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particularly if you choose subjects related to materials taught in other classes. 
 
 Include listening preparation 
Taking the time to prepare your students means taking time to work on their motivation. You will be aiming to 
ions, which could be written on the board. "I want you to listen carefully and 
then tell me the answers to the following questions: What was life like in the mountains? Why did the 
family decide to visit the city? What did the family think of life in the city?" 
3. Develop your students' ability to predict what might happen. Discuss with them: "Do you think a farmer 
m in the discussion and by writing them on the board after you are sure everyone 
understands them. 
of the story." Or "I'm going to ask you to complete a true/false exercise." 
Ta
suc
erstand what you are saying 
throughout this process and generate as much participation as possible, particularly in the predicting stage, 
wh
 
 Offer
If you 
el of difficulty facing your 
studen
difficulties facing your students. And in 
doing 
cess in 
listening and completing their assignments. You do not have to he a gifted artist to produce visual clues. For 
exa
uares on the board, each square containing shapes as in Figure 4.3. Label the 
squares with the letters A through F. 
d a square. The circle is above the square. 
below. The small 
circle is in the bottom right hand corner. The large circle is directly above. 
stimulate their interest, to make the purpose of the listening clear, to explain the specific post-listening task, 
and to convince them that they can and will be successful listeners. Your preparation will progress through 
various stages. 
1. Give an overview. For example, if you are going to tell a story you can say: "This is a story about a 
farmer and his family living in the mountains who decided to visit relations in the city." 
2. Add some guiding quest
in the mountains will have an easy life? Why do you think a farmer and his family, might want to visit the 
city'? What might surprise the farmer and his family about life in the city? Do you think the family will want 
to stay in the city?" 
4. Preview vocabulary items or key phrases or sentences which will come up in the story. You can do this 
by including the
5. Make your post-listening task clear. "When I've finished telling you this story, I'm going to ask you to 
draw a cartoon
ke your time over this preparation. It's an important part of laying the groundwork for your students' 
cess in developing their listening skills. Check that your students und
en your students have the opportunity to develop their expectations of the listening passage. 
 visual support 
remove visual clues, as in a listening task with tapes, you increase the lev
ts. Conversely, if you add visual clues, you lower the level of 
so you will also lower the level of stress and increase the likelihood of your students' suc
mple, look at the following "Shapes" exercise. (See Figure 4.3.) 
1. Draw a series of sq
2. Tell your students that you are going to describe the configuration of shapes in each of the squares. 
Their job is to listen carefully and to write down the order in which you describe the squares.
3. Describe the configurations as follows: 
Number 1: There is a rectangle on the left hand side. To the right of the rectangle are two shapes, a 
circle an
Number 2: There are four shapes here: a large square, a large circle, a small square, and a small 
circle. The small square is in the top left hand corner. The large square is directly 

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Number 3: There is a small circle in the bottom left hand corner. To the right of the circle is a small 
square. 
(Your students will end up with these answers: 1. = F, 2. = A, 3. = D.) 
Once your students are familiar with this exercise, you could ask individual students or groups of students to 
n the exercise, that is to draw the diagrams on the board and give the descriptions to the rest of the class. 
ru
re 4.3 Shapes 
If y
rials, and your students have colored pencils or markers, you could organize a 
"Color the Picture" exercise. This exercise is particularly appropriate for younger students of English. 
1. Give out copies of a picture and give instructions on coloring the picture. For instance, if you have a 
picture of a busy market, your instructions could be something like this: 
If y
exe
ehind the table, to the left, is a window. 
Figu
ou 
opy mate
can photoc
Find the man who is selling pineapples and color his shirt red. 
Find the boy who is carrying a big basket on his back and color the basket brown.
Find the woman who is sitting on the ground next to the water pump and color her skirt blue with 
yellow flowers. etc. 
2. Exploit this exercise during the correction stage by asking your students: 
What's the color of the shirt of the man selling pineapples? etc. 
ou do not have the luxury of photocopies and colored pencils, you could develop a "Draw the Picture" 
rcise. In this exercise you "dictate" a picture to your students. For example: 
I want you to draw a picture of a table. 
n the table are three things: a cup, a book, and spoon.
O
B

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On the window sill is a vase of flowers. etc. 
You can vary this exercise by running it as a team activity. Divide your class into three teams. Divide your 
bla
eam member. Then 
ictate" as follows: 
Number 4, to the blackboard please. I want you to draw a house. Thank you. Back to your seats.