This document discusses various internet-based resources that can be used to develop listening skills, including audio, video, podcasts, and other tools. It provides examples of websites containing news, documentaries, interviews and other authentic listening materials. It also discusses strategies for using these resources, such as listening multiple times and completing accompanying exercises. The resources are aimed at developing listening outside the classroom and promoting independent learning.

1. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal
http://sisaljournal.org
Internet-Based Resources for Developing Listening
Ene Peterson, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Corresponding author:
ene@peterson.ee
ISSN 2185-3762 Publication date: September, 2010.
To cite this article
Peterson, E. (2010). Internet-based resources for developing listening. Studies in Self-Access
Learning Journal, 1 (2). 139-154.
To link to this article
http://sisaljournal.org/archives/sep10/peterson
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Please contact
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2. SiSAL Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, September, 2010, 139-154
Internet-Based Resources for Developing Listening
Ene Peterson, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Introduction
Developing listening skills comes "naturally" for some students, but with great
difficulty for others. Acquiring listening skills can even be frustrating for some students.
For some time, listening was regarded as a "passive" or "receptive" skill and,
consequently, not particularly crucial as a skill area to be taught. Researchers then began
to recognize the importance of listening and its role in comprehensible input (Krashen,
1982), and attention to and adoption of newer comprehension-based methodologies
brought the issue to the fore. Listening became a skill to be reckoned with and its key
position in communication recognized (Feyten, 1991; Omaggio Hadley, 2001). In the
communicative approach to language teaching, this means teachers modelling listening
strategies and providing listening practice in authentic situations: those that learners are
likely to encounter when they use the language outside the classroom. Given the
importance of listening in language learning and teaching it is essential to give our
learners opportunity to develop and improve their listening skills not only in the
classroom, but outside the classroom as well.
We have now entered a digital era in which technology is no longer a novelty.
Technological advancement has always occurred in the past, but never at this speed.
Although “technology is not a panacea that can replace language teachers and face-to-
face classrooms, it is something that can be used to enhance language learning” (Sharma
& Barrett, 2007). Self-access learning centres promote the approach whereby students
study independently choosing from among different resources that are available.
Listening lends itself to self-access in the same way that reading does. Listening in the
real world and listening to authentic texts, however, is obviously more complex. But how
can we help our learners become effective listeners and to overcome difficulties in
listening comprehension and other barriers to listening?
Why not draw on technology? Learners can use ICT (Information Communication
Technology) in developing and improving their language skills, in particular listening
comprehension for the following good reasons:
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1. Current university students have been characterised as the "Net Generation" (Oblinger
& Oblinger, 2005; Barnes, Marateo, & Ferris, 2007; Prensky, 2001) and “native speakers”
of the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet (Presnky, 2001).
Learners today have high expectations when it comes to technology and they expect a
language school or programme to offer opportunities to use technology in their courses,
for example via a well-equipped self-access centre (Sharma & Barrett, 2007).
2. The use of technology outside the language classroom or in the self-access centre can
make learners more autonomous. One key feature of using technology in learning is that
it allows language practice and study away from the confines of the classroom at your
own pace anywhere: a hotel room, the office, an Internet café, at home or, of course, in
the self-access language centre.
3. New ICT skills learnt in the classroom (e.g. Internet search skills) can be transferred to
real life. Using a range of ICT tools and a web-based environment can give learners
exposure to practicing listening regularly, and consequently, become a more effective
listener.
4. The use of technology via web-based environment can be current, e.g. using a listening
activity with today’s news from news websites can add a dimension of immediacy to
listening practice.
5. While listening to digital audio or watching a video clip, learners have the opportunity
to pause at will, and listen and read a transcript. Moreover, learners can get instant
feedback on what they have done (e.g. you watch a video clip/listen to audio and check
answers immediately after watching/listening).
6. Learners can access authentic websites, as well as websites for EFL/ESL learners. As
learners become used to selecting and evaluating listening materials, they are able to plan
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out their own use of web-based materials in their own time. This helps them become
effective listeners and independent learners.
In this review we will take a look at a number of online resources for developing
listening skills (e.g. audio and video, podcasts, video clip tools), and suggest some
strategies for improving listening ability.
The Internet – A Goldmine of Listening Materials
Some years ago the Internet held the promise of access to authentic audio and
video. Today that promise has been realized. An unending stream of audio and video
lessons, television and radio broadcasts, including news and documentaries, and music
videos are now at our fingertips through different sources. In addition to this, a new
generation of internet tools are available (Skype, podcasts, online webcasts and
conferences, voice boards). Moreover, social networks create multiple opportunities for
authentic communication.
Audio and Video
The principal benefits of online audio and video start with the range of material in
terms of subject matter, accent of the speaker, and length. Some of the activities will
only take up a short amount of time, for example listening to the news, whereas others,
such as participating in conference calls or listening to TV broadcasts will require
learners to set aside quite a lot of time.
Online audio and video news.
Online listening activities are divided into those that are specifically scripted for
English learners, while others consist of authentic materials which have been specially
selected.
The BBC World Service Learning English offers both types of activity.
• News English Extra
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/newsextra/
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• News about England
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/newsaboutbritain/
Short reports from the BBC World Service international radio news with a short
summary, transcript, and a glossary of some vocabulary terms.
• Listen and Watch http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/listen-and-watch
Five-minute audio reports and transcripts on subjects such as famous people, pop
music, and entertainment. Students can listen to or watch news on the computer,
or download audio and video files to their mp3 players. Audio and video materials
are accompanied by language practice activities that learners can do on their
computers while they listen or watch, or print out and do them when they want to.
The BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/
A very useful thing about the BBC audio/video is that it contains recordings of
individual stories which are one to two minutes long. Learners can choose which topic
they would like to listen to. There is a wide variety of different categories – Business,
Technology, World News, UK News, Technology, and so on. The BBC site is
predominantly British English.
CNN News http://edition.cnn.com/video/
Similarly to the BBC site, learners can listen to clips of individual news items or
to whole programmes. The CNN site is predominantly American English.
Breaking News English http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
This site has news articles on different topics along with a sound recording of the
article accompanied by a resource book with ready-to-use ESL/EFL lessons and
worksheets that learners can work with on their own.
Monthly News Digest Online http://www.englishclub.com/listening/news.htm
A "news digest" is a summary of news stories. Each month EnglishClub creates a
digest in easy English with four short audio news reports from the past 30 days. Monthly
News Digest Online has been designed so that English learners can use it on their own
not only for practising listening but for reading, writing, and even speaking. It is posted
on the first day of each month and includes audio feeds, texts, and exercises. Some tips
for listening to the summary of news:
Pre-listening: Try to guess what words might fit in the blanks.
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Listening: Listen to the audio three times: 1) to get the gist, 2) to fill in the cloze
passages, and 3) to check answers.
Other ideas for listening activities can be found in Business English Using the
Internet (Barber, 2007, p. 69-70) and Blended Learning (Sharma & Barrett, 2007, p. 39-
40). Barrett and Sharma (2005, p. 96-101) offer four worksheets for using video or audio
clips on the BBC site to develop such different listening skills as summarising,
deepening, updating, widening, and so on.
More audio and video resources.
Daily ESL, Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab, and EZSlang are created and
maintained by Randall Davis. Reading newspapers and textbooks can be helpful for
Academic English, but many students often spend their time reading information that is
very difficult and might not be used in day-to-day conversations.
Thus, Daily ESL (www.dailyesl.com) is designed to help learners become
familiar with common vocabulary and expressions they can use all the time in many
situations. Learners choose a topic, listen and read along with a paragraph, and then
discuss the questions with a partner. They can then compare their thoughts to the
recorded interview.
The site EZSlang (www.ezslang.com/ ) is designed to help learners (from low-
intermediate to advanced) improve their survival skills in many different situations and to
make learning slang an easier process for better communication.
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com) has short and long
listening activities for beginner-level as well as advanced-level students accompanied by
pre-, while and post-listening tasks, transcripts, and cultural video clips. Randall Davis
states that the main objective of the site is not to test students listening skills; rather, by
doing the variety of pre-listening, listening, and post-listening activities, students can
discover ways to learn how to develop their listening skills. He believes that listening and
speaking skills must be developed together, and working together with other students in
groups and discussing the content of the listening activities help learners improve their
overall communication skills by focusing on specific tasks.
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Ello http://www.elllo.org/
You can find free, well-produced, and clearly-organised content on one site called
Ello. Ello includes interviews, videos, games, and more. There is News Centre (with
animated newscasts), which can help students learn Academic English and develop test
taking skills for standardized listening components of tests such as TOEFL, TOEIC, and
IELTS. There are other sections to explore, such as Mixer, Views, Points, and even
Songs, and each section has a wide selection of material.
Video Jug http://www.videojug.com/
Video Jug is the world's most comprehensive library of free factual video content
online. Video Jug gives numerous opportunities for learners to practice listening skills
and to become actively engaged in the listening process. Learners can practice their
listening skills by listening to the interview with Stephen Fry (see Appendix A). There is
a tapescript to accompany the listening text.
Podcasts
Podcasts are audio recordings which a user can subscribe to and download to
his/her computer or portable listening device such as an MP3 player (Barber, 2007). The
closest analogy to a podcast is that of a radio or TV show, but the difference is that you
can listen to or watch a podcast on a topic that interests you whenever you want to. A
podcast can be on any topic and can include music and video. Video podcasts are also
known as Vodcasts or PodClips. Podcasts can be used not only for authentic listening in
the classroom but for self-study outside of the classroom as well. According to Dudney
and Hockly (2007), recording lectures as podcasts (referred to as course casting) is
becoming increasingly common in tertiary education. By doing that, students who miss a
class can then download the lecture podcasts for later listening on their computers or
mobile devices like an MP3 player. More demanding, but ultimately perhaps more
rewarding, is the option of learners actually producing their own podcasts. You can find
detailed information related to podcasts from Podcasting Tools (http://www.podcasting-
tools.com/blog.htm). According to Barber (2007) making podcasts is simple and you can
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find guidelines from his book Fifty ways to improve your Business English using the
Internet (p. 77-78).
Since it is easy to create podcasts, they are appearing in every area of the World
Wide Web. Lewis (2009) draws attention to the fact that “there are good and bad
podcasts, and since everything can look so professional, it is hard to know which is which
at first glance. Hence, broad searches can be a bit hit and miss” (p. 70). Podcast
directories are one place to start looking for podcasts. Learners can click on a category
and scroll though a list of podcasts, listening to and subscribing to any that interest them.
Students can also find tips for podcast searches on iTunes
(http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/). A podcast directory aimed specifically at
teachers and learners of English is Englishcaster (http://www.englishcaster.com). ESL
podcast sites have been developed for different purposes: vocabulary and grammar
topics, idioms and slang, business English, world news and current events, limericks and
jokes, songs, and poetry.
BBC Podcasts http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts
The BBC, the quintessential international news and media organization, was one
of the earliest creators of podcasts. They first offered a limited number of traditional BBC
audio programs as podcasts. Since then, the BBC expanded the list of podcasts they offer
(covering everything from drama to news and sports) to many more audio podcasts, video
trials (an experiment they stopped in 2007), and music-only podcasts (started in
November, 2007).
ESL Listening: Podcasts http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Listening/Podcasts/
This is a sub-page of The Internet TESL Journal with different categories of
podcasts: for native speakers, newest podcasts by ESL podcasters, listen and repeat
podcast for practising intonation, rhythm and intonation, jokes in English podcast, “Learn
a song” podcast, and so on.
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Learn Songs http://www.manythings.org/songs/
This site features folk songs, campfire songs, and group-singing songs that native
English speakers sing. These podcasts are short and designed to be listened to more than
once, so learners can listen and sing along as many times as they need to in order to learn
the song.
English Feed http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/7538
English Feed is a weekly podcast including review and listening exercises on
important grammar and vocabulary subjects. It is an ideal podcast for beginning to
intermediate level students to study basic structures like phrasal verbs, past forms,
modals, listening comprehension quizzes, and more. English Feed also includes the
transcript, grammar resources, and exercises.
ELT Podcast http://www.eltpodcast.com/
ELT Podcast provides basic conversations for EFL and ESL students and classes.
ELT Podcast presents a common conversation theme in each episode. The first
presentation is at a normal speed, and then at a slower, less natural speed to help with
comprehension. The site also provides a transcript of the conversation.
Elementary Podcasts http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts
A variety of listening activities (episodes) on different topics (e.g. family, pets,
travel problems, clothes, and so on) that learners can do on their computers while they
listen. They can also be printed out to do later.
Professional Podcasts http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/professionals-podcasts
This series of podcasts helps learners to improve their English for their career in
the workplace and covers a large number of business and work themes. They are suitable
for learners at intermediate to advanced level.
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Business English http://www.businessenglishpod.com/category/esl-podcast/
Business English Pod provides free weekly MP3 podcast ESL lessons and
audio/e-Book courses for intermediate and advanced business English learners. Each
business English podcast lesson is focused on a particular workplace English skill (such
as meetings, presentations, telephoning, negotiating, socializing, travel, and conversation)
and language function (such as clarifying, disagreeing, questioning, expressing opinions,
and persuasion). Video Vocab is a video podcast (vodcast) published by Business
English Pod for ESL learners who want to expand and improve their English vocabulary
for business (http://www.videovocab.tv/). Each ESL video lesson looks at a group of key
English vocabulary words and terms related to a particular business topic. The meaning
of the vocabulary is explained with simple definitions and pictures along with an example
of how the vocabulary can be used. Current lessons feature vocabulary on the economy,
law, project management, accounting and finance, the credit crisis, and Web 2.0 Internet
technologies.
Splendid Speaking Podcasts http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/21609
This site supports upper-intermediate and advanced learners of English develop
their top-level speaking skills and communication strategies. In 2005, Peter Travis, the
host of the Splendid Speaking podcasts, was shortlisted for the Quality Improvement
Agency Star Award for the “E-Learning Tutor of the Year” sponsored by Microsoft.
Users sign up for the Splendid Speaking newsletter (http://www.splendid-
speaking.com/subscribe1.html) and receive transcripts, comprehension questions, a
weekly task sheet to help them prepare for a similar talk, and a vocabulary worksheet to
record the “Splendid Expressions” daily quiz.
Video clip tools
Now that a growing majority of Internet users have broadband, YouTube
(www.youtube.com) and other video clip sites (e.g. Google Video at www.video.google,
and Revver Video Sharing Network at www.revver.com) have become very popular.
These sites provide English learners with a new tool to improve listening skills.
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YT (YouTube) was invented by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim.
According to their fact sheet, YT was founded in February, 2005, as a destination to
watch and share original videos worldwide through the Web. YT has gained enormous
popularity in a relatively short time. This online video-sharing social network has been
enthusiastically welcomed by EFL learners and teachers because of its potential to
provide “a huge multimedia library of real language use by real people, a potentially rich
resource for language learning or corpus collections” (Godwin-Jones, 2007). By
browsing video clip sites, learners can find videos on almost any topic (education,
politics, science, technology, entertainment, and so on), spoken in different varieties of
the language (standard, foreign accented, and so on) and at different levels of difficulty.
According to Bearer (2010) the real advantage to these sites - at least from a language
learning point of view - is that they offer authentic examples of everyday English used by
everyday people. However, learners may enjoy watching these clips, but poor sound
quality, pronunciation, and slang can make these short videos even more difficult to
understand. Task sheets can help them to explore the world of online English learning
possibilities (for an example task sheet, refer to Appendix B).
Conclusion
Listening comprehension is often the most difficult task for learners of English as
a foreign language. Listening in the real world and listening to authentic texts is more
complex than listening to non-authentic texts in the classroom environment. Effective
listening does not just happen. Access to up-to-date materials via the Internet gives the
students opportunities to develop and improve their listening skills by using materials in
the self-access language learning centre or outside the classroom. With the appropriate
use of technology, learning can be made more active, motivating, and learner-centred,
especially with such internet-based resources as audio-video, podcasts, and video clip
tools.
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Notes on the contributor
Ene Peterson is a lecturer at Virumaa College of Tallinn University of Technology with
30 years’ experience in ELT and ESP, currently Head of the Division of the Humanities
and Social Sciences. Apart from that she is engaged in teacher training and in the work of
teachers’ associations, being Chair of the Association of Teachers of Estonian as a
Second Language and Chair of the Estonian Association of Foreign Language Teachers.
Her professional interests include different aspects of methodology of teaching ESL and
ESP (e.g. teaching process writing, developing listening skills, and portfolio assessment)
and the use of technology in teaching languages.
References
Barber, E. (2007). Fifty ways to improve your Business English using the internet.
Oxford: Summertown Publishing Ltd.
Barnes, K., Marateo, R., & Ferris, S. (2007). Teaching and learning with the Net
Generation. Innovate, 3(4). Retrieved from
http://innovateonline.info/pdf/vol3_issue4/Teaching_and_Learning_with_the_Net
_Generation.pdf
Barrett, B., & Sharma, P. (2005). The internet and Business English. Oxford:
Summertown Publishing Ltd.
Bearer, K. (2010). YouTube in the classroom!. Retrieved from
http://esl.about.com/od/listeninglessonplans/a/youtube.htm
Dudeney, G., & Hockly, N. (2007). How to teach English with technology. Harlow:
Pearson Education Limited.
Godwin-Jones, R. (2007). Emerging technologies. Digital video update: YouTube, Flash,
High-definition. Language Learning and Technology, 11(1), 12-16. Retrieved
from http://llt.msu.edu/vol11num1/emerging/default.html
Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
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Lewis, G. (2007). Bringing technology into the classroom. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Oblinger, D. G., & Oblinger, J. L. (Eds.). (2005). Educating the Net Generation.
EDUCAUSE. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/pub7101.pdf
Omaggio Hadley, A. (2001). Teaching language in context (3rd ed.). Boston, MA:
Heinle.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). Retrieved
from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/
Sharma, P., & Barrett, B. (2007). Blended learning: Using technology in and beyond the
language classroom. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
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Appendix A
Listening
Stephen Fry: Technology
Before listening
Task 1. Fill in the table.
I know I would like to know
Stephen Fry
Task 2.
Find the meaning of the following words and acronyms:
No. Word or Definition Translation
acronym
1. A smart phone
2. A camera phone
3. SMS
4. MMS
5. iPod
6. iPhone
Listening
Listen to the interview: http://www.videojug.com/tag/stephen-fry
Question 1: Would you describe yourself as a geek?
Fill in the blanks:
1. His friends call him a geek because he offers a service of
rescuing............................
and helping them setup the....................................
2. He helps friends because he is endlessly curious about the nature of
...........................and the way they ...................and how
...................................work and why they go...........................
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3. He doesn’t claim to be the most brilliant geek, but he compared to his friends he
is ................................................. because most of them are
completely............................
4. In order to drive a car it is not important to know how ..................................works,
but he is interested in it.
Question 2: Are you an early adopter of new technology?
Are the following statements True or False or don’t know (DK)?
No Statement True False DK
1. Stephen was the first person ever to have a MAC in England.
2. Stephen was the first person to send e-mails.
3. Stephen is the only person who has been really interested in
new technologies.
a nerd – a foolish, unattractive person
a specky person= an unimportant person Compare: a speck- a spot
Question 3: What’s your favourite piece of kit at the moment?
Answer the questions.
1. What is Stephen’s current obsession? ................................
2. How many favourite things has he got? ...................
3. Which Apple products are in the market? ....................
4. Which Apple product is coming soon? ........................
5. How does he describe his current obsession? ........................
obsession - the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea,
image, desire, etc.
After listening
Find five more facts about Stephen Fry.
I got to know ...
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Appendix B
TOPIC: ARE YOU A LEARNER OF THE FUTURE?
Video clip 1: Education Today and Tomorrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE&feature=related
Task. Summarize in one sentence the difference of education today and tomorrow.
Video clip 2: Importance of learning a second language Goldfish v. Kitty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzEjzL6_gyE&feature=related
Task. Watch and finish the sentence.
Watching a video clip I got to know that learning a second language…..
Video clip 3: Foreign Language -Funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH5sGa5WJWs&feature=related
Before watching
Find out the difference between the words sinking and thinking?
After watching
What did you learn from the video clip?
Video clip 4: Why learn a foreign language?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gycrzJilD30&NR=1
My ideas: 4 ideas form the video clip:
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
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Video clip 5: 21st Century Learning Matters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L2XwWq4_BY&feature=related
Before watching
Find the meaning of the collocations
Collocation Meaning
digital native
global environment
While watching
Task 1: Fill in the table while watching the video clip.
WHAT are the WHAT needs HOW will it be WHERE will HOW do
challenges of the to be learned? learned? learning we get
21st century? occur? there?
Task 2: What is the motto of the 21st century?
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