I teach university level ESL learners and when I ask “What do you least enjoy about learning English?” some of the responses involve that listening is a difficulty (in particular problems in identifying important ideas, understanding texts in detail, and taking notes while listening) and listening to boring lectures . In terms of speaking (which is often the weakest area) they often respond that speaking in their native language is much easier. I feel that there is need for meaningful & authentic speaking practice. Podcasts can be used as alternative resource for development of speaking and listening skills. For instance we can lead our students to subscribe to certain EFL podcasting sites such as Splendid Speaking  . We can also make use of teacher generated and student generated podcasts (Please check out the links to view some examples).

Tools for Podcasting

Tools for podcasting involve: Audio Mp3 files accessed from html files, Podcasts distributed using “push” technology with RSS feeds (iTunes, MyYahoo.com, i Google.com), Avatars and virtual characters in making videos(www.voki.com, www.xtranormal.com ...etc.), Screencasts (www.jing.com), Powerpoint slides with audio enhancements (www.microsoft.com), Video Doodling (www.voicethread.com), Telephone podcasts (www.gcast.com), Servers providing learner generated podcasting (www.podomatic.com)

Further Educational Uses

Based on recent podcasting use at UK universities, researchers categorize educational usages of podcasting as: teaching driven, service driven: delivering information (research work presentation, library tour, orientation and induction…etc.), marketing driven: (recruiting prospective students), and technology driven: supporting teaching method (sharing teaching experiences). Podcasts are widely used as alternative resource for development of speaking and listening skills.

Do you use podcasts? Do you think that podcasts can help  learners to improve their speaking and listening? Would you consider using them? How would you use podcasts?

Looking forward to hearing about your ideas...