Finding online listening material that is suited to your students’ proficiency level and age group and that matches your course objectives is sometimes tricky. Although there are plenty of ESL Web sites, I prefer to use authentic Web sites to help students develop listening skills and cultural awareness. StoryCorps and Radio Diaries are two sites that I consider valuable resources for intermediate- to advanced-level learners.  

StoryCorps and Radio Diaries are both nonprofit projects with a mission to record and document the stories of everyday Americans. They are also broadcast on National Public Radio’s (NPR) Morning Edition and All Things Considered programs.  

Specifically, the aim of StoryCorps is to record people, such as family members and friends, interviewing each other about personal experiences and events. The collection is hosted on the Web site, with a featured story on the home page. The site’s design is user friendly and clear. To listen to the stories, simply click on the “Listen to Stories” link on the left sidebar. From there you are taken to the main listing of stories, which includes a picture of the person or people giving their story, and, most important, an embedded audio player that plays the 3- to 5-minute interview right there in your Web browser. On the right side of the page, you can either type a keyword in the search bar or browse the interviews by topic, such as childhood, romance, work, or identity.  

Although the transcripts are not available on the main StoryCorps Web site, they are available on NPR’s Web site (http://www.npr.org; search for “StoryCorps”).  

With a similar goal, Radio Diaries is a collection of longer stories, usually about 15–30 minutes that give a personal glimpse into the lives and experiences of Americans. The site’s design is straightforward, with different categories of documentaries, […].  

I have found that these two Web sites provide stimulating listening material for the language learners I teach, who are college bound and usually 18 to 25 years old. The sites contain not only authentic language from native speakers but also content that serves as a springboard for developing critical thinking skills and cultural awareness. Furthermore, after completing listening activities, such as writing summaries and personal reactions, students can create their own material by recording their personal stories on similar themes, using StoryCorps or Radio Diaries as a model.  

TESOL, Teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Essential Teaching, 2009.  

Slightly Adapted.  

Disponível em: http://www.storycorps.net  

Apresente, em INGLÊS, a partir do texto, dois motivos pelos quais o autor decidiu usar os sites StoryCorps e o Radio Diaries como fonte de recurso de exercício auditivo.