English for Specific Purposes: Podcasts for Listening Skills

The most needed ability in everyday communication is skills of listening. Ability to follow a speaker in a foreign language and respond appropriately needs to be taught like all other language skills. A novel approach to perfecting listening skills has emerged due to audio publishing online. It is known as “podcasting” and has become very popular because it offers language learners extra listening practice both inside and outside the classroom. Moreover, podcasting as online communication technology is a new way to inspire learning: it provides an exciting way for students and educators to explore and discover educational content. However, the applicability of podcasting to teaching English needs researching.This paper addresses research into learners’ perceptions of online listening to podcasts, self-evaluation of one’s performance in individual listening practice and reflections on practical ways of improving skills of listening and developing listening competence. Some implications of research are suggested including a blended learning, i.e. combination of multiple approaches to learning by harmonizing online listening with classroom audition activities in teaching / learning English for Specific Purposes.