Tuning In: Listening and Speaking in the Real World

Tuning In offers intermediate students a unique opportunity to explore different listening genres from a variety of real-world sources. Authentic listening selections, including commercials, folk songs, oral histories, and call-in radio shows, provide a rich context for developing language skills. Engaging listening segments allow student to explore timeless themes such as love, volunteering, and childhood memories. Pre-listening activities help focus students on the theme and vocabulary while post-listening exercises provide practice with language functions, pronunciation, grammar, and critical thinking. Listening for Inference activities encourage students to infer the speaker's meaning, listen for attitudes and feelings through tone of voice, and interpret context. Unit wrap-up activities allow students to compare and contrast the three listening selections, analyze the linguistic components of each genre, and create a text of their own.