Do you know Podcast?

Podcast is a digital medium in which users could enjoy and subscribe digital episodes, such as audio, video and PDF files, with electronic devices. I listened this ESL podcast called giving someone your recommendation. At first, the host and a female speaker read the dialogue at a slow speed. Then the host explained the meaning and implication of each sentence, especially the spelling and usage of new vocabulary bold in the dialogue in different environment. For instance, when “solid” was used to describe a person, it meant that the person was good, reliable and trustworthy; it could also be used to describe a physical object like “table”. Then, the host and the female speaker read the dialogue at a normal speed.

We can use this podcast in these ways:

1.     This podcast can be used to improve students’ listening skills. Back to the undergraduate English class in China, we usually practiced listening through dictation like this— the texts were read at normal speed once, slow speed twice and one more time normal speed. The first time was mainly for students to get the gist of the text, the second and third times were given to write down the content and the last time was for correction. We could use this podcast as a dictation material to assist listening practice.

2.     This kind of podcast can also be used to enlarge students’ vocabulary. Since the host spelled the new words first and then gave explanations in different contexts, it is convenient for language learners to catch the spelling and meaning of the vocabulary. If the script is available, it will be more direct for them because the new words are bold in the material. We could let the students listen (and watch) first, and then explain the words about which they have doubts.

3.     Since the podcast is close to real life, we could let students create similar dialogue by using some key words from the podcast to improve their speaking skill as well as cooperative skills.