8.1.1 Intensive Listening: Visuals Notes, Quizzes & Revision
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Subject: English — Topic 8.1 Listening and Speaking
Subtopic 8.1.1 Intensive Listening: Visuals (age ~15, Kenyan context)
- a) pick out selected sounds, words, phrases, and sentences
- b) make predictions about events or characters in an oral text
- c) answer direct and inferential questions for listening comprehension
- d) make sense of non‑verbal cues during an oral presentation
- e) interpret visuals (maps, videos, posters, diagrams) to decipher the messages they convey
- f) infer the meaning of words and phrases using syntactic clues (word order)
- g) acknowledge the role of non‑verbal cues in decoding meaning in a text
- h) identify interpreting visuals and listening with a purpose as categories of intensive listening
Intensive listening with visuals is used here primarily to practise and notice grammatical structures. Visual prompts (photos, maps, posters, diagrams, short video clips) help learners anticipate and identify sentence forms, tenses, word order and clause patterns. Lessons should train learners to use syntactic clues to infer meaning and answer questions.
- Tense & aspect — present simple vs present continuous, past simple vs past continuous, present perfect for experiences (e.g., "They have planted maize").
- Verb forms — regular/irregular past, modals (can, should, must) in posters and instructions.
- Sentence types — imperatives (safety posters: "Keep left"), interrogatives (questions from interviews), exclamatives.
- Passive voice — common in processes and formal descriptions on diagrams (e.g., "The seed is planted").
- Connectors & sequencing — first, then, after that, before, while — used to order events in videos/diagrams.
- Prepositions & spatial language — on, in, between, across — especially with maps and diagrams.
- Relative clauses & noun phrases — identify which noun is being described from a visual (e.g., "the farmer who wears a hat").
- Word order clues — subject-verb-object patterns help infer roles (who did what to whom).
- Map showing movement: "Mumbi walked from the market to the bus stage." → focuses attention on past simple verbs and prepositions of movement.
- Poster with rules: "Do not litter" → highlights the imperative form; ask learners to change into polite requests: "Please do not litter."
- Process diagram (e.g., how to plant a seed): visuals plus narration often use passive: "The soil is watered" → practise passive formation and agent omission.
- Short video of a contest: narrated sequence uses past continuous vs past simple: "While people were cheering, she crossed the finish line." → discuss clause timing and correct verb forms.
- Election poster or advertisement: modals for advice/obligation ("You must register") → practise rewriting with should/can/must and infer tone.
- Warm‑up (5–8 min): Show a clear visual (photo or poster). Ask learners to predict 3 sentences they expect to hear about it. - Focus: make predictions (Outcome b) and anticipate grammar (tense, sentence type).
- First listening (no transcript) — gist (5–7 min): Play the short oral text (30–90 seconds) while learners view the visual. - Task: tick which predicted sentences are mentioned; note any verbs or time markers heard (Outcome a, h).
- Grammar spotting (10–12 min): Replay short segments. Learners listen for specific grammatical items shown on a mini‑chart (e.g., past tense verbs, imperatives, passive forms). - Activity: fill gaps in transcript lines using verbs in correct form. - Example: Transcript gap: "They ___ (plant) seeds yesterday." Answer: planted. (Outcome f)
- Inferential questions (10–12 min): Using the visual, learners answer inferential questions that require syntactic clues. - Example Q: "Why did she leave the farm early?" Learners infer from sentence order and context: "Because she had an appointment" → practise subordinating conjunctions (because, since). - (Outcome c, g)
- Non‑verbal cues focus (8–10 min): Replay with attention to gestures/facial expressions in the visual or speaker. - Task: note where gesture changes meaning (e.g., pointing + 'over there' vs naming place). Pupils rewrite one sentence showing implied emphasis: "He didn't steal the maize" → "He did not steal the maize." (Outcome d, g)
- Production & consolidation (10–15 min): In pairs, learners create 3 short sentences describing the visual using different grammatical structures (imperative, passive, present perfect). Peers listen and correct grammar. - (Outcome e, f, h)
- Extension / homework: Give a map or poster from a local Kenyan context (county map, market layout, safety poster). Learners write a short paragraph using at least two tenses and one passive sentence, and justify tense choices based on the visual.
Exercise 1 — Map (listening and grammar)
Exercise 2 — Poster (imperative & modal)
Scenario: You see a map of a road from Village A to City B. The narrator says: "By 8am, the bus had left Village A and was heading towards the bridge."
- Identify the tense used in "had left". — Answer: Past perfect (shows earlier past action).
- Rewrite as two simple past sentences. — Answer: "The bus left Village A at 8am. It was heading towards the bridge."
- Find a preposition that could describe location near the bridge. — Answer: "over", "across", "near", "by".
Exercise 2 — Poster (imperative & modal)
Poster reads: "Wash hands regularly." Turn into a polite request and a modal suggestion.
- Polite request: "Please wash your hands regularly."
- Modal suggestion: "You should wash your hands regularly."
- Short listening test with a visual: learners answer 6 items (3 direct, 3 inferential) and underline the verb forms in each answer.
- Pair oral: student A describes a diagram using three grammatical structures; student B asks two inferential questions; teacher uses a checklist for outcomes a–h.
- Written follow‑up: pupils rewrite a heard narrative changing tense (e.g., present → past) to show grasp of tense use from visual cues.
- Use local, familiar visuals (market scenes, matatu routes, maize planting diagrams) so learners can predict vocabulary and grammar more easily.
- Model how to spot syntactic clues: time adverbs (yesterday → past), while/when (overlap → past continuous + past simple).
- Encourage note abbreviations during listening — verbs and time markers — then expand notes into full sentences for grammar practice.
- Differentiation: provide verb lists or sentence stems to weaker students; challenge stronger students to create passive or complex sentences from the visual.
- Local newspapers/photos, county maps, school safety posters
- Short audio clips (30–90s) recorded by teacher based on the visual
- Printed diagrams for pair work and guided transcripts