View Content #18923

by Julie Sykes, CASLS Director

Learning to listen includes the development of skills to aid in the comprehension and analysis of a variety of types of language. Skill development enables learners to engage with listening needs ranging from the interpretation of an interlocutor's turns during interaction to a formal, academic research talk. Digital tools offer a number of possibilities for enhancing and expanding learners' listening repertoire.

First, the explosion of digital content makes listening passages more accessible and varied. The impact is the existence of digital collections as a critical resource for providing learners with language samples along the entire continuum of listening possibilities. For example, YouTube offers a wealth of possible video and audio samples ranging from informal commentaries to professional news clips and documentaries. These digital resources can be viewed individually and/or sorted into collections based on theme, genre, or text type. Furthermore, the comments sections allow for multi-modal analysis of each resource and the ease of content creation enables learners to create their own resources as an extension of their understanding of the text. While YouTube is just one example of thousands of resources for collecting and disseminating audio and video in digital contexts, it is a representative example of ways learners can explore, examine, and extend their understanding using a digital tool.

In addition to traditional texts and speech samples online, teachers now have access to a wide-range of digitally native content allowing them to extend the types of discourse their learners are able to understand. For example, TED Talks, while delivered live for recording, are essentially digital resources created for wide dissemination of information. These can be compared with other resources delivering the same information to help learners better understand how what we listen to also shapes content. Furthermore, machinima (digital animation and production) offers a completely digital genre that can enhance learners' listening abilities through both exploration of existing products as well as the creation of their own.

Finally, the digital nature of these resources makes manipulation of the discourse possible based on each individual learner's needs. Possibilities include repeating the passage, slowing down the text, glossing individual components, and delivering customized collections to different groups of leaners. As a result, learners gain the skills they need as they go. A learner who is highly proficient can move to the next resource that is more difficult. Simultaneously, a struggling learner can continue to work with a listening passage until they have mastered the skills needed to move on.

When used thoughtfully, digital tools can open learning spaces to new, interesting, and relevant frontiers.