What Is That Sound?

This game will help them to listen more

closely, and describe what they heard,
using verbs.
The students sit outside in a circle on the
grass. They should have a pencil and
paper with them.
Students have to close their eyes and
just listen.
Then I ask them: Did you hear anything?
Listen again. What did you hear? Then I
ask them to write down what they heard.

Putting meaning to
words

 Level

This activity is designed for advanced level students.

Prior Knowledge

Students will need to know the meaning of settings, interpersonal

relationships, moods, and topics (similar to story elements) before
embarking on this activity. Students will need to understand different
factors that create different setting, interpersonal relationship, mood, and
topic. For example, using the title Mr./Ms. will signal a formal relationship
and using informal contraction (gonna) may signal an informal
conversation.

Purpose

Students will use different tones and expressions in different settings and
situations even though the word phrasings are the same.

Materials

Worksheet
Procedure

Teacher Presentation

The teacher will write get out of here on the board, and ask students
what this meanshow can it be said differently to mean different things.
The teacher will model the expression in different ways, discuss the
different setting, interpersonal relationship, mood, and topic or plot that
fit with the expression, and suggest possible responses for each expression:

Get out of here!

 Plot: An unwelcomed sibling has entered another

siblings room.
Possible response: OK, Im leaving.
Get outta here.
Plot: A friend has said something unbelievable to
another friend.
Possible response: Im not kidding. Its
true.
Lets get out of here.
Plot: A friend suggesting to another friend that
the party is not exciting.
Possible response: Yeah, its boring. Lets go.

 Pair Work
In pairs, the students will be assigned different
expressions. The partners will come up with three
different ways to say the phrase and corresponding
responses to each expression. The students will also
give a possible background to each expression (fill in
the worksheet).
Demonstration
Each pair will present their dialogues in front of the
class. The audience can guess the different plots to
the dialogues and give feedback, such as what they
liked, disliked, or were confused with. Then the
partners can explain the rationale to their expressions
and the corresponding responses to each expression.

 Some
Expressions
Come on
Forget about it
Get out of here
I dont think so
No problem
No way
That is not
funny
You look really
nice

Worksheet
Phrase:
New Expression:
Topic:
Setting:
Mood:
Characters Relationship:
Response:

AIRPLANE ANNOUNCEMENT

 Listening to Airplane
Announcements in Movies
Objective: Provide preparation to listen
to and practice in comprehending
airplane
announcements.
Level: Low-Intermediate
Materials: video segments in which an
announcement is made on an airplane.
Suggested movies:
The Graduate, Fearless (1993),
Turbulence (1997)

 Preparation task:
Ask the class the following questions: Have you ever travelled by
airplane? If you have, you may have noticed the announcements
that are made by the flight crew throughout the duration of the
flight. What are some of the types of announcements made
during a flight?
Production Task:
Form small groups of 4 or 5 students to do this activity. They will
be given random airport announcement and further explain it to
other groups.
Listening Task:
Listen to the video passage twice. The first time, check off the
announcement elements that occur. The second time, make a
note of the details of the message.
Decide who is the speaker of the announcement.The rest of the
group members will further explain of each announcement with
teacher monitoring.
Airport announcement movies:
Airplane, Die Hard II, Only You
Falling in Love, Carlitofs Way, The Untouchables

Announcement Element / Example

Greeting
Passengers of flight 111.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good morning.
Description of flight event
We are expecting a little turbulence.
We are just passing by Mount Fuji.
Weather
Tokyo is a hot, humid 30 degrees with a slight chance of rain.
Fog is closing in Kansai International.
Time
It is now 2:34 Mountain Standard Time.
The time at our destination is 6:34.
Itinerary
We will arrive on schedule at 8:00 AM local time.
Our flight will be delayed by 10 minutes.
Instructions
Please have your customs documents ready for collection.
Ensure that all items are safely stowed in the overhead bins.
Closing
Thank you for flying with ANA.
It has been our pleasure to serve you.

Whisper Chain (Chinese

Whisper)

 Listening Activity: Whisper Chain

Whisper Chain is an easy game to set and play. This

game works best with a large number of students.
How to play:
First, demonstrate the game with a couple of students.
Organise the students into two lines. Go to the students
at the back of the line and either whisper a word in their
ear or show them a word or a picture. Gesture for them
to whisper the word down the line.
When the whisper chain reaches the student at the front
of the line you can either have them slap/write/draw an
item on the board or pick it from a pile of flash cards in
front of them.
Let the students know that if they talk above a whisper or
skip students then the other team wins.
This is game can be used to improve the students use of
phonics and listening.