ESL AUDIO KIOSK "Best Practices" topics: Effective Recorded Audio: In and Out of the Classroom (Updated 12/06/2014)

Always consider the "Digital Divide" when choosing materials and media for recorded audio materials!

There is a wealth of possible content types to aid the ESL learner. Some are more suitable for use in the classroom others for use outside the classroom, such as with the Kiosk system.

Recorded materials offer a great opportunity for students to be exposed to diverse voices. We know that too often learners are soon able to "decode" what a teacher says without being able understand other voices.

Here are some thoughts and suggestions:

Audio Content	Classroom	Home
Dictation (Full or partial) Dictation is always a good option for letting student hone their listening skills. The can be "Full dictation"- such as 5 or 6 sentences that the student transcribes to paper. Or it can be "Partial dictation", where a student is given a printed text from which blanks spaces have been substituted for some of the words, and the student fills in the words as they listen to the spoken text. (Tip: If you create a "partial dictation" exercise, consider carefully which words you omit. "Content words" rather than "Function words" may be better candidates since they add more to the meaning...)
"Listen and Repeat" Good practice whether used in the classroom or sent home with the student! Make sure the recording allows sufficient "repeat time" so that the student has time to realize the sentence or phrase has ended, and then repeat. I like to provide twice the length of the spoken segment as "silent space" to allow repetition.
Text Articles There are so many great subjects of interest to student that can fit in with topical lessons or work along side grammar or vocabulary lessons. Consider articles about your community, holidays, seasons, civics, the family, etc.
Stories Spoken stories allow us to tie the content into what is being covered in class. Stories might emphasize use of the past tense etc... You can also introduce selections from American folklore or other literature as part of an effort to teach about life in our country.
Dialog These work well with the current class focus and provide an opportunity to utilize several voices in a single recording.
"What's Next" The old "Crossroads" series from Oxford included recordings that set a conversational context, and then the student must choose from several possible following lines. This is also similar to what is used in CASAS listening tests. It is easy to create some exercises of your own!
Reference Recordings of individual words covered in class can be very useful for students so that at home they can review the pronunciation. When we cover vocabulary in class, students often try to make written notations using their own L1 in an attempt to document the sounds. Of course, if their home language does not contain some of the sounds of English this endeavor is difficult. Record the words so they can take them home and reference their pronunciation! (You can also add recorded sentences using the words)
Drills Perhaps it was naive of me to be surprised when students specifically requested that I provided recordings of simple grammar drills. ("I am, You are, She is, etc...)
Integrated "audio / visual" or segments tightly linked into the "presentation" phase of a lesson
Songs Music and songs are great, as are "chants". Be very cautious here! Most recordings of this type are covered by strict copyright protections. Do not endanger yourself or your program by violating copyrights. You can however safely use limited sequences of the material under "fair use" exceptions to copyright law. For example, both the rhythm and content of Susanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" is great material when you teach the present progressive verb form. Use a short segment. (and then encourage students to buy the song on iTunes or Amazon, so they can sing along in the car!)

More recorded audio tips:

• Limit the length of audio to digestible chunks... Avoid over-saturating a student with a recording that goes on and on and on... There is a limit to what a student can reasonably absorb. If you send a student home with a ten or fifteen minute recording they will probably give up or get very little out of the listening experience. Most of the materials I have used run from one to four minutes.
  
  
  
• If you have longer materials that seem to be crucial to your teaching plan, break it up into shorter segments. It is fairly easy to import the audio track into Audacity and then save it off in pieces at logical breaking points. This also has the effect of providing a more practical way for students to stop, forward, or repeat segments.

• Most audio materials work very well with an accompanying assignment. You can add value (as well as give an extra stimulus to listen!) with something as simple as a few "Test your comprehension" questions, or an assignment to write a few sentences. (Dictations of course, are an assignment in themselves...)
  
  
• Provide a visual "context" to aid understanding of the content. In life (other than those of us who constantly hear "voices in our heads"), spoken words occur in a context... at a bus stop, talking to the boss, at a restaurant, at the grocery store, etc.  A picture attached to the accompanying assignment is a great way to provide context!
  
  
• Sometimes it is useful to "slow down" the speed of audio content. Audacity provides a great tool ("Change Tempo") to do this without making the speaker sound like they are wallowing in molasses...
  
  
• Another "comprehension" strategy is provide modest increases of the "pause / silence" that occurs at commas and periods. This lets the listener "catch up".
  
  
• Audio "tags" and the beginning of a track: When listening on an MP3 player that may have several tracks, it is useful to provide a unique audio tag at the beginning of a selection. This provides a subtle "milestone" to help listeners navigate content. This can be something as simple as a single musical note, a chord, or a "sound effect" related to the content.
  
  
• © Copyrights!! Be aware of copyright issues as well as usage restrictions that may be associated with audio materials.
  Examples:
• Most audio material distributed with ESL texts (such as Step Forward, Ventures, etc.) has restrictions on its use. You are generally free to play the tracks in class, but will not be able to excerpt exercises and send them home on MP3 players or publish on your class podcast site.
• Recorded music is usually copyrighted. Only brief excerpts can be used under the "Fair Use" exception to copyright law.
• There is much material available on the Internet, including ESL specific sites. Many sites welcome use of the materials. HOWEVER, most of these site only allow direct use of the materials from their site itself. They prohibit rebroadcast of the material or use on other media.
  Remember that there is a huge difference between content advertised as "Free" ($0) and content that is "Free" (let freedom ring!).
  
• ESL "Podcasts"- The notes in the preceding bullet generally apply to ESL podcasts that you will find through iTunes or other clearinghouses.
  
• Look for material that specifically permits free use and modification. Government publications are almost always free of reuse restrictions.
  If you poke around a bit, you can find materials published under "Creative Commons" terms. Look for this symbol:
  
• Materials on the "sandbox" site ( http://www.open-esl.org/Sandbox ) are free from copyrights and usage restrictions.
  
  
• I recommend you keep no more than 4 or 5 audio files on each student MP3 player. This helps provide focus and ease navigation. Avoid the temptation to try to load up the players with a whole semester's worth of audio tracks! Although this might seem "easier" for the teacher, it will make it more difficult for the student.
  Add a track as a "homework" assignment. Then keep the track on the player long enough that the student will be able to review the content after they have received back their corrected associated assignment. This will allow them to assess where they may have made an error.
  
  
• Create some materials, and Share! Share! Share! If you take the time to record some materials, you can be sure they will be useful for other teachers. Share the materials. Share within your program. Share outside your program. If you have created original material, or adapted restriction-free materials that you would like added to the Sandbox, contact me via email. ([email protected])
  
  
• It is a great idea to remember to attribute any audio you don't personally create. It may not be practical to present that documentation as a spoken statement within the audio itself, but you can do it within the "ID3 tag" / Metadata in the audio file.
  At a minimum, I suggest you make some private notes about the source of any material. The issue may come up later!

If you have comments or additional ideas you'd like to share, please drop a note to me at: [email protected].
(also let me know if you see any spelling, format, or content errors!)