asian Language Notes- Chinese, Vietnamese Korean |
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Multilingual Contrastive Analysis chart |
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Thrass (British accent) |
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Alphabet CD (Australian accent) |
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