Website of the day: Listen and write
What is this?
It is a website that we can use to improve listening ability in particular. It contains various video clips and audio files, each of which includes three activities which learners can write down what they have heard: full mode, quick mode, and blank mode.
1. The website has a variety of interesting video clips, such as movie clips, speech, which can motivate students to watch and practice again and again, even without teacher’s presence.
2. The website suits students with different level of English proficiency. Students can choose the levels of difficulty and their preferred mode to practice. Even if they choose the easiest one: blank mode, they can select how many blanks they want to fill in based on their own ability. What is more, if refreshing the webpage again, they will have to fill in different blanks so that students can practice listening to the same clip several times without getting bored.
3. The website can help lower students’ learning anxiety. The system will automatically repeat the same clip again and again until students finish filling in all the required parts. Besides, students can click on the “hint” button they fail to catch certain word.
4. The website can help students to improve not only listening but spelling ability because it gives immediate feedback if they misspell a word. Besides, in the full text-mode and quick mode, the system will provide students a list of “Dictionary lookup” which keeps a record of all of their misspelled words.
5. The website can keep a record of the learner’s process and remind students what tasks they haven’t finished.
6. Every link offers more information about the video file and clips. Students can even download the videos to watch it over and over again.
6. Every link offers more information about the video file and clips. Students can even download the videos to watch it over and over again.
Classroom use
Take this video for example.
1. Teachers can select one interesting video and have students watch it first. Then students can discuss the main ideas in the video for about 3 minutes before they watch it again and dictate in pairs.
2. Teachers can recommend some videos in certain level and ask students to work in pairs. Students can choose whichever attracts them or is appropriate for their level and fill the blanks together. Student A type and Student B help him/her to finish the first clip. Then, they switch the role for the second clip.
3. If lack of time, teachers can only have students do one or two clips of a video and encourage students to finish doing it at home.
Limitations
1. Doing the listening practices on the website requires high speed of the internet.
2. Some listening practices especially in the lower level don’t have the right version of transcription.
3. It is sometimes confusing that some silence fillers have to be transcribed, but some do not.
4. It is not clear how the levels of the listening practices are divided.
5. Teachers had better explain how to make use of the website and demonstrate because students might be unable to figure it out in a short time.
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