How Can Teachers Make Listening Tasks Easier for Students? – S05E09

How can English teachers make difficult listening activities easier without removing the challenge completely?In this episode of How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em discuss practical ways to support learners during listening tasks. They explore checking the order of comprehension questions, slowing recordings down, dividing audio into manageable chunks and using transcripts effectively.They also consider how teachers can meet different needs within the same class. What should you do when learners have contrasting interests or want different amounts of error correction? Em suggests becoming a “super-duper micro teacher” by explaining how and why you are supporting each learner differently.Elsewhere, Gav and Em discuss whether students should watch English-language films and series with subtitles, why learners sometimes prefer Google Translate to describing an unfamiliar word and how teachers can build trust when English expressions conflict with a student’s first language.There is also a quick grammar activity practising could have and couldn’t have, accompanied by a suspicious number of muffins. Finally, they consider why students stop attending English lessons before discovering where Em should teach abroad.Drawing on their real classroom experiences, Gav and Em offer practical advice, honest reflection and a few reminders that even experienced teachers sometimes get caught out by their materials.Transcription with audio:https://share.descript.com/view/gJVPmQ7Pkb7Quiz of the Week:Where Should You Teach Abroad?https://www.internationalteflacademy.com/where-should-you-teach-abroad-quizIf you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpodVisit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical English teaching ideas and resources ready to use.Chapters00:00 Welcome to How to English01:15 Why teachers should check question order03:50 How to make difficult listening tasks easier05:40 Teaching learners with different needs and interests09:20 Repeating activities with former students12:52 Should learners watch programmes with subtitles?14:56 Support the podcast on Ko-fi15:32 Should students Google unfamiliar words?20:12 Building trust and explaining formal email language23:29 Teaching could have and couldn’t have27:19 Why do students stop attending English lessons?31:14 Quiz of the Week: Where should Em teach abroad?36:25 Outro