Africa’s endangered elephants

7 April 2021

Lecturers
Students

Bioscience
Sustainability

Classroom Context

English

English

B1
B2

Video

Vocabulary
Grammar
Pragmatics
Prosody

Listening
Speaking
Writing
Reading

This video is easily accessible through the BBC Learning English website. Though rather informative, it is a short video that focuses on a very up-to-date topic, namely the situation of endangered species around the world, in this case, Africa. Apart from listening to the video, the students can read the subtitles, which highlight the most relevant vocabulary regarding the topic. The resource can be used on itself or as a starting point for a debate on endangered species among the students. It combines linguistic features with environmental and sustainability issues which are among the main source of concern in 21st-century citizenship.

The resource was used by 1st year students of the BA in EATN, Environmental Education and Nature Tourism. The group consisted of 28 students whose language levels ranged between B1 and B2.
The guidelines on how to use the resource were followed but firstly pictures (check further documentation) were shown and discussed in groups. After this, students were asked to do a word search in pairs (check further documentation) and unknown vocabulary was explained.
From step 2 to step 4 guidelines were followed with no major occurrences apart from the fact that some students found the exercises quite easy.
When students moved into stages 5 and 6 the activity was undertaken in small groups so that we could mix students from different levels and they could help each other. The presentation was given to the class with the help of some flashcards and brief notes.
Finally, as homework, a handout was given (check further documentation) so as to better guide students for the written task. It was decided that an opinion essay would be written rather than an article since the former would be more suitable for these students.

Step 1 – The teacher asks if students know what endangered species are. The teacher creates several columns on the IWB with the headers ‘Place’ and ‘Animal’. Students participate by indicating the name of the endangered species and the location where it is endangered. The teacher asks around for the reasons that have caused that specific species to become endangered.
Step 2 – The class watches the video and students pay attention to the highlighted vocabulary.
Step 3 – Students fill in a listening activity about the video.
Step 4 – The listening activity is corrected as a group.
Step 5 – Students choose an endangered animal and research about it for 20 minutes (either through their notebooks or smartphones), preparing a small presentation about it and using the vocabulary taught during the video and used during the listening activity. This can also be done in pairs.
Step 6 – The presentation is given to the class.
Step 7 – As a homework, the research done can be used in an informational piece of writing, either in the form of a report or an article.