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Smart Listeners is a three-book series designed to develop the listening comprehension skills of English language learners at the pre-intermediate (CEFR A2-Low) stage. Listening tasks in the series are designed to target both global and discreet listening comprehension skills.
Goals
To develop confidence in listening to English
To develop familiarity with the natural speech patterns of the English language
To improve the ability to recognize common phrases that included content-specific vocabulary as well as high-frequency collocations
To use listening as a source of language input based on materials that model casual conversational situations or content-based informative content
To practice foundational note-taking skills through guided note-taking tasks and dictation activities To familiarize learners with listening tasks widely used by standardized tests of English listening skills
Student Book
[Before You Listen]
Two questions are provided to get students to think about their own experiences or opinions connected with the unit topic. Preparing students to listen in this way stimulates ideas and language they already know related to the topic and naturally prepares them to be active listeners during each of the unit’s listening tasks.
[Learning Words]
Ten target expressions are provided for students to study and talk about. These expressions are practiced through tasks including photos and written text supported with audio input.
[Conversation]
This is an informal dialog between classmates, family members, etc.
Global Listening
For this task, students listen to choose the best images that describe or specify the conversation’s general content. It is helpful to have students talk about differences they see in the images before they listen.
Focused Listening
For this task, students listen again and complete multiple-choice and T/F comprehension questions while listening for details.
[Podcast]
This podcast is a show produced by a student, with a different episode or segment of the show used in each unit.
Global Listening
For this task, students listen to answer questions about the podcast’s general content.
Listening Skill
For this task, students focus on how the information in the podcast is organized. Comprehension tasks vary from unit to unit to practice listening for details from the podcast.
Useful Idiom
Each podcast incorporates a useful idiom for students to learn. The meaning of the idiom is explained and presented with two examples of usage: in a sentence and in a short dialog.
[Informative Talk]
his informative talk is presented as a video of a monolog or semi-formal or formal report providing information to students.
Global Listening
For this task, students listen to choose a title that best suits the purpose or theme of the video’s content.
Note-Taking Skill
For this task, students listen again to complete a graphic organizer detailing the key points from the video. Students are then encouraged to share their own experiences or opinions related to the video’s topic.
[Listening Quiz]
Each unit ends with a two-page test to consolidate what the students have learned in each unit.
Work Book
Each unit includes four pages of workbook activities to supplement and consolidate learning through expression review material, practice activities, and dictations.