New research from the BreakingNewsEnglish.com website suggests
that news is good for students. A researcher asked many teachers and students in
an online class their opinions on using the news to learn English. Almost
everyone said it was very important. One student said he enjoyed studying using
news because the story is real. He said he remembered many times when the
teacher put a headline on the whiteboard and he was surprised that it was that
day's breaking news. Another student said she thought news was a lot more
interesting than other types of topics in her lessons. She said she felt good
when she understood the news in English. She also learnt a lot of useful
"international vocabulary".
Teachers
were also enthusiastic about using news in the classroom. Many said students had
problems with listening, so they made the recording slower to help their
students. Teachers also liked news stories because they encouraged conversation.
Many teachers said their students talked non-stop about news of their own
country or city. Teachers also said news was useful because students already had
a lot of background knowledge from listening to or reading about a news item in
their own language. Teachers also liked the fact that they could do many kinds
of activities, such as role plays, debates, surveys, quizzes and language games.
One teacher said he thought listening to news was "unhealthy for students". (Breaking News English)
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