According to O'Bryan & Hegelheimer (2007) "Podcasts can be powerful tools for learning to listen, as evidenced in a recent study on the integration of podcasts into an ESL listening course, where they were viewed very positively by the students".
To prepare the students to get acquainted with the new format named podcast I, as a teacher would start with no limitation on particular podcast selection. First, they would be given enough time to try and find what they really liked and what didn't. I wish my teacher used this technique during a regular classroom setting, as, it would be of great help while I was taking my TOEFL exam many years later. Being an old SLA learner (I started learning English when I was 15) I remember one of the biggest challenges for me was listening part. Even years later when I entered Linguistic University if podcast was used I would not struggle with listening part of TOEFL exam.
As a teacher I would recommend the students to start with the podcast of their interest, not to limit them to particular podcasts Besides, the broader choice a student is given the better selection a student does.
The main purpose of podcasts will be developing note-taking strategies and developing listening skills. To make the podcasts enjoyable I would recommend my students to start with short ones. It can be very helpful as the learner can listen again and again to the podcast be he/ she at home, in a bus or elsewhere. Instead of reading, the learner is listening.
Depending on the level of proficiency of the learners little by little I would guide them to the topics of their level. At the end of every lesson, I would allocate couple of minutes to discuss the podcast they listened to; thus, developing speaking as well. At first, this would not be a graded task to let the learners feel more comfortable with podcast itself and only later would integrate podcast and discussion into grading.
As a teacher I would recommend the students to start with the podcast of their interest, not to limit them to particular podcasts Besides, the broader choice a student is given the better selection a student does.
The main purpose of podcasts will be developing note-taking strategies and developing listening skills. To make the podcasts enjoyable I would recommend my students to start with short ones. It can be very helpful as the learner can listen again and again to the podcast be he/ she at home, in a bus or elsewhere. Instead of reading, the learner is listening.
Depending on the level of proficiency of the learners little by little I would guide them to the topics of their level. At the end of every lesson, I would allocate couple of minutes to discuss the podcast they listened to; thus, developing speaking as well. At first, this would not be a graded task to let the learners feel more comfortable with podcast itself and only later would integrate podcast and discussion into grading.
