Compiling Podcast Materials for Intermediate Level Students

Abstract

The social media is having a big influence on contemporary society. Students are getting more demanding and the educators need to design new ways to engage students in the learning process. Podcasting is a new way to enhance students’ language skills using innovative tools. There is a large amount of podcasts on the internet that can be used for EFL purposes by improving learners’ listening skills. This paper aims to find podcast materials and compile them for American University of Armenia Extension program students. The level of proficiency of the students is intermediate. Three Extension program teachers were interviewed and the book “Interchange Third Edition” was analyzed. The listening materials provided by the textbook “Interchange Third Edition” are short, repetitive and easy. The interviews revealed that there is a need to add listening materials with more authenticity and longer passages to their curriculum. Podcast materials have been considered as a best way to cover all the requirements of the curriculum. The found materials are shared on social bookmarking website Diigo (http://www.diigo.com) and on document-sharing website Scribd (http://www.scribd.com). The websites are public and easily accessible by AUA teachers and students.