Thongsook College BA TESOL Teaching Tips: My, you have a lovely voice.

Discussing the different voices used in recorded

Getting students to discuss speakers and their voices in a reading exercise offers them an opportunity to realize that voices provide an insight into who is speaking. It offers most students at most ability levels the opportunity to express their opinions about something they hopefully find easy to talk about – people and their appearances.

Finally, it adds to the repertoire of skills and knowledge they can employ when trying to understand a recording or engage in a conversation. 

Timothy Cornwall, PhD

When students listen in class, I want them to listen actively and to use every aspect of the recording they can to help make sense of what is going on. In addition, I want to build their confidence by asking them questions that I know they can answer.

The questions depend on the recording, student ability, class size, and, most importantly, the voices used if the students have not had an opportunity to see photographs representing the people speaking in the recording.

Listening to Voices

Pre-listening activities prepare students for the listening topic or theme and the tasks they need to do. Top-down processing activities are based on the premise of having students draw on their knowledge and experiences to help them understand the exercise to which they are listening. They need to be encouraged to take chances and to use everything they know to make sense of what they are listening to in class.

By including time for students to describe and discuss the people responsible for the voices they hear, they can have fun, gain useful conversation practice, and begin to employ another knowledge base to help them understand a recording.

Assessing the Characters

Once I have prepared students for a listening task, I ask them to listen only. I do not want them to complete any exercises, as I want their full attention on the recording. When the recording is over, I ask four easy questions: How many people are in the dialogue? How old are they? What do they look like? Which person do you like more/most?

The first question is easy for most students, but if a recording has more than two speakers, there is often some confusion as to how many were involved.

Once we have established the number, I ask them to guess how old the speakers are. The first time I ask this question, most students complain that they have no idea. However, by asking them to think about their voices compared to those of their parents, siblings, friends, or people they know, they realize it is possible to make an accurate guess as to each speaker's age.

As I make it known that I do not know and that I am guessing, students realize some aspects of the listening are open to interpretation and do not always have an exact or definite answer. In later classes, I have pairs and small groups discuss this question and try to come to a consensus, perhaps with a one- or two-year margin for error.

Talking about speakers

By the time I get to the third question, students begin to have fun. They are willing to share their opinions about each speaker's appearance.

The first time I undertake this exercise, most speakers, according to students, are tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and attractive. While I have no way of arguing with their opinions, I find that if I continue this exercise with other recordings, the range of adjectives used to describe speakers expands.

The final question - about which person they like best - can also be revealing. Some voices on recordings I have been using for years are of people I would really like to meet, while others leave me cold. It is completely personal, which makes these questions interesting - there are no right or wrong answers.

Coming from the West, I like deep, husky female voices. In contrast, many students prefer a much higher pitch, which can lead to interesting observations about cultural preferences and voices.

If I have time, I ask students to separate into groups based on their favorite voices. Depending on the numbers, I divide them into small groups to discuss their opinions. One week, it might be four students with the same opinion; another week, it will be students with varying opinions. Once they start discussing the person and voice, they like best, students usually request to hear the recording again, as there are particular points they would like to hear again.

I do not expect students to come to a consensus as to their preferences for the most attractive or interesting voice, as these choices are personal. However, it provides an opportunity to talk about something they can openly agree or disagree about and enjoy discussing, and that is not that important, so feelings are not bruised in the process.

Dr. Tim Cornwall has been teaching EFL for over 45 years. He is currently a faculty member of the Thongsook College International Program BA TESOL. He can be reached via email at dr.tim@thongsook.college.

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