English Listening Games

Summary

In this video, Eric from Etiquette shares 10 creative listening activities for ESL classrooms that combine fun and educational value. These activities, including Dicta Gloss, Musical Chairs, and Minimal Pairs, help students improve their listening skills while staying engaged through interactive games and challenges. Eric also provides practical tips on how to implement these activities effectively, such as maintaining order and starting with clear accents. This video is a valuable resource for teachers seeking to make listening practice both enjoyable and impactful for students.

Takeaways

• 😀 Listening to native speakers helps learners grasp the actual speed, intonation, and proper pronunciation of the language.
• 😀 Incorporating fun activities or games in listening exercises keeps students engaged and helps them retain more information.
• 😀 Exposure to different accents from around the world enhances learners' listening comprehension and broadens their understanding of the language.
• 😀 'Simon Says' is a popular game to engage students in active listening, with various adaptations to make it more challenging.
• 😀 Dictogloss is a great activity for advanced learners, where students listen to a story, memorize it, and then retell it in their own words.
• 😀 Musical Chairs is an interactive game where students listen for answers to questions and sit down when they hear the correct response.
• 😀 The 'Listen and Throw' activity promotes active listening, with students throwing paper balls into bins based on the audio answers they hear.
• 😀 Minimal Pairs helps students distinguish between similar-sounding words (e.g., 'leave' vs 'live'), enhancing their listening and pronunciation skills.
• 😀 Using audiobooks and stories for book reports or presentations gives students the opportunity to practice listening and summarize content.
• 😀 'Movie Vocabulary' exercises involve watching a movie clip, identifying new vocabulary, and discussing its meaning in context.
• 😀 'Telephone' is a game where students pass on a sentence to their teammates, helping them practice their listening and communication skills.
• 😀 'Crowd Source a Monster' is a fun and creative activity where students listen and give instructions to draw a monster based on group input.
• 😀 Song gap-fill activities engage students by having them listen to a song and fill in missing lyrics, which helps improve listening and vocabulary.
• 😀 'Step by Step' exercises focus on understanding instructions, such as following a map or recipe, to enhance students' comprehension of detailed directions.

Q & A

Why is listening to native speakers beneficial for language learners?

Listening to native speakers helps learners hear the language spoken at its natural speed, with proper intonation and pronunciation. It also exposes them to various accents from around the world, enhancing their listening skills.

What is Dicta Gloss and how does it help advanced learners?

Dicta Gloss is a listening activity where the teacher tells a story, and students must memorize it. They then retell the story in their own words in groups. This exercise helps students practice listening and learn how to substitute words while maintaining the meaning.

How can the game 'Simon Says' be adapted to focus more on listening?

'Simon Says' can be adapted by adding challenges such as asking students to find objects starting with specific letters or identify rhyming words. This version not only engages students physically but also sharpens their listening skills.

What is the purpose of the 'Musical Chairs' listening game?

In the 'Musical Chairs' game, students stand up and listen for a specific answer to a question played through audio. Once they hear the answer, they sit down. This game helps students focus on listening while staying active.

How does the 'Listen and Throw' activity work?

In the 'Listen and Throw' game, students are split into teams, and each team gets a colored paper ball. When the audio plays, students must throw their ball into the correct bin corresponding to the answer. This game makes students actively listen while having fun.

What are Minimal Pairs, and how do they help ESL students?

Minimal Pairs are words that sound similar but are spelled differently (e.g., 'leave' vs. 'live'). The game involves students listening to these words and identifying them. This helps ESL students distinguish between similar sounds, which is often a challenge in language learning.

How can teachers incorporate songs into listening activities?

Teachers can use song lyrics with missing words and have students fill in the blanks while listening. This not only helps with listening comprehension but also exposes students to real-life language use, making learning more engaging.

What is the 'Crowd Source a Monster' activity, and how does it work?

In this activity, two students draw a monster based on the descriptions given by the rest of the class. The students must listen carefully to the directions to accurately draw the monster. This exercise helps improve listening and following instructions.

How does the 'Telephone' game help with listening?

The 'Telephone' game involves students passing a message from one person to another. By the time the message reaches the last student, it often changes, demonstrating the importance of careful listening and clear communication.

What are the key considerations for making ESL listening activities successful?

To make ESL listening activities successful, it's important to keep the class orderly, ensure the activities are simple and easy to understand, use real-life conversations for context, and begin with clear accents before exposing students to a variety of accents.