Evaluating Listening and Speaking Activities

Abstract

This paper comprises two merged assignments that reflect upon teaching practices and methods regarding the skills of listening and speaking. In the first comprehensive analysis, the focus is on a listening input designed for young learners in a language education context. The assignment focuses on the listening skill, and it provides a comprehensive overview of the teaching context, the listening input, and related activities, offering insights into the effectiveness of the instructional approach and proposing enhancements for a more engaging and inclusive learning experience. Also, the listening input and the listening activities are evaluated based on certain criteria as well as the students’ level of proficiency. The second assignment aims to critically evaluate a coursebook's speaking activities and design a new lesson focused on specific criteria for developing the speaking skill. The evaluation scrutinizes the coursebook's communicative competence, linguistic, strategic, semantic, and sociolinguistic aspects, examining activities based on Nation's features and Johnson's principles. Furthermore, it delves into the design and detailed evaluation of a lesson plan, encompassing pre, while, and post-stages, developed to enhance students' speaking skills. Overall, both assignments underscore the significance of considering diverse criteria in the design of speaking and listening activities and the continuous refinement of instructional approaches.