Selection and Evaluation of Podcasts in Teaching Listening Comprehension

Abstract

Listening is a core skill for the learners in English as a second/foreign language (EFL/ESL) contexts, and that needs to be improved through practice. However, EFL/ESL learners listen to their English teachers’ voices only. Consequently, learners have difficulty while they listen to English native speakers; reasons may vary from learner to another. Learners have difficulty in listening either on the speakers’ accent, speed, topic, the length of the texts, or other problems. Thus, listening to audio podcasts through repetition help the learners solve such problems and make the learners listen to the texts leisurely in their pace and to improve listening skills independently. There are numerous English podcasts published on the internet and designed for both teachers and learners. For example, BBC learn English, VoA learn English, British council learn English, EFL podcasts, Podcasts in English (Pie), and English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO). All these resources offer an opportunity to practice and develop the listening skills. However, selecting listening materials for class use will be crucial. Therefore, to select and evaluate an effective text from internet, some criteria are needed. Thus, the current paper intends to present three intermediate level audio podcasts as a sample from each of the three online podcasts (ELLLO, BBC: six minutes learn English, and British council: Learn English) based on the selection and evaluation criteria adapted from experts in the field. Accordingly, ELLLO has very good audio podcasts for teaching and learning English at EFL/ESL contexts than BBC and British council audio podcasts. Moreover, teachers can use them directly without adapting the listening texts, and they are good resources to enhance learners’ language proficiency, communication, and listening micro-skills.