Mediation through listening and writing Unit 1

Activity: Writing an email to a friend

Objective: Summarising key points from a podcast
Strategy: Note taking

1 Do you think a person’s handwriting can tell us anything about their personality or behaviour?
Why/Why not?

2 01 Listen to a four people discussing an analysis of their handwriting by an expert in the study of
handwriting and what it tells us about the writer’s personality. Which of these adjectives best describes
how they felt?
a interested         b bored         c very annoyed

Great mediators’ tip

Listening: Note taking
Organising your notes before listening to an audio recording will prepare you to identify key information when
you listen and will make your notes easier to understand. Before listening, try creating a heading and section for
each speaker you are going to hear (e.g. Speaker 1, Speaker 2, etc.). Then, divide each section into subheadings
related to the kind of information you are listening for (e.g. Who? What? Why?).

3 01 Read the mediation task and follow the instructions.

Your friend has to write an essay for their social studies class on graphology and has found a podcast of four
young people talking about analysis of their handwriting. Your friend doesn’t speak English very well and
has asked you to translate the main points about what each person says about their analysis. Listen to part
of the podcast and take notes. Then write an email in your language summarising what each person says.
Write about 170 words.

4 Review your email and complete the checklist.

I divided my notes into different sections and used I used my notes to summarise what each student
appropriate headings. said and translated them into my language.
I selected the key points each speaker made. I wrote about 170 words.

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