Compelling Conversations for English Teachers, Tutors, and Advanced English Language Learners

What are your core beliefs? More importantly, what are your students’ core beliefs? How can you help English language learners improve their listening skills while exploring their own personal philosophy? Do you use radio podcasts in your English classrooms or ask students to write personal essays? If so, you might want to visit www.thisibelieve.org for excellent, fascinating authentic listening materials.

This I Believe, originally a radio program hosted by legendary American journalist Edward R. Murrow, has been resurrected by National Public Radio. Here is a sample podcast and personal essay by Jim Haynes that should appeal to ESL teachers, EFL tutors, and English students everywhere called “Inviting the World to Dinner”.

The “This I Believe” website includes a tremendous amount of free resources for teachers and students. Naturally, I also have a simple reproducible worksheet that allows students to find, summarize, and share their own favorite podcasts. Students can choose between thousands of essays and hundreds of podcasts on dozens of themes. In my oral skills class, students will present their own “This I Believe” presentation for the final assignment. Consider me curious about what they will choose to share.

English teachers can sign up for the free mailing list and download an exceptional discussion guide at the www.thisibelieve.org website. Check it out if you are looking for quality, reflective materials to enliven your ESL classes. Feel free, as usual, to use the worksheet below for your English classes.

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This I Believe Homework Worksheet

Links: This I Believe – www.thisibelieve.org
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4538138

Please select one radio segment, based on a personal essay, and read by writers. Find a story that resonates with you. Listen carefully. Take notes. Fill out the worksheet below. You will be asked to share your selection with classmates in both a small group and the entire class.

Student:
This I Believe Title:
Author/Reader:
Length:

Who is the author?

What’s the main idea?

Why did you choose this podcast?

Did you hear any new words or phrases?
1.
2.
3.

Who do you imagine is the audience for this podcast? Why?

What is your reaction? Why?

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Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com

Radio remains a powerful tool for English teachers, especially with advance preparation. You can being by mining the wonderful BBC and Voice of America websites for classroom materials and lessons, but you can also go far beyond those two vulnerable sites.
Giving students the power to select their own materials and bring those stories into the classroom gives them a chance to express their individuality and speak more in class. You also get a chance to hear – literally – what your students like and their reflections.

So here is another popular homework worksheet that you can use to gently push your ESL and EFL students to listen to the radio – on the internet or live – and expand their listening skills and vocabulary. Use or lose!

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Listening to the Radio and Learning English !

Student Name:
Class:
Teacher:
School:
Date:

Please find a radio program that you would like to share with your classmates. Listen to the radio program, find the text, take notes, and share the program with classmates.

Radio broadcast title:
Web address:
Length:
Narrator:

Please describe the radio program.

What was the main idea of the radio broadcast?

What did you learn listening to the segment?

How many times did you listen to the broadcast? Why?

Did you hear any new English words or phrases?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Who do think is the target audience for this radio program? Why?

Why did you choose this program?

How would you rate this radio program on a scale of 1-5 stars? Why?
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Ask more. Know more. Share more. Speak more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com