a blended learning approach to listening

Aoyama Gakuin University, English Department

Joseph Dias and Gregory Strong

1. Overview of the IEP2. Evaluations of the IE Listening Course 3. Surveys and Focus Groups4. Active Listening: Blueprint for Change5. New Curricular Components & Sample Tasks

a) Interactionsb) Presentationsc) Self-directed listening using vetted websitesd) Monitored self-access to listening material

6. Evaluating the Changes7. Managing the New8. Questions and Answers

Integrated English Program

THEMES

IE CORE TASKS

Small group

discussion,

book report,

journaling,

reading genres

and skills

IE LISTENING TASKS

Idioms, phrases,

context, mood,

Listening genres: news, drama,

documentaries,

music

IE WRITING TASKS

(Paragraphs) Topic sentences

transitions, genres,

use of examples,

details

TASKS

IE PROGRAM EVALUATION Cummings (1999)

• program evaluation through discussion with teachers and course writers, and class observations.

• Weaknesses in the IE Listening course:

* pre-listening and post-listening activities underutilized

* multiple choice format in the lessons encouraged teachers to teach lessons as tests

LISTENING SURVEYKikuchi (2001) needs analysis of the IE Listening course, interviewing 15 students, 9 teachers, the 2 IEP coordinators; using two versions of a questionnaire (open-ended and close-response) administered to 585 students and 9 teachers.

The questionnaires asked about the learners’ (1) target tasks, (2) problems, (3) priorities, (4) abilities, (5) problems, (6) attitudes, (7) solutions.

1.More use of practical English conversational skills2.Introducing more varied videos from film and TV3.Reviewing the scripts in class4.Providing student copies of the tapes for extra listening5.Using English for all classroom instruction6.Providing listening Homework (Kikuchi, 2001: p.45)

IE Learners’ Difficulties in Listening 2005 data

Mean (SD)

2000 data

Mean (SD)

Unknown vocabulary 3.70 (1.00) 3.94 (0.96)

Colloquial phrases and jokes 3.70 (1.12) 3.70 (1.14)

Connected sounds unique in English 3.61 (1.21)

Speed too fast 3.49 (1.19) 3.66 (1.09)

Different accents of the speakers 3.33 (1.08) 3.05 (1.12)

Film segments are too long; hard to

concentrate 3.02 (1.13) 2.93 (1.20)

Task sheet is monotonous 2.86 (1.05) 2.50 (1.01)

IE Learners’ Complaints, Problems in class

2005 data 2000 data

Inadequate amount of class time (90 minutes

a week) to listen to English 95 (36.50%) 79 (22.38%)

Insufficient focus on daily conversation skills 89 (34.20%) 105 (29.75%)

Little variety in the materials 88 (33.80%) 84 (23.80%)

One-way nature of teaching 60 (23.10%)

None 53 (20.40%) 112 (31.73%)

Too many students in the class 36 (13.80%) 28 (7.93%)

Other 35 (13.50%) 28 (18.70%)

Too much focus on difficult vocabulary 30 (11.50%) 57 (16.15%)

REVISED LISTENING MATERIALS 2001- 2008

Documentaries, films, TV dramas, pop songs:Pre-Listening: vocabulary lists, questionsWhile Listening: multiple choice, matching, T/F, guessing idioms, ordering sequences of eventsPost-Listening: evaluative & summative tasks: discussions, writing, role play

Focus Groups and Classroom Observations: Dias and Kikuchi (2006 & 2008)

• students very passive in class; sometimes bored

• little improvement in skills over the semester

• listening material seemed outdated

• teachers often omitted pre and post listening tasks

• very limited opportunities for self-access

• students sought more opportunities for conversation

• many students could not remember anything about the course one year after completing it

Incremental changes that were made a few years before the major makeover…

All the video materials were converted to DVD (most “chapters” no more than 5 minutes); new units on music and news added

Better articulated pre- and post-listening tasks were included to stimulate discussion through information gaps and Internet searches on topics related to student interest

At teachers’ orientations, instructors were strongly encouraged to include pair and group work as class activities

Students became required to access listening content through the Internet as homework and submitted regular reports

Transcripts were provided for all of the in-class listening materials at the request of teachers and students

Why stop there?

What more was needed?

to solve problem of…

More purposeful classroom activities and real world tasks based on short bits of listening material.

Boredom and the perception that time is wasted or not well utilized.

What else was needed?Rewarding hard work by monitoring the use of self-access materials. solves the

problem of…

Evaluation system favoring students who had good listening comprehension skills at the outset.

Greater differentiation of the 3 skill levels in terms of content and task difficulty.

The various levels of IE Listening becoming a blur in the minds of students and insufficient challenges for the higher level students.

To solve the problem of…

Need for listening content that appealed more to students and corresponded better with their learning goals.

The perception that the materials are not varied enough and do not “connect” with them.

Cha-cha-cha-changes

IE Listening IE Active Listening

IE 3 Active ListeningRelationships/Psychology

Cross-cultural

CommunicationMedia Environment

(A) IN-CLASSSupplementary materials can be drawn from the IE Listening Program

SUMMIT TV 2-1#: On-the-Street: “Strengths and Weaknesses: I’m Really Good At…”,

SUMMIT TV 2-8#: Short Documentary: “The Simpsons”

REAL TALK: Philippe, a Photographer in Japan

SUMMIT TV 2-10#: Short Documentary: “The Ndoki Rain Forest”

(B) STUDENT PROJECTS

INTERACTION: Describe videos at videojug.com

PRESENTATION: Introduce video on cross-cultural communications

INTERACTION: Introduce your favorite English movie trailer

PRESENTATION: Prepare an environmental brief “for action”

C) TEACHER-MONITORED SELF ACCESS

Students complete 20 units per class of reallyenglish. This part of the course is to be done as homework with the teacher setting deadlines for completing the units.

(D) SELF-DIRECTED LISTENING

Students complete 5 reports or 3 reports and a movie listening log, to be done as homework.

Summit TV: listening to streeters and news documentaries

IN-CLASS

Watching Videos

Interacting

Leaders are Moving

20

STUDENT PROJECTS: INTERACTIONS

INTERACTIONS on Relationships/Psychology Choose one of the topics at <http://www.videojug.com>. e.g.,How to be the Perfect Girlfriend/Boyfriend How to Chat Someone up on the Train, Bus, or Tube How to Feel Better About Your Body How to Write a Love Letter

Prepare Pre-listening Questions (for your partners) • Teach 5 vocabulary words, idioms or expressions used in the video Prepare While-listening Questions• From the video, make 5 cloze, ordering, and true/false questions Prepare 5 Post-listening Questions • Offer your partners several statements from the video and ask them to explain why they would agree or disagree with them

Movie Trailers for student INTERACTIONS

New Moon I. Pre-Listening Questions This is the second Twilight movie. What was the other? Can you name any of the characters?

Where is the story set? What is the love story in the film?

II. While-Listening Questions What does Bella ask for?

What’s the special occasion?

III. Order the actions and dialogue as on the movie trailer.a) BELLA: Oh, it’s like cake that could feed fifty…You guys don’t even eat.b) (ALICE gives BELLA a gift. BELLA cuts her finger opening a gift.) c) ALICE: Happy birthday, Bella. Let’s open your presents. d) BELLA: Oh, paper cut.e) ALICE: There’s a cake, too.f) (ALICE leads BELLA into the living room.) g) ALICE: Come on, it’s time. h) (Crazed by the sight of blood, JASPER, leaps at BELLA.)

IV. Fill in the missing words.BELLA: What happened with Jasper _______1________. EDWARD: Nothing compared to what ________2_______. EDWARD: I promise never to put you through _______3_______. again. This is the last time you’ll ever ________4_______.

New Moon Trailer

New Moon Trailer Spoof

PRESENTATION on the Environment: In groups, choose an environmental problem from a website:

1. Ecologist, a British ecological magazine <http>//thecologist.org/pages/ media.asp>2.Green Channel. part of Discovery Network, has videos on ecological themes <http>//planetgreen.discovery.com/video/ >3.Greenpeace International website <http//www.greenpeace.org international/press/video-process4. National Geographic has videos as well <http//video.nationalgeographic.com//player/places/index.html>5. 101 East is a program about Asia, including environmental problems. <http//www.english.aljazeera.net/programmes/101east>

Summarize the problem and present it to the class. You should present it like an “environmental brief,” stating the problem clearly and the action needed to solve the problem.

STUDENT PROJECTS: PRESENTATIONS

Coordinating Presentations & InteractionsCoordinating Presentations & Interactions

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Sign-Up SheetTHEME WEEK DATE GROUP NAME

A Presentation in Action

• Self-access through assessment tests and computer-generated learning paths

• Individually-paced

• Geared to improving student performance

• The time that students spend working on self- access is logged, so that it can form part of their grade.

TEACHER MONITORED SELF-ACCESS

reallyenglish.com

SELF-DIRECTED LISTENING

Self-directed listening reports• Students access language learning websites that have been vetted by the course coordinators.

• Ones that are either expressly intended for EFL/ESL listening practice or ones that possess features that support language learning by offering learning aids, quizzes, closed captions, or transcripts.

• Working outside of class, students select content from the recommended sites and produce 5 or 6 log entries, summarizing the content and listing new words and phrases they learned from it.

Self-directed listening reportsInitially, students are assigned a site to access, explore and report on to their classmates

SELF-DIRECTED LISTENING REPORT SHEETSELF-DIRECTED LISTENING REPORT SHEET

45

Citation of source

Description of content

Reflections

List of new vocab items &

definitions

Assessment of self-directed listening reports

• An exemplary log entry -- free of plagiarism -- offer a critique of the site’s listening content and associated exercises.

• A teacher’s feedback on the students’ reports might include comments about the choice of material and the use that the student has made of it.

Evaluation of the IE Active Listening program

Through periodic needs analysis involving …

Surveys

focus groups

individual interviews

specially-invited outside consultants

classroom observations.

How is it monitored?

Evaluation of the IE Active Listening program

end-of-semester course evaluations -- provide both quantitative and qualitative (open-ended response) data.

using surveymonkey online surveys, we quickly create, administer, and process questionnaires, and act upon them.

eliciting teacher feedback at occasional lunchtime meetings and at an annual orientation.

How is it monitored?

Let’s look at…

How the teachers view the changes

How the students view the changes

And…

-- Interactions / Presentations-- Listening Reports-- Reallyenglish

Teacher Survey

Views on Interactions:

They went well. However, the group size was too big. I divided the class into groups of 6, but 4 would be better.

Some students appeared to feel nervous, but I think they got a good experience.

More models, both of the written form and of an Interaction, would help. Also, we have to allow more time for them.

SurveyMonkey survey administered in July 2009, just after the first semester that the new listening curriculum was offered. 6 NS teachers and 9 Japanese IE AL teachers were questioned.

Teacher SurveySuggestions for improving the "Self-directed listening

reports (listening logs)” :I was glad that the students chose a wide variety of sites

and their reports were genuinely interesting for me to read as their reflections were thoughtful. They appreciated my comments on what they had written.

Students enjoy accessing the recommended websites and writing about them.

I think the principle is good, but I think they should not be required of all three levels, maybe only 2 and 3.

I required the students to maintain a notebook and record one entry weekly.

Teacher SurveyProblems or 'challenges' with the reallyenglish

self-access learning system

You cannot leave it up to the students to just get it done. You must stay on top of them. Give them deadlines and penalaties.

The log-in is a huge hassle!

I told "far-behind" students to do their study in class.

Teacher SurveyProblems or 'challenges' with the reallyenglish

self-access learning system

10 of the 15 teachers surveyed said that they were using the system's notification function to prod students who were behind and all teachers soon got the hang of how to track student progress and even how to detect gaming of the system.

In general, what do you think of the new IE Active Listening course?

Do you think the changes in the course were an improvement?

Student Survey From IE end-of term evaluations of 14 classes given after the spring term in the 2010/11

academic year

* IE I – Taught by one native and 3 Japanese Ts

* IE II – Taught by two Japanese Ts

* IE III – Taught by 4 native speakers and 4 Japanese

OPINIONS ABOUT PRESENTATIONS

Across levels

Regardless of the assigned teacher—Japanese or native, experienced or new to the course

The following comments concern both the “Interactions” and “Presentations”; both of them involve the presenting of videos to classmates—either by individuals to small groups or by small groups to the whole class. After the 1st year of implementation, it was decided that the latter would be reserved for IE III students. Of all the tasks introduced in the listening program, the “Interactions” and “Presentations” were the most likely to be considered fun, interesting, and useful by students. This was true …


At first, I hated presentations, but now I don't mind them anymore.

Exciting.

Presentations in the class were fantastic. I could enjoy them.

POSITIVE

Attractive


Everyone, including myself, did presentations aggressively. It helped me improve my listening skills.

It was very effective. We should experience presentations many times.

POSITIVE

Efficacious (for improving listening)


Presentations were good for learning speaking and also listening (as an audience member).

I could learn how to be attractive to an audience.

It's very good for improving the skill of making materials.

I could do speeches without looking at a paper or memo.

POSITIVE

Efficacious (for improving other skills)


Other groups' presentations were beneficial. They discussed problems in the Amazon and about Minamata disease.

I liked group work because I could know the thoughts and favorite things of my classmates.

POSITIVE

Knowledge enhancing


It is very hard to prepare it, but I could cooperate with the members of my group and make a great one.

I think it helped us to have confidence in speaking English.

POSITIVE

Confidence building (feeling of satisfaction/ accomplishment)


I could find that it's important to listen or talk to everyone.

It was a good chance to do work with classmates.

I think it was good to communicate with classmates whom I didn't know before. I could hear many opinions.

I had very good experiences to be a member of society.

POSITIVE

For psychosocial reasons


Presentations were difficult because I couldn't find good videos.

Since each student has his own schedule, it was difficult to meet and prepare for a group presentation.

It was hard. We did not have enough time to prepare.

NEGATIVE

Due to practical considerations


It was hard for me to stand in front of class.

I don't think group work is useful for me.

NEGATIVE

For personal reasons

Interactions in Action

OPINIONS ABOUT LISTENING REPORTS

It was interesting because we could choose freely.

I could enjoy writing reports because the topics were interesting to me.

I think listening reports were good because I could listen to native speaker's English

The topics were all interesting.

POSITIVE

Attractive

SELF-DIRECTED LISTENING REPORT SHEETSELF-DIRECTED LISTENING REPORT SHEET

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Citation of source

Description of content

Reflections

List of new vocab items &

definitions

Just to remind you what Self-directed Listening Reports look like.


Through reports, I could improve my ability of listening and understand what I was interested in.

Listening reports helped me to concentrate upon listening to English.

It was helpful and at the same time enjoyable.

POSITIVE



Listening reports improved my writing skills

I can know some new words though the listening reports.

Listening reports could help me to improve my computer skills.

It made me smart.

POSITIVE

Efficacious (for improving other skills)


Thanks to my teacher, I could finish writing them as soon as possible.

I tried hard to make good reports.

POSITIVEConfidence building (feeling of satisfaction/ accomplishment)

Knowledge enhancingWe could learn things about various

themes.


Didn't really see the point.

I don't think it's important.

It's not useful.

What are "listening reports"?

NEGATIVE

Unspecified


I'm lazy, so doing it all by myself is a bit hard.

I should have done it more with a plan.

NEGATIVE

Personal reasons


Tedious

OK, but I think we should do different things because we did exactly the same thing for every listening report.

Listening logs were not hard, just time consuming.

NEGATIVEBoredom-inducing


Five listening reports are too much.

We didn't have time.

OBSTACLES/ CHALLENGES CITED

Excessive workload

Too difficultIt was too hard to do listening reports because

the materials were natural English.

It was hard for me to write it.


I wish the teacher would have told me good sites to use.

I thought it would be good if there was a deadline for each listening report.

I think the content of the listening reports should be decided because searching for listening sites is difficult; they are often too easy, too long, too fast and so on.

It was hard for me to find out nice videos. If there was a reference, it would have been helpful.

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS—Taking ownership

Wish for more guidance or constraints

OPINIONS ABOUT REALLYENGLISH

I liked to do reallyenglish.

This online system is very useful and enjoyable.

It's interesting.

POSITIVE

Attractive


Thanks to reallyenglish I come to be able to understand what English speakers say.

I improved my listening ability.

POSITIVE



I could improve my listening and reading ability by using reallyenglish.

POSITIVEEfficacious (for improving other skills)

Reallyenglish was so useful. I'll try a higher level.

It was good for me. I could hear English words easily.

I completed reallyenglish by June.

Confidence building (feeling of satisfaction/ accomplishment)

OPINIONS ABOUT REALLYENGLISHPOSITIVE

It was nice to be able to study at home!

I like e-learning courses like this one because we can do it anytime.

Convenient


Its difficulty or the quantity of assignmentsI think it's a little hard. / I think it's too much.

Useful but I don't like to study on the Internet. I need paper.

It is difficult for me to understand.

I was always "far behind," so I will try harder in IE II.

Difficult to achieve all of them.

OBSTACLES/ CHALLENGES CITED


reallyenglish is a very troublesome task

I don't think it was good for me.

I don't like reallyenglish.

NEGATIVEUnspecified

How IE I & II vs. IE III students responded to the statement “I like the reallyenglish self-access learning system.”

Data from surveymonkey survey administered in Dec. 2009

OPINIONS ABOUT REALLYENGLISH+ -

At the IE III level there’s a polarization of sentiment toward reallyenglish

Positive: I want to continue reallyenglish even after finishing this class.

Reallyenglish is very useful, so I think students should be able to access it during summer and winter vacation.

Negative: hate forgetable

troublesome

OPINIONS ABOUT REALLYENGLISH+ -

Despite much negativity about reallyenglish at the IE III level, some students offered constructive criticism:

It [the # of units to complete] was too much. 30 would have been sufficient.

Reallyenglish takes a lot of time in loading, not exercising. All the students say so. It's inefficient English work. I also think reallyenglish should be changed to other listening software.

This can be seen as the taking of ownership for a course that was previously thought to be beyond their control.

Future DirectionsLook at mobile options and suggest to students the current resources that are accessible through mobile devices (e.g., Videojug through an iPhone app).

Make contingency plans in case the ads on the streaming media sites we use in the course become too intrusive. [They are gradually creeping in.]

Look at how much time and energy students put into vetting streaming media for “Interactions” and “Presentations.” See how much incidental learning might be happening and assess demands on time.

Consider dropping reallyenglish from the IE III level; offer an alternative to students who dislike it; or substitute another e-learning product for it.

Thanks very much for coming. We’d love your feedback.

a blended learning approach to listening

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