How to tailor a talk show

on Youtube to ESL classrooms

Presenter: NGUYEN Tram (MA)
Talkin English – Vietnam
 ABOUT ME
- Nearly 10 years of teaching experience
- Teaching communicative English for
Indonesian, Chinese, Taiwanese and
Vietnamese speakers.
- MA TESOL from The University of
Huddersfield, UK.
- Founder and Academic Manager of Talkin
English, a company specializing in
providing online interactive English
courses in Vietnam.
OUTLINE
1. Reasons to use authentic materials
2. A talk show as listening materials
3. Adaption to lesson objectives
4. Adaption to students’ level
Reasons to use videos:
• Clear context
• Visual clues to support students
• More stimulating and engaging
….
Authentic materials

YES OR NO?
A talk show as listening materials

- Listening for gist/ general information

- Listening for main ideas/ details
SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
1. How many teams are there?
2. Do you remember any members of each team?
3. How many people gave their answer on “Name something
you do in a movie theater”?
4. What are the answers of people from each team?
5. How many people have the same answer as Chris and Robert?
…
Adaptation to lesson objectives
Activity 1:
• Listening to their voices only
• Try to imagine what they look like
• Comment in the chat box.
• Watch the talk show.
• Comment topics (besides appearance) that you can use this
talk show for.
Suggested topics
Appearance, personality, clothes,
describing places where they are,
personal details, hobbies …
Activity 2: Use the talk show as instructions
for a speaking activity (like a sample)
• Let students watch the video.
(Tell them not to focus on what they are talking about, just focus
on what is happening)
• Give information check questions such as:
Do they know each other? Do they introduce about themselves
first to each other? / Or they have to guess information about the
other? What kind of information do they have to guess?
Everything or just something on the paper?
• Organize the same activity for students.
NOW’S YOUR TURN.

WRITE INFORMATION CHECKING

QUESTIONS.
Activity 3: Using the talk show as input for
discussions
Could take place:
•Before the show
•During the show
•After the show
Sample questions
Before the show:
- This is a blind date – A date where 2 people don’t know each
other. Discuss with a partner:
- Have you ever been on a blind date?
- Do you think that people should be on a blind date? Why
(not)
During the show:
- Do you think that he/ she has the correct answer about
the other?
- Do you think they can be a match?
After the show:
•What do you think about the man/ woman?
•Do you want to take part in this show? Why (not)
Adaptation to students’ level
•Adjust the speed ( slower/ faster)
•Turn on the subtitle or not?
•Using subtitle in your language or not?
•Choose appropriate tasks to your students’ level (Focus on
general ideas or details?)
Youtube links:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWGoW9si3_w&t=80s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSYjs5RnlRo&t=60s