The expert on the skill of listening prefers recordings of real people speaking the way they do in real life over employing actors.
Can you understand a Chinese person when they speak English? What about someone from Scotland? Ian Badger thinks that developing listening skills is essential for anyone who wants to do business today and really for anyone who just wants to improve their English. Who is Ian Badger? He is an expert on the skill of listening and the author and co-author of many well-known Business English textbooks including Macmillan Business English Program and “Listening” in the English for Business series from Collins.
Ian gave an informative talk on the skill of listening here at FHWien der WKW on June 5, 2018. One of Ian’s major points of focus is the use of authentic sources for his listening exercises. Many textbooks employ actors but Ian strongly believes in using recordings of real people speaking exactly the way they do in real life. For beginner-level exercises, he will sometimes write a script for his speakers to read from but starting with intermediate-level exercises all of the texts he uses for his exercises are spoken spontaneously.
The Competence Center for Business English was thrilled to host such a noteworthy guest and hopes to invite many more such experts in the field of language teaching in the future.