Using Podcasting in ESL Classrooms

      With the development of technology and social media, podcasting becomes more and more popular since everyone who has a computer and gets connected with the Internet can make their own podcasting. In addition, with podcasting, people are no longer limited by the showtime since they are able to download their favorite shows into their computers and MP3 players; therefore, they can watch or listen to the shows as much as they want at anytime or anywhere.

      These features of podcasting also encourages the use of podcasting in learning and teaching, especially in language learning classrooms. I choose one episode of podcasting for ESL learning, ESL Podcast 1093 - Having a Picnic, which is available at ESL Pod. This website can be considered as a good resource for both language teachers and students to teach and learn English. The episode I choose is a daily conversation between two friends who go to have a picnic together. After listening to this episode, I find that I can have this episode in my future teaching. For example, I am able to use this episode as a warm-up activity when the topic of my teaching is about picnic, and this will meet for the following learning objectives:

SWBAT

1. Develop their listening skills, especially everyday English rather than academic English.

(The speed of this conversation is slow, so this would be appropriate and helpful for low level students who need to improve their listening skills)

2. Learn some new vocabulary which is related to their daily life, such as picnic, champagne, and lavish. 

3. Get to know some American culture. For example, in this episode, the two people mention what food do they have for the picnic, this may be different from students who live in a different cultural background.

      Additionally, I would like to help my students improve their speaking or writing skills through encouraging them to come with their own ideas for preparing their favorite picnic after listening to this episode. For example, it seems possible to encourage students to work in pairs and have a role play which is related to the topic of picnic. Also, I am able to encourage students to write a paragraph or journal to describe what do they like to bring for a picnic.