‘Before’ stage

This is the stage before learners actually read or listen to the text and we need to prepare our students carefully. This is done by directing learners to activate relevant (language and general) knowledge and form expectations about what they are going to read or listen to and any questions they will have to answer. The aim is that before reading or listening they will have already formed an idea about the content and type of the text. This will enable them to read/listen in a focused and purposeful manner.

Aims of ‘before’ listening /reading tasks
(Adapted from www.teachingenglish.org.uk)
 

Aims	Why and How?
Setting the context	This is perhaps the most important thing to do. In normal life we normally have some idea of the context of something we are reading/listening to.
Generating interest	Motivating our students is a key task for us. If, for example, they are to do a listening/reading about sports, looking at some dramatic pictures of sports players or events will raise their interest or remind them of why they (hopefully) like sports. Personalisation activities are very important here. A pair-work discussion about the sports they play or watch, and why, will bring them into the topic, and make them more willing to listen/read.
Activating current knowledge - what do you know about…?	'You are going to read/ listen to an ecological campaigner talk about the destruction of the rainforest'. This sets the context, but if you go straight in to the reading/listening, the students have had no time to transfer or activate their knowledge. What do they know about rainforests? Where are they? What are they? What problems do they face? Why are they important? What might an ecological campaigner do? What organisations campaign for ecological issues?
Acquiring knowledge	Students may have limited general knowledge about a topic. Providing knowledge input will build their confidence for dealing with a listening/reading. This could be done by using a game/quiz, for example.
Activating vocabulary / language	Just as activating topic knowledge is important, so is activating the language that may be used in the listening. Knowledge based activities can serve this purpose, but there are other things that can be done. If students are going to listen to a dialogue between a parent and a teenager who wants to stay overnight at a friends, why not get your students to role play the situation before listening. They can brainstorm language beforehand, and then perform the scene. By having the time to think about the language needs of a situation, they will be excellently prepared to cope with the listening.
Predicting content	Once we know the context for something, we are able to predict possible content. Try giving students a choice of things that they may or may not expect to hear, and ask them to choose those they think will be mentioned.
Pre-learning vocabulary	When we listen/read in our first language we can usually concentrate on the overall meaning because we know the meaning of the vocabulary. For students, large numbers of unknown words will often hinder reading/listening, and certainly lower confidence. Select some vocabulary for the students to study before reading/listening, perhaps matching words to definitions, followed by a simple practice activity such as filling the gaps in sentences. .
Checking / understanding	By giving your students plenty of time to read and understand the main comprehension tasks before reading/listening, you allow them to get some idea of the content of the listening

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