Here, I deviated substantially from the
plan I had made, deciding (for reasons
of practicality) that the majority of the
transcription activities would be done as
homework. I used edmodo.com to make
a virtual classroom where I could put up
the audio recordings and the
instructions over a ten-week period.
Before I invited the students to join, we
did a short demonstration in class and I
went over the instructions. These also
appeared on the Edmodo page and were
as follows (I added a Spanish translation
for the A2 students):
Task: Transcribe this audio file (try to
write down every word). When you
have finished, correct your answers
with the attached transcript (use a
different coloured pen). Bring the
corrected transcript to class on
Monday/Tuesday.
Rules: You can play, rewind and stop
the audio as many times as you like.
There is no time limit. You must write
your transcription in pen, not on the
computer.
Advice: Don’t worry if there are some
words you can’t understand. We are
using the listening process to learn
more English. This is not a test!
I thought it was important for the
instructions to be as clear and succinct
as possible. I wanted the students to
understand that it was the process, not
the product, that mattered and that it
was OK to make mistakes. I showed
them the transcript I had made so they
could see what a finished transcript
might look like.
When I introduced the idea to my
C2-level group, one student said ‘I’ve
been doing this kind of exercise for a long
time. I think it’s good. We had to do a
transcription every week at university. It
had to be five minutes long and we chose
the topic. I learnt a lot from it’. This was
encouraging. After the first week, I
started getting more positive and
encouraging feedback, such as ‘I really
liked the homework. Can I have more of
this?’