De La Salle University- Dasmariñas

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A problem-solution paper entitled

Using English Language Teaching (ELT) Podcast to Alleviate Poor Listening Skills in English
Language among the Grade 10 Students of Salawag National High School

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in

GRES 208 Academic Writing

Submitted to:

Dr. Merlyn Lee

University Professor

Submitted by:

Ms. Hanna C. Navia

Master of Arts in English as Second Language

April 25, 2019

 Using English Language Teaching (ELT) Podcast to Alleviate Poor Listening Skills in English
Language among the Grade 10 Students of Salawag National High School

Introduction

Listening emerges inside the womb. Minai, et al. (2017) found out on their study the
capability of fetus to determine language. During gestation stage, the baby demonstrates connection
on the usual language heard and fetal heart beat changes as it responds to the familiarity of mother’s
voice. Mother’s voice echoes through her bones and internal tissues that act as loud speakers
compared to other voices or sounds which pass through the air. As a result, babies tend to have sharp
synapse of their mother’s voice memory even after given birth.

Meanwhile, listening in form of imitation and positive reinforcement as language acquisition

strategy was argued by Skinner (1957) in his book on Verbal Behavior. Skinner is one of the
forerunners of behaviorism and well- known for his operant conditioning which eventually became
the basis of other learning theories. He contested that children learn language effectively when they
listen to positively enforced correct word utterances. Moreover, it creates communicative value of
learning vocabulary. These previous studies only prove the preeminence of listening in language
acquisition process. Difficulty in language learning is evident in the absence of this foundational skill.
Krashen (1985) states language acquisition can only be done in one way- through understanding
messages and receiving comprehensive inputs. Listening skill is one way of getting inputs. This
makes receiving and understanding messages possible. The absence of learning takes place without
inputs. Gilakjani and Ahmadi (2011) found the breakdown of communication based on total time
spent: listening takes up 40-50%; speaking, 25-30%; reading, 11-16%; and writing, about 9%. This
clearly shows the valuable impact of listening in gearing effective communication.

Listening undeniably plays a vital role in language acquisition and learning. It is one way of
receiving inputs. In the absence of this imperative skill, communication cannot be effectively made.
Thus, no learning will take place without proper understanding and effective communication founded
on skillful listening. Listening as one of the four macro skills has often pay less concentration in
textbooks and English classes. No wonder why students of these days are not well-versed when it
comes to the fundamentals of effective listening like paying close attention to the speaker. In addition
to other factors like technological advancement and modernized child-centered theories, students are
taught to be self-centered and focused on self-discovery neglecting their teachers’ sound discreet
instructions. Mobile gadgets and social media became primary distractions to develop attention and
enhance listening.

The Problem and its Background

Gilakjani and Sabouri (2016) defines listening as important language skill to enhance second
language learning. Unfortunately, language learners regard it as the hardest skill to acquire
notwithstanding its importance. Several educators often ignored its value in their classes as much as
the role of listening comprehension in language teaching is highly reiterated. This problem is
apparent in Salawag National High School specifically in the case of their Grade 10 students.

Majority of the Grade 10 Students of Salawag National High School for the school year 2018-
2019 indicate difficulty in English subject. This problem is apparent on their monitored proficiency
skill (MPS) during the last school year. Among the eight subjects throughout their Grade 9, English
garnered the least MPS of 57% which is still below the satisfactory rate of 75%. In addition to the
School Implementation Planning (SIP) statistics, 50% of them are instructional readers, 15% are
independent readers and the rest of the 35% are in the level of frustration. This result is based on their
Gates-Mac Ginite Standardized Reading Test. Grades 9 and 10 English competencies require higher
level of language proficiency compared to the lower levels. This questions the student’s adaptability
to the curriculum requirements when almost half of them are still on the novice stage of language
acquisition. Teachers also noticed every time they give instructions in English, students will ask to
repeat it frequently. Until such time, teachers have no other choice but to translate English
instructions in Tagalog in order for the majority to understand what to do. This classroom scenario is
an indication of poor listening skills among the students when it comes to dealing English language
as means of instruction.

Public school teachers in English are now challenged to look for different ways on how to
enhance students’ listening. This is in addition to the limited school facilities and resources as well as
the shortened forty-minute academic contact time with the students due to the congested three
shifting class schedules. Virtual classrooms can possibly made to maximize learning even outside the
school yet not all public school students have internet access at home neither they have money to rent
internet shops per hour on a regular basis.

Hasan (2000) and Hamouda (2013) expressed that listening comprehension provides the
appropriate situations for the acquisition and expansion of other language skills. This study relates
with the problem of students’ adaptability in the English speaking environment whenever their
teacher tries to establish English Only Policy (EOP) inside the classroom. Deficiency in listening
comprehension can be a hindrance which makes students feel inadequate to handle straight English
conversations. This scenario is supported by Rost (2002) when he expressed that the development of
listening is related to the attainment of proficiency in speaking. He continued that listening is the
most important skill in language learning because it is the most widely used language skill in normal
daily life.

Solution
FluentU English Educator Blog defined English Language Teaching Podcast as the upgraded
version of radio programs like news, main stream topics, and other informational content that can be
used in teaching English as second language. It primarily enhances students’ listening comprehension
besides pronunciation and other fun facts about English language. This is a handy teaching tool for
teachers because various ELT / ESL Podcasts are available online for free. One of those websites
catering free resources is podcastenglish.com. This website contains podcasts, transcripts, worksheets
and vocabulary tasks in different levels depending on the learners’ capacity. Teachers’ workload in
preparing listening activities is lessened through these available free resources.
 Artyushina, et. al (2011) used English Language Teaching (ELT) Podcasts in their study
rather than the traditional dictation method to enhance technical students’ listening skills. ELT
Podcasting was implemented in 180 freshmen college students- who needed much attention in
listening skills due to their transition stage between Secondary and Tertiary level. It turns out to have
positive feedback from the students. Podcasts are believed to be helpful and accessible because
students can download the audio file in Mp3 and save it to their mobile phones.
ELT podcasts are particularly suited for extensive listening to motivate student interest in
listening to the English language and providing them with exposure to native speakers’ speech. This
activity effectively bridges the gap between the formal English which dominates in most language
classrooms and the informal English used in most real-life communication events. ELT podcasts
allow students to access educational materials not only at home but also anywhere while doing other
activities. Students can play the recording at any time within their convenience. Podcasts have an
obvious place in distance education, fulfilling the same role that audio cassettes performed in the
previous era. This teaching technique can be applicable to public school students who have no budget
to spare internet rent but they have their available mobile phones to save podcasts audio recordings.
The teacher can send them the audio file during the class and give time for the students to internalize
their listening at home together with the provided worksheets or vocabulary tasks.

Unfortunately, this ELT Podcast can be applied in Salawag National High School by next
school year, 2019-2020. Since activities pertaining to the Moving up Ceremony of the Grade 10
completers became the utmost concern in the small amount time left. In addition to the remediation
classes which became another priority to ensure that no student will left behind in this school year.
However, with this research about ELT Podcasts teachers were given another way to address
learners’ poor listening skills. The researcher believes this potential remediation against low listening
comprehension among the students has a higher rate of effectiveness as proven by the previous
research made using the same method resulting to a positive feedback.

Lastly, the researcher was even grateful despite that this problem-solution paper is still a
proposal subsequently due to the unimplemented solution found. It can pave way to test existing
results coming from the previous research about the effectiveness of ELT/ ESL podcasts in enhancing
students’ poor listening skills. Public school teachers are even provided with the better option of cost-
cutting and learning time utilization from the free online accessible podcasts resources. Students on
the other hand, may gain the same thing if they only pay attention to its benefit on them. These digital
learners may develop curiosity in using modernized listening activities without any cost- using their
own mobile gadgets.
 References

Artyushina, G., Sheypak, O., Khovrin, A. & Spektor, V. (2011). How to Improve Listening Skills for
Technical Students. iJEP,1(3), 49-50. Retrieved from
http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jep/article/download/1795/1932
Gilakjani, A.P. (2016). The Significance of Listening Comprehension in English Language Teaching.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6 (8).1670-1677.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0608.22
Gilakjani, A.P. and Ahmadi, M.R. (2011). A Study of Factors Affecting EFL Learners' English
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Kavanagh, B. (2006) The Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982, 1985) An Evaluation of its Contributions
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https://auhw.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=1771&file_id=22&file_no=1

Minai, U., et. al (2017). Fetal Rhythm-Based Language Discrimination: A Biomagnetometry Study.
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podcastsinenglish.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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Skinner, B.F. (1957) Verbal Behavior. Retrieved from

https://www.scribd.com/document/339881802/B-F-Skinner-Verbal-Behavior-1957-pdf