Developing Language Skills with Learn English Podcasts App

The evolution of mobile technologies is very significant as it has revolutionalised the teaching and learning of languages. Currently, Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) is taking the place of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). This shift has made made education more engaging, personal, fun and most importantly  accessible. There is more access to authentic materials for the teaching of languages in second language contexts. Most especially educational contexts where there is little or no access to computer devices. The use of mobiles for English teaching and learning has led to the popularity of podcasts. Podcasts are audio and video digital recordings of broadcasts which can be streamed online or downloaded on mobile devices.  The use of podcasts has become very popular in ESL because of its accessibility on mobile phones as such there are various podcasts for English langauge learning on the websites. This week, I will be discussing the LearnEnglish  podcasts.

Learn English podcasts contain audio clips of entertaining audio clips which ranges from English lessons, language learning advice and tips, jokes, and drama. The podcasts are categorised according to language skills, structures (pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary); types (everyday usage, business, news and drama) and; language level of users, (beginner level to upper intermediary); purpose (teaching). Along with the audio clips, users can complete practice questions which test any language structure. Although there is a subscription for the self-study, however, there a number of free podcasts with already prepared lessons and the downloading the mobile app version  provides the best learning experience.

Afordances and Benefits of the Learn English Podcasts

Access to already made listening lessons with authentic materials

For the English instruction series, news reports such as the one above are integrated in the instructions to teach vocabulary or language structures. In addition to this, instructors draw on real life situations such as their personal stories to describe the meaning and contextual appropriation of words or language structure. Hence, this learning experience benefits learners as they are able to understand the real-life usage of the English they are learning. 

Easy to access and free

With a good internet connection, podcasts are accessible and easy to use. Through the phone, learners are able to learn while being involved in other activities. All they need to do is listen and practice. The app version is also free to access and this is very significant as it ensures its circulation among people who might not have the financial means to afford subscription. Additionally, many of the podcasts are free to download.

More opportunities to practice listening

The Learn English podcasts contain diverse listening tasks in form of sentence completion, audio quizzes, matching pairs etc. Although, the tasks are often written, however, users might have to listen to some of the tasks in order to answer the questions. Hence, the tool is a good resource for developing active listening as learners as continuous practice of the listening tasks would help students to develop listening decoding skills which would be useful for their present and future lives.

Diverse interesting topic to learn language structures

There are many conversations on interesting topics such as technology, mental health, politics, global warming etc. all which are used to teach language structures. Through the conversations, learners can learn new words and grammar more so, when the presenters guide users to pick up the special elements.

Learner autonomy

The Learning English Podcasts app can encourage learner autonomy. Series on the app contain self-study lessons, which makes it possible for learners to take full charge of their learning. 

Challenges

Although the Learn English Podcasts app is available to download on mobile devices, in a situation where there is no access to internet, it becomes difficult to be an effective tool. Additionally, learners can become distracted easily with other activities on their mobile devices and forger to practice the tasks in the listening lessons therefore, using the podcast to learn requires that students are deliberate especially of self-studying.

Image acknowledgement according to order of use

Image by Firmbee from Pixabay 

Image from Learn English Podcasts App

Relinquishing Control with Tubequizard

For many teachers, having control is an essential part of their teaching principles and practice and any attempt at suggesting otherwise is usually seen in a radical light. However, enabling students to take some form of responsibilities for their learning make them autonomous learners thereby, inspiring their inner motivation which is an important affective factor that makes for effective learning. Nowadays, encouraging learners to become responsible learners and take initiatives in initiating and accomplishing their English learning goals have become more simpler especially when the activities they enjoy  are integrated into learning activities. For instance, imagine developing the essential English language skills while watching a movie or listening to a favorite music? 

Presently, this is possible through a free YouTube-based website called TubeQuizard, where the English listening skill could be developed through watching videos on YouTube, which is a fun-way of learning. 

TubeQuizard 

TubeQuizard is an online tool which contains a large collection of YouTube videos: movies, T.V. shows, interviews and music, with ready-made quizzes involving gap filling. It was created by a couple, Olya Sergeeva and husband and it made the finalist at the British Council ELTons Innovation Awards  in 2017.  As individuals watch these videos, they are exposed to many examples of authentic English vocabulary, pronunciations and grammatical usages. TubeQuizard has four filters; level, type, category and variety, which are explained below:

The videos and quizzes are categorised into levels using the CERF subscales, (A2 B1 B2 C1 C2) and users can filter the quiz content to the appropriate language level they.

 

Furthermore, learners can choose the specific English concept they want to learn, that is, grammar for listening, pronunciations for listeners, vocabulary in context, grammar in context and spelling. 

Though four varieties of English (British, American, New Zealand and Australian) were displayed on the website, however, presently, only YouTube videos of two varieties (British and American) are available on the TubeQuizard tool. 

There are also videos on diverse subjects, such as education, entertainment etc. Therefore, learners get to choose the specific video they find interesting. 

Merits

Includes authentic English usages

Since, it is YouTube-based, the online tool has a large collections of movies, T.V shows, documentaries, talks etc. hence, showing how English is used in real life. Learners can learn the appropriate contextual usages of some vocabulary, acquire more words. More so, the YouTube videos on the website are those with transcripts that are generated by humans and not the automatically generated ones, which could be filled with errors.  Therefore, the TubeQuizard is a reliable tool for developing the essential English skill.

Encourages learner autonomy

With TubeQuizard, learners can be encouraged to take more responsibilities for their language learning hence, it is closely associated with learner autonomy. Since the tool contains videos which are usually interesting for students, therefore, through aspiring to understand the movies they watch and completing the quiz to achieve this, they create learning goals for themselves.  In essence, as they have fun watching their favourite movies, documentaries, talk shows or even listening to a famous song, they begin to develop a conscious awareness of the language and its usages, hence, developing their language skills on their own. 

Improves active listening

The online tool is specifically targeted towards developing students' listening  skills.  Through the listening decoding quizzes created, learners can become active listeners. When watching YouTube videos, the ready-made quizzes can be useful to catch some complex grammatical pronunciations, such as contractions, and the use of articles in fast speeches. 

Limitations

It does not cover many varieties of English as only two varieties are available. As such, the pronunciation learners hear might be different from what they have been used to especially if they are beginning learners from a second or foreign language context. 

Secondly, learners might utilise the tool just for fun and not for learning English. As such, the objective of using the online app would be lost. Therefore, utilising TubeQuizard to give learners home-work might not be effective as learners that are not autonomous might skip the quizzes and watch videos only for enjoyment sake. 

Finally, while the TubeQuizard has its limitations, the amazing benefits it affords users as summarised below, makes it an interesting tool for improving the listening skill. 

• Provides authentic English usages

• Encourages students' autonomy

• Helps to develop students' listening skills

To learn how to explore TubeQuizard, watch the YouTube video that I created below:

Update: the video mentioned that TubeQuizard  contains YouTube videos in four varieties of English as highlighted on the website, however, further exploration, showed the YouTube videos on the tool are only in two varieties. 

Image credit according to order of use:

Image by Jess Foami from Pixabay 

http://www.tubequizard.com/

Image by Varun Kulkarni from Pixabay