Abstract

This work analyzes implementation of TED talks as a part of ESP blended learning training for fostering students’ listening comprehension skills. We present a case study of 12 lower proficiency nonlinguistic students who were assigned listening to a designated TED talks each week and performing listening comprehension tasks that were later checked in the classroom. TED lectures were offered as a part of academic and specific English course for undergraduate students of the ecological faculty and were aimed at enhancing learner autonomy, enriching academic vocabulary, developing listening comprehension skills and promoting scholarly journal writing in a long-term perspective. The results were formally assessed by pre-test and post-test as well as by individual anonymous surveying of the students upon completion of the course. We looked into the results of the survey and overviewed pros and cons of implementation of TED talks into ESP curriculum.

Highlights

  • The notion of blended leaning has existed in the field of language teaching for over a decade [1]

  • A few interpretations of this term have been proposed, in this study we draw on C. Whittaker, who summarized it as “In ELT blended learning is the term most commonly used to refer to any combination of face-to-face teaching with computer technology” [2]

  • A few scholars agree that of all micro-skills listening has been significantly overlooked, with greater attention being paid to productive skills, i.e. speaking and writing, as well as reading, traditionally considered the key academic skill [4,5,6]

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Summary

Introduction

The notion of blended leaning has existed in the field of language teaching for over a decade [1]. A few interpretations of this term have been proposed, in this study we draw on C. Whittaker, who summarized it as “In ELT blended learning is the term most commonly used to refer to any combination of face-to-face teaching with computer technology (online and offline activities/materials)” [2]. A few studies have argued the importance of listening comprehension in SLA pedagogy [7,8,9] it still remains a much neglected skill and has even been referred to as the “Cinderella” of communication strategies [6].

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