Podcasts for English Language Learners
Debbie Naquin
I am
very excited about my podcast project for my ESL students. This project will be
a part of my ESL 13 class, which is the exit-level writing class for non-native
speakers of English at NOVA. At this exit-level, NOVA’s ESL program has no
listening/speaking component, which is problematic because the students need
further practice in these skills, especially those students newly arrived from
other countries. My plan is to have the students engage in this
listening/speaking component of ESL 13 outside of the classroom, using
Blackboard and the Writing Center’s Language Learning Lab.
As a
Web 2.0 newbie, the idea of online social learning is not a part of my everyday
activities, but I will be learning in this new environment along with my
students. As you can see in the Welcome Podcast linked below, I have made my
first podcast welcoming my students to this new type of learning. I plan to
continue making podcasts each time I ask them to make one. Sometimes we will
use the task sheets provided by Splendid Speaking, but since that site does not
allow access to their archived task sheets, I will probably be creating many of
my own assignments. For instance, I want my students to begin with an
introduction, but that might not be the task of the week on the site.
All
of the links below (except for the last one) should work. Speakers need to be
on.
Speaking
Assignments
inside Blackboard
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Welcome to Podcasting!
You'll
be improving your listening speaking skills by making podcasts in
English and posting them on Podomatic. Here's my intro podcast for you,
which definitely needs a musical intro and closing. Any suggestions for
songs I should use? |
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Subscribe to "Splendid Speaking"
Once you have completed your free subscription to "Splendid Speaking",
you will receive a weekly newsletter with colloquial expressions to
study for their next week's quiz. You will also be visiting this site
to get the task or assignment sheet for your speaking podcasts. The
site also includes an evaluation rubric so that you can evaluate
yourself as well as the members of your group in your speaking
activities.
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Create a "Podomatic" Account
This
free account will allow you to record your podcasts to share with your
learning group. The only other thing you will need to do this is a
computer with a microphone. All laptops have internal microphones, and
the Writing Center's Language Learning Lab has microphones (and
headsets) you can check out. |
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Podcast
Grading Rubric – This link is not functional outside of Blackboard;
description of the rubric follows.
grade podcasts.pdf
(32.26 Kb) |
Sample Task Sheet from
Splendid Speaking –
Handout also includes sample
topics, possible vocabulary and linguistic structures.
Splendid Speaking Grading Rubric
This rubric divides the
speaking task into six domains, with a 0-3 range of scores for each domain.
(Three is the highest score). Each of the six domains has verbal descriptors to
indicator what type of speaking would be expected at each of the above four
scores. Because my students would probably not need or understand the entire
rubric, I plan to devise one of my own.
The six domains of their
rubric are as follows:
1.
Grammar and
Vocabulary
2.
Fluency
3.
Pronunciation
4.
Extended
Spoken Discourse Management (organization and coherence)
5.
Content
6.
Interactive
Spoken Discourse (active listening and turn-taking)
.
Please note: Before I can
begin to use this project, however, I have some tasks to do over the summer. I
would like to improve my initial podcast, perhaps by adding a sound clip for the
introduction and the conclusion. I will need to plan my students’ speaking
tasks to coincide with their writing assignments. I am looking forward to this
new addition to my ESL course!