"Practicing listening skills in class can be a real drag to a student, marking the correct answer in their workbook, while listening to repetitive dialogues voiced by the same people, over and over again. This is where the student’s mind begins to shut down and take a five-minute breather, and whatever happening outside captures their wandering attention.
Listening involves a great deal of concentration, and so when the brain has switched off and gone for lunch, the listening skills follow suit.
How can teachers avoid this from happening, you ask?
Well, the answer is simple. Why not try something a little different. Think outside of the box and provide the students with something that you may not have tried before.
Songs provide a great alternative to listening tasks, as they are effectively the same dull listening exercises, but dressed in disguise as something that’s entertaining and fun.
Another reason why songs are great in the classroom is that they can be used as part of an entertaining and amusing, yet thoroughly educational warmer that will set right tone for the remainder of the lesson.
You don’t have to do a song and dance about it? Just a song on its own would be fine, thank you.
Adding the occasional song along with an accompanied activity to your class every once in a while, you’re giving the students more variety in the class. This keeps their attention towards you, their brain’s switched on and a stronger ability to listen for detail in the long run.
Here’s some creative activities that are aimed to not only entertain students, but to inspire and educate as well."
What You Can Do With a Song: 5 Creative ESL Listening Activities
What You Can Do With a Song: 5 Creative ESL Listening Activities:
