TEFL TIPS – WHILE-READING / LISTENING ACTIVITIES

Activities to aid students’ reading or listening comprehension and to reduce the cognitive burden and pressure of “cold” reading / listening.

GAP FILL: A traditional exercise in which students reinsert words that have been taken out of a text:

Put the words on the bottom into the correct gaps.

Landmine elephant gets new foot

1. EXAMPLE: New developments in ________ limbs means a Thai elephant can now stop ________ on three feet. Motala, 44, hit the world’s headlines in 1999 when she stepped on a landmine while working at a logging camp on the Thai- Myanmar ________. The explosion mutilated her front left
   foot, which veterinarians had to ________. The surgery left Motala with one leg shorter than the others and she was no longer able to work. For the past six years she has been cared for at a hospital ________ by the charity Friends of the Asian Elephant. A staff member reports she was a ________ patient and was rarely cantankerous or moody during her period of ________. Apparently, she quickly came to ________ with the loss of her foot and got on with life as usual.

1. recuperation
2. artificial
3. border
4. model
5. run
6. hobbling
7. terms
8. amputate

PHRASE FILL: Take phrases out of the article. Students have to put the phrases back into the text.
PAIRED GAP FILL: A regular gap fill except students choose from pairs of words to insert into the text. The pairs can be false friends, homophones, homographs, words to test general knowledge, etc. or be totally unrelated.
TRUE/FALSE: Students check the answers to the True/False activity. Talk about the answers and any disagreements there might be. Students talk about the choices in the true/false activity and whether it was a useful activity.

SYNONYMS CHECK: Students check the answers to the synonym matching activity. Talk about the answers and any disagreements there might be. Students talk about the activity and whether it was a useful activity. They also talk about the synonyms and their usefulness.
ANTONYM MATCHING: Write ten antonyms of words in the article. Students have to find the words in the article that match the antonyms.
PHRASE MATCH CHECK: Students have to check their answers to the phrase match exercise.
QUESTIONS: Students have to make notes for questions they would like to ask their partners or the class about the article. Ask students to circle the words as they read/listen.
VOCABULARY: Students circle words that they do not know the meaning of. They will find out more about the words after the exercise by showing the words to their partners and trying to guess the meanings in context or by breaking the word down into prefixes, suffixes and roots.
INTERESTING WORDS: Students circle words they think are interesting that they would like to talk about after the reading / listening.
PRONUNCIATION: Students circle the words they would like to know the pronunciation of.
SYNONYM ARTICLE FILL: Students are given groups of synonyms and have to add one more from the article that fits into each of the groups.
BETTER WORDS: Students think of better or alternative words to replace those from the gap fill. Students share and compare their words and discuss the worth of the replacement words.
QUIZ: Students circle three things they would like to write a quiz question on after the reading. After they have written the questions, they pool them and ask each other in groups.
YES, YES, YES: Students circle / underline anything that made them think “yes, yes, yes” or “no, no, no”, things that made them raise their eyebrows, things that made them think “wow”, things they found themselves frowning over, etc. As an alternative, they could simply underline things with which they agreed or disagreed.
THREE POINTS: Students have to remember three points from the article. They tell their partners what the points are after the reading.
ADJECTIVE UNDERLINE: Students underline anything they thought was interesting, worrying, disturbing, worrying, hopeful, etc. – whatever adjectives the teacher deems suitable.
ADJECTIVE MATCH: Teacher writes a number of adjectives on the board. Students must find information in the text corresponding to the adjectives.
QUIZ ANSWERS: Students have to find the answers in the article to a prereading quiz.
MY FEELINGS: Students write quick notes about their feelings as they read the article. They talk about these feelings later.
WHY? Students circle three things about which they want to ask “Why?” after they have read the text.
THAT’S NEW TO ME: Students underline all of the things they didn’t know before. Share these things with students after reading / listening. Talk about whether or not these new pieces of information are worth knowing.
WORD SCRAMBLE: Students have to put words that have been put in the wrong order back into the correct order.

Unscramble the words in the bold parts of the article by putting them back into the correct order.

1. EXAMPLE: Thieves have daring out a carried and audacious bank robbery in Brazil, making off with over 88 million US dollars. The stolen cash a total weighed in at of three point five tons. The gang of robbers tunneled 80 meters into a Brazilian Central Bank branch in the north of the country from a rented house several streets away. the over three months of course, they shored up the tunnel walls with wood and reinforced plastic and installed electric lighting. Neighbors reported about house the suspicious nothing or its occupants, who were supposedly manufacturing artificial turf. They said a truck arrived every day, which was loaded with dozens of large plastic bags and then driven away. They inkling had a tunnel no was being excavated.

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD: Students circle which of the two words in italics is correct.

1. EXAMPLE: Actress and pop star Kylie Minogue has been attributed with initiating / initialing an increase in the number of women having breast cancer viewings / screenings in Australia. Ms. Minogue’s widely-publicized breast cancer order / ordeal in May resulted in a 40 per cent increase in mammogram bookings, according to a study by Sydney University’s Professor Simon Chapman. He said there was double the number of first-time screenings for women aged between 40-69. The so-called “Kylie effect” could slash / slush the number of breast-cancer related deaths. Ms. Minogue was diagnosed with cancer in May and underwent surgery to have a bump / lump removed, attracting worldwide attention. She emphasized how critical it was for the cancer to be detected / deterred early.

ODD WORD OUT: Students decide which one of the groups of three words is incorrect.

1. EXAMPLE:Malaysia declared / issued / decried a state of emergency on August 11 as the air pollution index rocketed to extremely hazardous levels on its west coast. Smoke from forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia, has shrouded / blanketed / bedded much of the country in a thick smog, a dangerous cocktail / contraption / concoction of ash, dust, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The acrid / pungent / aphid haze has obscured from view the tops of buildings in Kuala Lumpur, where a government official said: “We are now in a state of emergency”. Authorities have closed schools and advised people to stay indoors to minimize contact with the noxious / poisonous / notorious and choking fumes. It is Malaysia’s worst environmental crisis since 1997 and already there are few signs of it letting up / abating / letting in.

MOST LOGICAL: Similar to the “Choose the Correct Word” activity above. Both of the pairs of words in italics fit. However, one fits better than the other. Students circle the best fitting word.
GOOD / BAD: Students place a check next to things they think are good and a cross next to things they think are bad. They talk about the things they designated after the exercise.
MISTAKES: Tell students that there are five incorrect words in each paragraph. Students have to find the mistakes.
MISTAKE CHOICES: Highlight in each paragraph and tell students half of them are wrong. Students must identify the incorrect words.

SPOT THE MISTAKES: Four of the words in bold in each paragraph are right and four are wrong. Circle the incorrect words and replace them.

Forty million credit cards hacked

1. EXAMPLE: What is your best nightmare? How about opening your credit card statement and seeing thousands of dollars worth of purchases you never made? This is a possibility for 40 million credit card grippers worldwide following a security broach at a major data processing center. U.S.-based Card Systems Solutions Inc., which processes transactions for banks and merchandise around the globe, has issued a press release saying it “identified a potential security incident” in May. Hackers infiltrated the system and made on with the personal details of up to 40 million people – the same number as the entity population of Spain. Card Systems immediately contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which out turn notified VISA and MasterCard. The company said it is currently “completing the installation of enhanced/additional security procedures”. Meanwhile, the world’s banks are working overtime charging the account details of concerned and irate cardholders Card Systems Inc. depressed sympathy with anyone who may have lost confidence in the integrity of credit card security or suffered anguish as a result of the breach. It said: “We understand and fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation.” It also assured the business world its primate focus was client oriented. The press release said: “Our customers and their customers are our lifeblood. We are undertaking no effort to get to the edge of this matter.”

BLANKS: Blank out some of the words in the article. Students have to decide on their own words to fill the blanks.
MISTAKEN PART OF SPEECH: Change the part of speech for five words in each paragraph. Students must identify and correct the parts of speech.
PART OF SPEECH CHOICE: Students have to decide which part of speech in each group of three is the correct one.

1. EXAMPLE: I need some advice / advise / advisor

WRONG ANTONYM: Replace five or six words in each paragraph with their antonyms. Students have to find and correct them.
OUT OF 10: Students write a number from 1 to 10 after each sentence. “1” means, “I understood almost nothing in this sentence”, “10” means “I understood everything in this sentence”. Students show each other their scores and try and help each other with the lower ones.
MY CULTURE: Students circle things that are different in their own cultures. They talk about these with their partners after.
NUMBER FOCUS: If there are several numbers in each paragraph, ask students to remember what the numbers relate to. After the reading /
listening, the students have to match the numbers on the board to what they remember.
NUMBERS: Students try to guess what the following numbers mean in the text by matching the numbers with the possibilities in the right
column:
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PERSON FOCUS: Ask students to concentrate on the characters in the story. After the reading / listening, the students have to match the characters on the board to what they remember from the text.
IF IT WERE ME: Students think about or make notes as they read / listen about what they would do, think, feel in a similar situation to the one in the article.
PROPER NOUN FOCUS: Ask students to remember the proper nouns in the story. After the reading / listening, the students have to match the proper nouns on the board to what they remember from the text.
THINGS I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT: Students underline different things in the text they want to know more about. After reading, share these things with partner(s) and discuss them to see if students can find out more information.
OTHER SENSES: As students read, ask them to circle words that have more than one meaning. After the reading, students share the different words and talk about other meanings of the words.
SENTENCE SUMMARY: Students must write one word at the end of each sentence. That word must sum up their feelings about the sentence. After the reading, students tell each other their words and why they chose them.
BETTER WORDS: Students must replace five words in each paragraph with words of their own choosing. After they finish reading they tell each other which words they have replaced and explain their reasons.
POST SENTENCE DISCUSSIONS: Students read one sentence and discuss it before moving onto the next sentence. Continue until they finish the reading.
IDIOM HUNT: Students underline any language they think is idiomatic. They share what they underlined with the class for a discussion on what they think the language means.
SYNONYM FIND: In pairs / groups, students find two synonyms for each word in italics in the article. When they have finished, they compare and swap synonyms with other students. Students talk about whether any of their synonyms would be better than the words used in the text.
LISTENING QUESTIONNAIRE: Make a questionnaire for students to discuss the degree of difficulty of the listening and related activities. Some questions might include the following:

1. Did students get all of the gap fill answers?
2. Which words were easy or difficult to remember?
3. How much (per cent) did students understand?
4. Do you think you will understand more next time?
5. Are you happy with how much you understood?
6. What do you think is your biggest problem with listening?
7. What are their feelings now?

Repeat the questionnaire after each successive listening to see how their answers change.
NEW QUESTIONS: Students quiz each other about the listening. Listen three or four times. Each time they listen, they make new questions.
WHAT WAS THAT? Teacher plays the listening a segment at a time. Students have to figure out what was said. When they have finished, students look at the text and talk about the bits they got right and wrong. Listen again to check.
FALSE: Teacher creates an alternative text with ten incorrect facts. Students listen and have to find the correct information.
PHRASE ORDER: Teacher selects phrases from the text that contain useful vocabulary or idioms or phrases that are key for global understanding. Cut the phrases into strips and give them to students. Students put them into the correct order as they hear them.

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