Task-based Group Presentations

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and the transition to online teaching and learning have led language teachers to re-examine and adjust their approaches to teaching to reach and involve learners despite physical distance. Simultaneously, an ever-growing abundance ¬of audio and audio-visual resources for language learning have become available at a click. These may offer a solution to tackle the changing teaching scenario, for listening leads not only to the development of listening skills, but also to holistic language development. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of cooperative group presentations of audio and audio-visual texts. Learners were given an indicative structure to follow to render their presentations interactive for the whole class. Essential components were language-focus activities, including dictation. The experience was measured quantitively with listening level tests (Cambridge format, B2) and qualitatively through a post-course questionnaire on learner satisfaction. Results reveal an overall improvement in listening skills and positive feedback from participants.

Keywords

• listening
• groupwork
• presentation
• dictation
• language focus