Publication: Consider the Issues: Advanced Listening and Critical Thinking Skills

• Numrich, Carol
• National Public Radio

Consider the Issues is a new and exciting approach to
listening comprehension and discussion for
high-intermediate/advanced students of English as a Second
Language. Each of the 12 units is based on an authentic
radio broadcast taken from National Public Radio's "All
Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." 

By using material produced for native speakers, students
are not only presented with interesting and relevant
content, but also with unedited everyday speech, inclduing
hesitations, redundancies, and various dialectical
patterns. Students gain a critical understanding of
American values and culture as they fine-tune their
listening skills.

Exercises develop essential listening strategies such as
predicting, looking at language, understanding main ideas
and points of view, and focusing on details. In a variety
of follow-up activities--including discussions, debates,
values clarifications, and writing assignments--students
integrate the language and concepts of the radio broadcasts
while reevaluating their points of view.

The student's book is accompanied by two 45-minute
cassettes of the authentic radio broadcasts.