The Tell Back Technique

The "Tell Back" is a listening and speaking activity that I use in ESL conversation for building vocabulary. In essence it is a listening activity that is followed by the participant reporting on what they understood. It can be used with any type of audio (podcasts, radio broadcasts) or video, you can even turn yourself or your students into the audio input. But aside from the  double whammy (listening and speaking) it helps get the participants' full attention on the content and will likely provoke them to reuse some new vocabulary. Moreover, the vocabulary is embedded in a meaningful context which is great for comprehension and retention. Check out the video to see how I do it.