Before starting my DELTA course, I probably wouldn’t have been able to explain what bottom-up processing skills were. Let alone top-down ones! Now I understand that it involves students using their knowledge of individual sounds and letters to build up larger units of meaning.
This is particularly important in developing listening skills. Students need to be able to recognize and understand individual words and sounds in order to understand the larger context of a conversation or speech. One technique that can be used to develop these skills is the use of transcripts.
In my Cambridge DELTA course, I developed a lesson plan on developing bottom-up processing skills using transcripts with a particular focus on coalescent assimilation. The topic of the class was on takeaway food, and the lesson was designed as a listening exercise. The tutor had this to say about the lesson:
- Overall, Charlie, this was a useful lesson for the learners in which you met your aims mainly successfully.
- You planned a range of useful procedures, around a Test-Teach-Test sequence, using a mostly appropriate dialogue and this helped you meet your aims.
- This was an effective Pass lesson.
On my blog I have also shared other lesson plans from my DELTA course. One on practicing expressions of ability here and future possibility here.
I focussed on specific phonological processes and used transcripts to support their understanding of the conversation. The listening source actually comes from a recording myself and a fellow teacher made. I did this as I wanted to try and replicate real-world examples of connected speech. The context of the lesson was something that was relevant to the students. The lesson met its aims as it helped students improve their listening comprehension skills.
If you’re interested in using this lesson plan in your own classroom, you can download the presentation for free.
However, to get access to the full lesson plan procedure and materials, you will need to purchase it. It’s a worthwhile investment if you’re looking to develop your students’ listening skills and help them become more confident and competent communicators in English.