ESL Podcasts
I found all of these podcasts through a Google search.
http://www.eslteachertalk.com/
Four ESL/EFL teachers host this blog and podcast. All of them are currently teaching English abroad. The blog provides free broadcasts for ESL/EFL teachers on topics such as classroom management, lesson planning, job search tips, and more. The hosts interview other ESL professionals and post those up as podcasts. Each podcast contains a feature game or activity that can be used to support lessons. The blog also has supporting downloads and materials, as well as links to other ESL websites. I think this blog is geared towards people who teach English abroad more than in America. However, the game ideas that they provide are useful, and so are some of the speaking activities. Both the game and activity ideas can be used by ESL teachers to motivate their students to learn English. Each podcast is aligned to a blog post, which explains what the podcast is about and lists links to learn more about the subject. The tips of the week are listed in the blog. I think this is very helpful because you do not have to listen to the podcast again for the tips. Overall this is a good website, however, I find the blog more useful than the podcast. The links and downloadable material are very useful for teachers, while the podcasts are a little boring.
http://www.englishmeeting.com/DaveSperling-ESLCafe.htm
This is a new website that I came across. Currently it only has one podcast up, but the website advertises that more podcasts, photos, videos, etc. are coming. Dave Sperling will host these podcasts. Anyone who has taught abroad has heard of Dave’s ESL Café and knows how useful this website is. Dave Sperling created Dave’s ESL Café and is now venturing into podcasts in this new website, which has a link on the Café website. The first podcast is an interview with Dave and the history of how he created the website, and where he thinks technology and ESL education is heading. Dave’s perspective comes from someone who was not a teacher in America, but has taught ESL to students abroad. His website is going to have a useful tool called teacher talk where teachers can come together to discuss issues and seek help. I know that the discussion board on the Café website was very powerful because people could post questions up and get answers. Dave is also working on a classroom management system component to his website that will also include audio, video, and text resources for teachers on how to manage different types of ESL/EFL classroom situations. New teachers can benefit from this since classroom management is the hardest thing to master.
The website currently has podcasts and videos by other ESL teachers that are great for students. I think the material is geared more towards high school students or older. There are pronunciation lessons as well as global discussions that students can listen to in order to practice their speaking and comprehension skills.
Currently this website is a little hard to navigate, but I am excited to see how they will develop it in the future as they finish rolling it out. This website has the potential to be a great resource like Dave’s ESL, but with podcasts.
http://www.eslpod.com/website/
I was not too impressed with this website. In order to access the learning guides for the podcasts, one must be a member and pay for it. A team of ESL professors with over 30 years of high school, adult, and university ESL teaching experience runs ESLPod.com. Dr. Lucy Tse writes scripts and story ideas for the podcasts, and records many of the dialogs and stories. The host for the podcast is Dr. Jeff McQuillan, who helps read the scripts and provides explanations for them.
This podcast is geared towards college students or adults learning English. This website is not for teachers. The philosophy of this podcast is that you learn English through listening to conversations and dialogues. A dialogue on various topics is read several times, once at regular conversation pace, then at a slow pace, then the host explains the expressions, idioms, and vocabulary featured in the dialogue, and then the dialogue is read again at a normal pace. This podcast would be ideal for advanced students who already have a rich vocabulary and knowledge of English, who want to improve their comprehension and idiomatic expressions. Since you need the learning guide to truly succeed with their program, the podcast isn’t enough, and you have to pay for the learning guides.
The layout of the website is even geared towards adults. It isn’t very eye catching, and the dialogues are not very interesting. It would not help students to learn English on their own, but is useful in helping them to get used to understanding and listening to English speakers. This website was designed to make money, but I feel that there are much better free resources out there as well as podcasts.
