Listening Task
Upper Intermediate Learners of English
· Recognizing and Understanding Different Prepositions and Possible Usages
This task is designed to engage the students in making their own conclusions for deeper level processing. With this in mind, it’s important to be aware of indvidual learning difference which include factors such as personality foreign language aptitude and motivation.
A music video will be playing for visual stimulus, but it’s more on the fantastical side. With this in mind, I would argue that the visual will help keep the students interest and some of the abstractness does directly correlate to particular prepositions. For other teachers who disagree, perhaps they will want to use a different visual or none whatsoever.
Before beginning the activity, I describe the context of the activity that they are about to participate in so that students are aware of the type of text they will be listening to, the role they will play, and the purpose(s) for which they will be listening. In this case, they will be listening to a song, “Her Morning Elegance”, by Oren Lavie (and possible watching the video music as well). The URL is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY
Pre-task:
Tell students they will be listening to a song today and, within this song, there are a number of different prepositions that have temporal, spatial or logical relationships. The website, http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/preposit.html, is a good source that provides definitions and examples of these types of prepositions. The prepositions covered in this activity include on, above, below, down, behind, above, in and next to.
It's important to engage the student in discussion and tell them that it's okay to not recognize/understand every preposition, to encourage them to try their best and to let them know how recognizing these different prepositions help them in a real world situation. If time permits, a follow-up activity via TPR (total physical response) can allow the students to make better connections to the meaning and become more engaged.
Tell students they will be listening to a song today and, within this song, there are a number of different prepositions that have temporal, spatial or logical relationships. The website, http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/preposit.html, is a good source that provides definitions and examples of these types of prepositions. The prepositions covered in this activity include on, above, below, down, behind, above, in and next to.
It's important to engage the student in discussion and tell them that it's okay to not recognize/understand every preposition, to encourage them to try their best and to let them know how recognizing these different prepositions help them in a real world situation. If time permits, a follow-up activity via TPR (total physical response) can allow the students to make better connections to the meaning and become more engaged.
- Play the video, without sound, and pause when appropriate to ask them “yes or no” or “true or false” questions that integrate prepositions. This will be done with hard copies of the questions handed to each student. Having these sheets in their hands will help them to follow along. This excercise will help students become comfortable with the material and may help lower anxiety because they are asked a task that is accesible across various individual learning differences.
For example:
Watch the video and circle either true or false:
1. The woman is lying on the bed. T F (T)
2. The pillows are above her head. T F (T)
3. The blanket is below her feet. T F (T)
4. She is walking down the steps (small pillows). T F (T)
5. The man is walking behind her. T F (T)
6. The man is above her. T F (F)
7. It looks like she’s swimming in water. T F (T)
8. He is riding his imaginary bike next to her. T F (T)
Task:
While the music is playing (and video is playing), write down any prepositions you hear in the song. Listen for words like in and on. Write them down whenever you hear it. Try and see if you can recognize any other prepositions.
The song will be played twice and the words include; in, by, down, of, for, at, with, as, and behind. Some students may notice the word up in the song. However, this preposition is part of a phrasal verb and therefore has a different meaning. I address this issues by taking some time to explicitly discuss it with the class.
Post- Task:
- Ask the students what they heard and see if any students caught all of the prepositions. Ask if any students recognized phrase boundaries such as “in a vase.” Ask if anyone understood the gist of the song.
- Have a print-out of the lyrics and hand a copy to each student.
- Read the lyrics out loud with the class and ask them the circle the prepositions on the sheet of paper. As an in-class assignment (group activity), or as a homework assignment, ask the students to note how and when these prepositions are being used and if they feel the meaning of the preposition is the same or different to what they have already learned. If it’s different, ask them, if they can, to explain how.
- For those who want to take a step further, ask them to come up with their own sentences using the prepositions they have learned.
“Her Morning Elegance”
By Oren Lavie
Sun been down for days
A pretty flower in a vase
A slipper by the fireplace
A cello lying in its case
Soon she's down the stairs
Her morning elegance she wears
The sound of water makes her dream
Awoken by a cloud of steam
She pours a daydream in a cup
A spoon of sugar sweetens up
And she fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
As she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught
By a thread
She pays for the bread
And She goes...
Nobody knows
Sun been down for days
A winter melody she plays
A pretty flower in a vase
A slipper by the fireplace
A cello lying in its case
Soon she's down the stairs
Her morning elegance she wears
The sound of water makes her dream
Awoken by a cloud of steam
She pours a daydream in a cup
A spoon of sugar sweetens up
And she fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
As she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught
By a thread
She pays for the bread
And She goes...
Nobody knows
Sun been down for days
A winter melody she plays
The thunder makes her contemplate
She hears a noise behind the gate
Perhaps a letter with a dove
Perhaps a stranger she could love
And She fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
As she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught
By a thread
She pays for the bread
And She goes...
Nobody knows
And she fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
Where people are pleasently strange
And counting the change
And She goes...
Nobody knows
She hears a noise behind the gate
Perhaps a letter with a dove
Perhaps a stranger she could love
And She fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
As she goes in a store
With a thought she has caught
By a thread
She pays for the bread
And She goes...
Nobody knows
And she fights for her life
As she puts on her coat
And she fights for her life on the train
She looks at the rain
As it pours
And she fights for her life
Where people are pleasently strange
And counting the change
And She goes...
Nobody knows
