Chapter 7 - Hedge : Listening

Question nº4: Find an example of a listening activity in a

textbook. Evaluate it against these criteria:

• The extent to which learners are given a reason to listen

Learners work previously on a reading comprehension exercise about

how people worry about taking risks. Later, they do a listening
activity in which the reason to do it is to check the learners´
predictions as regards a risk expert’s explanation of different
statistics. The purpose for listening is very clear because students
have to guess the correct answer. It may not be a very real – life
activity but the fact that they listen to an expert can be meaningful
for them as people are usually interested in what they say in news
programmes for example.

• Whether appropriate contextual information is required

The exercise does require specific information about the context of

taking risks while driving.

• In what ways a pre-listening stage prepares students for

the language of the text

The pre-listening activity (2a-) presents them with all the language
necessary to understand and deal with the exercise. It is quite
controlled because students have all the information, they just need
to check and choose the correct answer.

• In what ways a pre-listening stage activates prior

knowledge?

The first reading exercise might also work as a pre-listening activity

because learners start working with the topic of the listening, so it
allows them to activate their previous knowledge, plunge into the
topic and learn some words.
On the other hand, exercise 2a makes students aware of the main
vocabulary they will listen to. In this way, they can ask questions as
regards grammar, lexis or any other thing they do not understand or
remember.

• The usefulness of any while-listening work

The while-listening exercise is to check students` predictions. The

book suggests listening to the tape once, but I would allow them to
listen to it twice. This is because the weaker students might feel
insecure the first time. Later, they have a second exercise in which
they listen to more information but there is not a purpose to do it.

• The relevance and range of any post-listening work

The post-listening integrates speaking as students talk about their

own country, experiences and opinions. It is practical because it may
lead to a further discussion as a follow-up. For example the teacher
can organize a class debate for the following lesson as regards the
lack of safety on our streets or irresponsible drivers which are
current issues nowadays.

• What improvements would you make to the activity?

We may improve this by changing exercise 2c, in which they do not

have a purpose for listening. We can write some comprehension
questions on the board for learners to answer after they listen to the
recording for the third time. The questions will be about different
information from the previous exercise. For example, “Why should
we take the risks of driving very seriously?”, “Why is if safer to drive
during the day?”, “Which is the age limit that people want to raise
and Why?”.
“New English File” – Upper Intermediate pp. 44, 45