120 hr. TEFL Course Module 6-Listening (Pt.2 Transcribing)

Module 6: Listening

6.1 Repeating what you hear or transcribing

Asking your students to transcribe speech is a great way to get them used to understanding what people are saying. It is also a great way for you to monitor how well they actually understand speech as opposed to how much they tell you they understand. It is one thing to be able to get a general idea of what someone is saying to you; it is another thing entirely to be able to transcribe the speech word for word. In this section, we will focus on two different types of transcription, both of which will help your students better understand the language.

6.1.1 Phonetic transcription

Phonetic transcription is a technique whereby an individual breaks down speech into sounds and phonemes, and transcribes the speech in phonetic symbols, using the symbols that we discussed in the previous module. We will not repeat the symbols, so feel free to go back and review them. Instead, we will focus on what phonetic transcription looks like and how it will benefit your students.

What does phonetic transcription look like?

Phonetic transcription can be a great way for your students to learn to decode sounds from speech, but it is not a practical activity for them once they have mastered the language. It is extremely helpful but can take time. Take a look at the following excerpt and what it would look like in phonetic transcription:

Original text: Sometimes, phonetic transcription can be complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it is actually quite easy. It will also help students get the hang of recognizing sounds, which will make conversational English much easier.