"End of the World" - Listening Comprehension

We wish to offer new ideas about exploiting listening comprehension exercises, mainly worksheets for oral pair work training. As with “Honesty” and “The Iceberg Project,” written and oral worksheets are available for “The End of the World is Near.” This narrative is based on the radio play adapted by Orson Welles in 1938 from the science-fiction novel “The War of the Worlds.” Below, you will find the recordings and the scripts, plus worksheets.

I believe this is a topical theme today with the proliferation of messages (often fake) we receive daily through the media.

This narrative (in podcasts Nos. 34 & 35) consists of an introduction, a continuous reading, and a listen-and-repeat section for each one. There are also “opinion” questions in the recording that students can take down in dictation and prepare orally or silently after completing each part. These recordings are appropriate for all levels from A2 to C1 and are thus suitable for mixed-level classes. The oral files can be used in labs, class, or as “oral” homework when students can access computers.

Your English No. 34 for “End of the World Part 1”

Recording:

Your English 34: End of the World Pt1

Your English No. 35 for “End of the World Part 2”

Recording:

Your English 35: End of the World Pt2

Exercises and keys for Part 1:

 Listening comprehension fill-ins + exercises Part 1

End of the World Pt 1 - Fill ins dates voc exercise

 Key for listening comprehension fill-ins + exercises Part 1

End of the World Pt 1 - Key

 Exercises on dates and hypotheses

 Advice for teacher

End of the World Pt 1 - Advice for teacher debate questions

Exercises and keys for Part 2:

• If you prefer, you can go to iTunes, type my name, “Marianne Raynaud,” and get the whole series of “Your English,” including Nos. 34 & 35, free of charge.

As many teachers have to deal with large classes of 20 or more, I thought it might be good for the students to work on listening comprehension in pairs—after listening to the recorded version several times and completing the fill-in + exercise worksheet. This pair work activity is a different oral way of working on listening comprehension than using a gap-fill grid. There are also debate questions and written assignments available.

So, after working on the recording of part one to the class (playing it or reading it aloud yourself) and having the students do the fill-ins and the exercise, you hand out one recto-verso paper (the worksheet found below) to each pair of students. They take turns being the “teacher,” i.e., they read the text aloud (without letting their partner see the text). Then they do the listen-and-repeat part, having their partner repeat, and then they ask the sort of questions we teachers tend to ask the whole class. The “student-teacher” gets help through the keywords given on the sheet. Of course, you will have even better results if you do this during the following session when the students have learned the text by heart.

Your English 34 End of World Pt 1 - L&R+Qs

On the paper, the questions to be asked by the “student teacher” are printed with specific words (given in parentheses) that the “student” should be using when answering. Again, the “student teachers” are instructed not to show the paper to their partners.

The teacher will have to walk around to see and hear whether the students are speaking correctly, but I can assure you they will all be active. They will enjoy this activity much more than having the teacher put the questions to the whole class and answer one after another.

There is an additional page, which the teacher should not print out or give to the students. It is a page with advice and a short list of debate questions at the end of the recording (Podcast 34). The teacher can write these questions on the board or project them to the class. I strongly suggest that before starting the discussions, the students should change partners. These activities (reading, simple questions, and then debate questions) should take about 30 minutes, after which the teacher may decide to open up the discussion to the whole class—in that case, do look at my suggestions on the “Questions for Debate” page.

After the first session, the assignment should be to learn the second part by heart. It can also be to write 150 words on one of the debate questions and be ready to talk about their opinions in class without referring to their papers. A written assignment is provided in DOC and can easily be modified.

I think doing “End of the World Pt 2” on a different day is advisable. The students should first be asked to memorize part one and be ready to recite it to a partner at the next session. If they seem reluctant, tell them that this narrative is full of expressions on international tests and that they will be reciting to a partner and not in front of the whole class. That should reassure and motivate them. I want to point out that all the verbs in part one are in the simple present (giving opinions and information), and all the verbs in part two are in the simple past (telling what happened). So, this narrative provides practice with useful structures and essential tenses.

During the second class, you put the students in pairs. First, they recite Part 1 to each other—an essential phase. Second, they listen to the recording of Part 2 (or you can read it aloud yourself) and complete the gap-fill exercise. Finally, you give out the oral worksheet, and they start the activities leading up to the debate questions you project or write on the board. It is best to ask the students to change partners for this second pairwork activity.

At the end of the second session, instead of having a whole class discussion, you can ask the students to get up, form groups of three or four, and (while standing) talk about what they said to their partners concerning the debate questions.

After the second session, the assignment should be to learn that second part by heart. It can also be to write 150 words on one of the debate questions. This work can be a graded written assignment. In that case, it is best to correct it, give it back, and have the students speak the following week about their opinions based on the essays they have revised and reprinted.

Students who are near fluent or at least speak correctly may well take to this list of controversial issues. These are ideas that the media (primarily controversial Internet websites) have tried to make us believe. Students may come up with similar topics affecting their own countries.

For a debate on a controversial subject with advanced students:

Your English 35 What medias make us believe

I have always had great success with this theme of “How the media influence our ideas and behavior,” which today seems just as valid and up-to-date as in the past. With the lesson plan mentioned above, all the students will participate actively. They will wind up expressing their ideas far more than when the teacher asks them to answer a factual question or to express their personal opinion (unprepared) in front of everyone else.

I would enjoy getting some feedback from teachers using these podcasts and worksheets. Just write to Marianne Raynaud. You can also contact me if you have any questions.

Best regards,
Marianne