Content Module

 

 

Unit 1: Listening Component

Listening & Pronunciation Level 4, English for Academic Purposes Program

George Brown College’s School of English as a Second Language

Molly Tuttle

University of British Columbia

To view the content module click here.

 

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Target Audience

1.2 Module Selection

1.3 Unit 1. Learning Outcomes

 

STRUCTURE

2.1 Unit Structure

2.2 Listening Component Structure & Tool Selection

 

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

3.1 Assessment Methods for Listening Component & Unit Task

3.2 Communication Methods for Listening Component

  INTRODUCTION

1.1 Target Audience

The audience for this course is students enrolled in English for Academic Purposes Level 4 at George Brown College (GBC). This online listening and pronunciation course is a component of Level 4 and makes up 20% of their final mark. Level 4 at GBC corresponds to with Canadian Language Benchmark Level 4. Currently enrolment for this level is approximately 100 students and there are 5 classes. Each class has about 20 students. Half of the students are international students and half are permanent residents in Canada. The current age range is from 19 to 45. All current students have access to internet, mobile devices and computers at home. Students have access to free wifi at the college, and computers labs are also available for students. The vast majority of students have used Blackboard to access materials for their previous ESL courses at the college. Blackboard support is available for students through Student Services at any time of day.

1.2 Module Selection

This project documentation relates to the listening component of Unit 1. Each weekly unit, consisting of approximately 4 hours of study time, is divided into two parts. Part 1 is the listening component, and Part 2 is the pronunciation component. At the end of the unit, students complete a task that integrates the skills learned in both Part 1 and Part 2. In the week prior to Unit 1, students would have completed the Introductory Unit. They would have been exposed to Voiceboard as a tool to facilitate discussions, as they practiced using this for the Introductory Unit end-of-unit task. They will use this again for the Unit 1 end-of-unit task after conducting peer interviews.

1.3 Unit 1 Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

  1. Use note-taking strategies when listening to intermediate level academic lecture (chronological organization) of about 3 minutes in length (Listening Component)
  2. Demonstrate understanding of listening content by completing comprehension questions (Listening Component)
  3. Use target vocabulary words from lecture to completing vocabulary activities related to meaning and usage (Listening Component)
  4. Identify pronunciation features –ed and –s at the sentence and paragraph level (Pronunciation Component)
  5. Apply pronunciation features to unit tasks (Integrated)
  6. Generate audio content by working collaboratively with a classmate (Integrated)
  7. Produce and share audio content individually using the online tool Voiceboard (Integrated)

STRUCTURE

2.1 Unit 1 Structure

At the start of Week 2, on May 16, the Unit 1 module will be copied to the home/welcome page to provide student with easier access to the unit. Unit 1 is designed as one learning module that is divided into four sections. The first section provides the learning outcomes for the whole unit. Then, the second section consists of the listening content folder, followed by the third section, the pronunciation content folder. The final section is “Unit 1: Task”, which integrates skills learned in listening and pronunciation sections.

2.2 Unit 1: Listening Component Structure & Tool Selection

The listening component is logically designed to adequately prepare students for listening to an academic lecture with chronological organization. They first gain familiarity with the topic of the lecture, the volcanic eruption in Pompeii, through the introductory activities. After that, they learn the meaning and usage of key vocabulary words from the lecture. They then watch a video explanation of chronological organization and get tips for note taking and can download a note-taking guide, on which they can take notes either electronically or by hand. The next step is listing to the lecture and taking notes. They can repeat the listening as many times as necessary. After that, they complete a listening comprehension quiz; upon completion, they will have access to sample notes for the lecture, to which they can compare their notes. The next activity is an online quiz, which has students imagine their chances of surviving the eruption in Pompeii. Finally, they will then their results and comments through a discussion board posting. These activities further reinforce the vocabulary learned through repeated exposure and practice using the vocabulary words.

Part 1: Listening (content folder)

  • Learning outcomes for the listening component
    • The relevant learning outcomes for Unit 1 are presented, so students can easily see how they relate to the listening component.
  • Intro to Topic
    • Student watch a brief video about the volcanic eruption that covered Pompeii. The goal of this page is to develop students’ interest in the topic of the lecture. The YouTube video created by the Royal Ontario Museum was embedded using Blackboard’s Mashup tool. The embedded function enables students to view the video without leaving the page.
  • Intro Quiz
    • Students complete a 3-question multiple-choice quiz, created with Blackboard’s test tool, about the Pompeii video and Pompeii. The last question in the quiz requires students to conduct an Internet search to find the answer. This encourages students to engage with the content outside of the context of Blackboard and develop further interest in the topic. This quiz is not graded, but students receive feedback about their answers.
  • Learning the Vocabulary
    • Students watch a video that presents the key vocabulary words from the lecture and explains meaning and usage. The goal of this activity is to prepare students for the vocabulary necessary for understanding the content of the lecture. I made this presentation using Emaze and recorded the audio with Camtasia. The video was uploaded to YouTube and embedded using Blackboard’s Mashup tool.
  • Vocabulary Practice
    • Students practice vocabulary meaning and usage through an ungraded quiz developed using Blackboard’s test tool. The practice activity has three questions that go from controlled to freer in nature. For instance, the first question is a vocabulary word-to-definition matching activity to evaluate understanding of meaning; the second is a gap-fill paragraph that measures understanding of usage; and the final activity is communicative and requires students to write their own short paragraph using the vocabulary words. Students receive immediate feedback about their answers to the first and second question, while the instructor evaluates the third one. S/he provides feedback about this task to students when she gives personalized end-of-unit feedback in the form of an email to each student.
  • Chronological Organization
    • On this page student watch a teacher-created video about the chronological organization to prepare them for note taking for this type of lecture. The video was created using Videoscribe, uploaded to YouTube and embedded using Blackboard’s Mashup tool. The video explains what chronological organization is and some strategies for listening for time cues when taking notes during a lecture. The video also presents the time cues that are the same ones used in the lecture to provide further scaffolding for students. After watching the video, students are instructed to download the note-taking guide for the lecture, which will help them organize their notes.
  • Listening Lecture
    • Students listen to the lecture and use their note taking guide to take notes using their computer or by hand. They can repeat the listening as many times as desired. The listening was embedded as an mp3 audio file. The listening lecture selected is geared for intermediate level students and is about three minutes in length.
  • Comprehension Check
    • Students complete questions about the content of the listening. Questions 1-5 are short answer and the questions are given via embedded teacher-created mp3 files. Question 6 is a ranking question that requires students to order the events in chronological order. Students receive immediate feedback about their answers.
  • Sample Notes for Unit 1 Lecture
    • A sample of notes for the lecture is presented to students in the form of an embedded PDF file. This is only visible after they complete the Comprehension Check. This page is set as adaptive release ensuring that students do not have access to the file prior to taking notes and completing the comprehension questions.
  • Can You Escape from Pompeii?
    • On this page students are given a link to an external site, hosted by the Royal Ontario Museum and related to their Pompeii exhibit. Students complete an interesting six-question quiz to determine if they would have survived the volcanic eruption. This is an extension activity and requires students to interact with authentic content and use their own skills, particularly related to finding meaning of unknown vocabulary words, to complete the task. The activity is challenging but appropriate for Level 4 students and an effective way to wrap up this component. After completing the quiz, students share and discuss their results using Blackboard’s discussion board tool. This tool enables students to interact with their classmates and teacher.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

3.1 Assessment Methods for Listening Component

In this course, students will be graded on the weekly unit tasks and quizzes after Unit 2, Unit 6 and Unit 6. In Unit 1, they will only be graded on the unit task that integrates the skills they have learned in the listening component and pronunciation component. All other activities within the listening component and pronunciation component are for practice and self-assessment purposes. Student will receive feedback from their teacher about engagement with content and some freer practice activities, but not grades.

Practice Activities (ungraded but tracked to see student engagement with content)

  • Introductory Quiz – multiple choice questions generate immediate automated feedback
  • Vocabulary Practice – matching and gap-fill questions generate immediate automated feedback, paragraph question requires teacher feedback which will be given in the weekly email students receive
  • Comprehension Check – short answer and ranking questions generate immediate automated feedback

Unit Task (graded)

The end of unit task is scored out of 20 points. The instructor assigns 16 points and the remaining 4 points are determined through student self-assessment and peer-assessment. An assessment rubric will be presented to students along with the instructions for the unit task.

  • Unit 1 Task: Students will be paired off by the instructor and will interview their partner about the chronology of their life. They will take notes during their partner’s story and then record themselves retelling their partner’s story to the class using Voiceboard. They will apply the pronunciation skills (-ed and –s endings) they have learned in the unit. For instance, when retelling the story, they will have to use the correct “ed” sounds when talking about past actions. Evaluation will be based on their use of unit pronunciation features (-ed and -s endings) and use of chronological organization.

3.2 Unit 1 Communication

Instructor-to-Student Communication:

The instructor will give an announcement (using announcements tool) at the start of the week reminding students of unit activities and tasks. Instructor will give students private feedback about their unit tasks and practice activities at the end of the unit. Instructor will act as moderator and participant for discussion board and Voiceboard interactions.

Student-to-Instructor Communication: Students can communicate with their instructor via email and Blackboard messaging. They can also engage with him/her using the discussion board and Voiceboard tools.

Student-to-Student Communication: Students will communicate with each other via discussion board, Voiceboard, Bb messaging, emails, as well as their preferred audio or video chat app outside of Blackboard to conduct their interviews.

 

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