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Teens like voice search, adults not so keen (18th October, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

More and more people are speaking to their computers or mobile devices to search for things online or on their hard drives. Voice recognition technology, like Google's Voice Search or Apple's Siri, means our technology is beginning to understand what we are saying. The technology research company Northstar recently conducted Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that voice searches on mobile devices have more than doubled in the past year. Northstar said that voice search is a lot more popular among teenagers than adults. Researchers interviewed 1,400 Americans. They found that 55 per cent of teens use voice search at least once a day, compared with 41 per cent of adults.

Google's Vice President for Conversational Search explained how important voice search is becoming. He said: "Voice search is a key feature of the Google app that's becoming ever more important as people spend more time on their mobile phones." The research found that many teenagers thought voice search was a normal part of technology, whereas adults said it made them feel "tech savvy". Both teens and adults used voice search to multi-task while watching TV or cooking. Researchers said people used voice search for different purposes. One important use for teens was to study. Almost one-third of the 13-18-year-olds surveyed said they ask their phones for answers to their homework.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2375895/Teens-Love-Google-Voice-Search
http://www.cnet.com/news/google-voice-search-siri-cortana-teen-study/
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/17923/20141015/teens-find-voice-search-cool-adults-not-so-much.htm

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. VOICE SEARCH: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about voice search. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

computers / mobile devices / voice recognition / research / doubled / popular / teens / conversational / key / app / tech-savvy / multi-task / surveyed / answers / homework

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. VOICE APPS: What could these "new" (imaginary) apps do? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Its features	Popular with…
Voice Translate
Voice Shopping
Voice Password
Voice Car
Voice Document
Voice House

4. NO TYPING: Students A strongly believe voice recognition technology will end the need to type very soon; Students B strongly believe that will never happen. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. MULTI-TASK: Rank these with your partner. Put the things you'd like to do while voice searching at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• shopping

• watching TV

• homework

• driving

• walking on the street

• eating

• exercising

• lying in bed

6. SPEAKING: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "speaking". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	People speaking to their devices is becoming more common.	T / F
b.	Voice recognition software does not allow technology to understand us.	T / F
c.	A research survey carried out a survey based on Apple's Siri software.	T / F
d.	Over 40% of U.S. adults questioned used voice search every day.	T / F
e.	A Google executive said voice search helps find a lost key.	T / F
f.	Teenagers think voice search is standard in today's technology.	T / F
g.	Only teenagers used voice search while multi-tasking, not adults.	T / F
h.	Teenagers used voice search to help them with their homework.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	devices	a.	increased twofold
2.	conducted	b.	essential
3.	doubled	c.	reasons
4.	a lot	d.	carried out
5.	at least	e.	gadgets
6.	key	f.	standard
7.	normal	g.	interviewed
8.	savvy	h.	no less than
9.	purposes	i.	intelligent
10.	surveyed	j.	considerably

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	search for things online or	a.	13-18-year-olds
2.	voice recognition	b.	with 41% of adults
3.	searches on mobile devices have	c.	task
4.	a lot more popular	d.	technology
5.	compared	e.	different purposes
6.	a normal	f.	among teenagers
7.	it made them feel	g.	part of technology
8.	multi-	h.	on their hard drives
9.	people used voice search for	i.	"tech savvy"
10.	one-third of the	j.	more than doubled

GAP FILL

More and more people are speaking to their computers or mobile (1) ____________ to search for things online or on their (2) ____________ drives. Voice (3) ____________ technology, like Google's Voice Search or Apple's Siri, means our technology is beginning to understand what we are saying. The technology research company Northstar recently (4) ____________ Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that voice searches on mobile devices have more than (5) ____________ in the past year. Northstar said that voice search is a lot more popular (6) ____________ teenagers than adults. Researchers interviewed 1,400 Americans. They found that 55 per cent of (7) ____________ use voice search at least once a day, (8) ____________ with 41 per cent of adults.

conducted
among
devices
hard
compared
doubled
teens
recognition

Google's Vice President for Conversational Search explained how important voice search is becoming. He said: "Voice search is a key (9) ____________ of the Google app that's becoming ever more important as people (10) ____________ more time on their mobile phones." The research found that many teenagers thought voice search was a normal (11) ____________ of technology, (12) ____________ adults said it made them feel "tech (13) ____________ ". Both teens and adults used voice search to multi-(14) ____________ while watching TV or cooking. Researchers said people used voice search for different (15) ____________. One important use for teens was to study. Almost one-third of the 13-18-year-olds (16) ____________ said they ask their phones for answers to their homework.

savvy
feature
task
part
surveyed
spend
purposes
whereas

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	More and more people are speaking to their computers ______
	a. or mobile devises b. or mobile crevices c. or mobile devices d. or mobile debases
2)	our technology is beginning to understand what ______
	a. we are saying b. we are slaying c. we are staying d. we are swaying
3)	Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that voice searches on mobile devices have ______
	a. more than dubbed b. more than doubted c. more than doublet d. more than doubled
4)	Northstar said that voice search is a lot more popular ______
	a. amongst teenagers b. among teenagers c. a man teenagers d. amen teenagers
5)	55% of teens use voice search at least once a day, ______ of adults
	a. compares with 41% b. comparing with 41% c. comparison with 41% d. compared with 41%
6)	He said: "Voice search is a ______ …"
	a. key future b. key fracture c. key feature d. key fiction
7)	becoming ever more important as people spend more time on ______
	a. their mobile phones b. these mobile phones c. them mobile phones d. there mobile phones
8)	…whereas adults said it made them ______
	a. feel "tech saviours" b. feel "tech saving" c. feel "tech saver" d. feel "tech savvy"
9)	Both teens and adults used voice search ______
	a. to multi-task b. to multi-tusk c. to multi-tsk tsk d. to multi-tax
10)	Almost one-third of the 13-18-year-______
	a. olds sir viewed b. olds survey did c. olds surveyor d. olds surveyed

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

More and more people are speaking to their computers or mobile devices to search for things online or (1) ___________________. Voice recognition technology, like Google's Voice Search or Apple's Siri, means our technology is (2) ___________________ what we are saying. The technology research company Northstar (3) ___________________ Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that voice searches on mobile devices have (4) ___________________ the past year. Northstar said that voice search is a lot (5) ___________________ teenagers than adults. Researchers interviewed 1,400 Americans. They found that 55 per cent of teens use voice search (6) ___________________ day, compared with 41 per cent of adults.

Google's Vice President for Conversational Search (7) ___________________ voice search is becoming. He said: "Voice search (8) ___________________ of the Google app that's becoming ever more important as people spend more time on their mobile phones." The research found that many teenagers thought voice search was (9) ___________________ technology, whereas adults said it made them feel "tech savvy". Both teens and adults used voice search (10) ___________________ watching TV or cooking. Researchers said people used voice search (11) ___________________. One important use for teens was to study. Almost one-third (12) ___________________ surveyed said they ask their phones for answers to their homework.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What are people searching, besides the Internet?
2.	What did the article say technology is beginning to understand?
3.	What is the name of the research company?
4.	By how much have voice searches on mobile devices gone up?
5.	How many times a day did U.S. teenagers surveyed use voice search?
6.	What kind of feature did a Google exec call voice search?
7.	What did a Google exec say people are spending more time on?
8.	How did the survey say adults felt about using voice search?
9.	What did teenagers and adults do while using voice search?
10.	How many teenagers used voice search to help with their homework?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What are people searching, besides the Internet?	6.	What kind of feature did a Google exec call voice search?
	a) their hard drives b) newspapers c) their brains d) their desks		a) chain b) button c) lock d) key
2.	What did the article say technology is beginning to understand?	7.	What did a Google exec say people are spending more time on?
	a) quantum physics b) each other c) what we say d) human behaviour		a) business pages b) their phones c) anger management d) the toilet
3.	What is the name of the research company?	8.	How did the survey say adults felt about using voice search?
	a) South Pole b) Northstar c) North Pole d) Southern Star		a) in a quandary b) all fingers and thumbs c) nervous d) tech savvy
4.	By how much have voice searches on mobile devices gone up?	9.	What did teenagers and adults do while using voice search?
	a) twofold b) 25% c) 1.86 times d) they more than doubled		a) fight and argue b) exercise c) watch TV and cook d) shop
5.	How many times a day did U.S. teenagers surveyed use voice search?	10.	How many teenagers used voice search to help with their homework?
	a) more than once b) less than once c) every 7 hours d) an average of 1.652 times		a) 13,997 b) nearly a third c) 25% d) half of those surveyed

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Voice passwords

You think voice passwords would be the best technology. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their technology. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): driving by voice, voice shopping or voice translation.

Role B – Driving by voice

You think driving by voice would be the best technology. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their technology. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): voice passwords, voice shopping or voice translation.

Role C – Voice shopping

You think voice shopping would be the best technology. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their technology. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): driving by voice, voice passwords or voice translation.

Role D – Voice translation

You think voice translation would be the best technology. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their technology. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why): driving by voice, voice shopping or voice passwords.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'voice' and 'search'.

voice

search

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

devices
means
conducted
doubled
popular
55

key
normal
savvy
task
study
homework

VOICE SEARCH SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about voice search in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

VOICE SEARCH DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'search'?
3)	How important is online search for you?
4)	What would life be like without search engines?
5)	Do you speak to your computer?
6)	What could we get technology to do by using our voice?
7)	Why is voice search more popular with teenagers?
8)	Will speaking technology make us lonelier?
9)	Are there any bad things about voice search?
10)	What do you think of over half of U.S. teens using voice search every day?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What's your favourite search engine, and why?
13)	How useful is it to use voice search instead of typing?
14)	Will we know more things if voice search was everywhere?
15)	How could stores, museums or airports use voice search?
16)	Would you like to have conversations with your technology?
17)	What topics would you like to talk to your phone about?
18)	How good are you at multi-tasking?
19)	How useful is voice search for getting homework answers?
20)	What questions would you like to ask the researchers?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

More and more people are speaking to their computers or mobile (1) ____ to search for things online or on their hard drives. Voice (2) ____ technology, like Google's Voice Search or Apple's Siri, means our technology is beginning to understand what we are (3) ____. The technology research company Northstar recently conducted Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that voice searches on mobile devices have more than (4) ____ in the past year. Northstar said that voice search is a lot more popular (5) ____ teenagers than adults. Researchers interviewed 1,400 Americans. They found that 55 per cent of teens use voice search at least once a day, compared (6) ____ 41 per cent of adults.

Google's Vice President for Conversational Search explained how important voice search is becoming. He said: "Voice search is a (7) ____ feature of the Google app that's becoming (8) ____ more important as people spend more time on their mobile phones." The research found that many teenagers thought voice search was a normal part of technology, whereas adults said it made them feel "tech (9) ____". Both teens and adults used voice search to (10) ____-task while watching TV or cooking. Researchers said people used voice search for different (11) ____. One important use for teens was to study. Almost one-third of the 13-18-year-olds (12) ____ said they ask their phones for answers to their homework.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	devises	(b)	devices	(c)	devils	(d)	debases
2.	(a)	recognise	(b)	recognition	(c)	cognition	(d)	recondition
3.	(a)	slurring	(b)	talking	(c)	speaking	(d)	saying
4.	(a)	twofold	(b)	doubled	(c)	troubled	(d)	doubted
5.	(a)	amid	(b)	among	(c)	jointly	(d)	mutually
6.	(a)	as	(b)	for	(c)	with	(d)	on
7.	(a)	chain	(b)	lock	(c)	key	(d)	entry
8.	(a)	more	(b)	so	(c)	ever	(d)	such
9.	(a)	smarmy	(b)	salty	(c)	swarthy	(d)	savvy
10.	(a)	multi	(b)	multiple	(c)	multiply	(d)	malty
11.	(a)	purposes	(b)	presupposes	(c)	parapets	(d)	porpoises
12.	(a)	surveys	(b)	survived	(c)	surveyed	(d)	surveillance

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	mobile icvedse
2.	Voice gontrcieoin technology
3.	euddocnct Google's Mobile Voice Study
4.	more than ldeubod
5.	Researchers neeitvewird 1,400 Americans
6.	omreadpc with 41 per cent of adults
Paragraph 2
7.	Vice President for oravnienlstaCo Search
8.	a key tfaeure
9.	it made them feel tech vyvas
10.	used voice search to tmlui-ksta
11.	people used voice search for different spupsreo.
12.	one-third of the 13-18-year-olds usdrevey

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	cooking. Researchers said people used voice search for different purposes. One important use for teens was to
( )	people spend more time on their mobile phones." The research found that many teenagers
( 1 )	More and more people are speaking to their computers or mobile devices to search for things online or on their hard
( )	drives. Voice recognition technology, like Google's Voice Search or Apple's Siri, means our
( )	more popular among teenagers than adults. Researchers interviewed 1,400 Americans. They found that 55
( )	company Northstar recently conducted Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that voice searches
( )	becoming. He said: "Voice search is a key feature of the Google app that's becoming ever more important as
( )	Google's Vice President for Conversational Search explained how important voice search is
( )	study. Almost one-third of the 13-18-year-olds surveyed said they ask their phones for answers to their homework.
( )	per cent of teens use voice search at least once a day, compared with 41 per cent of adults.
( )	savvy". Both teens and adults used voice search to multi-task while watching TV or
( )	on mobile devices have more than doubled in the past year. Northstar said that voice search is a lot
( )	technology is beginning to understand what we are saying. The technology research
( )	thought voice search was a normal part of technology, whereas adults said it made them feel "tech

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	computers and are their More people to more speaking .
2.	understand to Beginning saying are we what .
3.	have doubled searches devices than Voice mobile more on .
4.	popular is among a teenagers lot more Search .
5.	a at use 55% day least voice of once search teens .
6.	of the Google app Voice search is a key feature .
7.	more phones time on People their spend mobile .
8.	technology a normal Voice part search of was .
9.	while task - multi to search voice used Adults TV watching .
10.	They phones to their answers homework ask for their .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

More and more people are spoken / speaking to their computers or mobile devices to search for things offline / online or on their hard drives. Voice recognition / recognises technology, like Google's Voice Search or Apple's Siri, means / meaning our technology is beginning to understand what we are saying. The technology research company Northstar recently constructed / conducted Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that vocal / voice searches on mobile devices have more than doubled / doublet in the past year. Northstar said that voice search is a lot more popular / popularly among teenagers than adults. Researchers interviewed 1,400 Americans. They found that 55 per cent of teens use voice search at / for least once a day, compared by / with 41 per cent of adults.

Google's Vice President for Conversational Search explaining / explained how important voice search is becoming. He said: "Voice search is a key / lock feature of the Google app that's becoming every / ever more important as people spend / spending more time on their mobile phones." The research found that many teenagers thoughts / thought voice search was a normal part of technology, whereas / wherewithal adults said it made them feel "tech savvy / suave". Both teens and adults used voice search to multi-task while watching TV or cooks / cooking. Researchers said people used voice search for different purposes. One important user / use for teens was to study. Almost one-third of the 13-18-year-olds surveyed / serviced said they ask their phones for answers to their homework.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

M_r_ _nd m_r_ p__pl_ _r_ sp__k_ng t_ th__r c_mp_t_rs _r m_b_l_ d_v_c_s t_ s__rch f_r th_ngs _nl_n_ _r _n th__r h_rd dr_v_s. V__c_ r_c_gn_t__n t_chn_l_gy, l_k_ G__gl_'s V__c_ S__rch _r _ppl_'s S_r_, m__ns __r t_chn_l_gy _s b_g_nn_ng t_ _nd_rst_nd wh_t w_ _r_ s_y_ng. Th_ t_chn_l_gy r_s__rch c_mp_ny N_rthst_r r_c_ntly c_nd_ct_d G__gl_'s M_b_l_ V__c_ St_dy _nd f__nd th_t v__c_ s__rch_s _n m_b_l_ d_v_c_s h_v_ m_r_ th_n d__bl_d _n th_ p_st y__r. N_rthst_r s__d th_t v__c_ s__rch _s _ l_t m_r_ p_p_l_r _m_ng t__n_g_rs th_n _d_lts. R_s__rch_rs _nt_rv__w_d 1,400 _m_r_c_ns. Th_y f__nd th_t 55 p_r c_nt _f t__ns _s_ v__c_ s__rch _t l__st _nc_ _ d_y, c_mp_r_d w_th 41 p_r c_nt _f _d_lts.

G__gl_'s V_c_ Pr_s_d_nt f_r C_nv_rs_t__n_l S__rch _xpl__n_d h_w _mp_rt_nt v__c_ s__rch _s b_c_m_ng. H_ s__d: "V__c_ s__rch _s _ k_y f__t_r_ _f th_ G__gl_ _pp th_t's b_c_m_ng _v_r m_r_ _mp_rt_nt _s p__pl_ sp_nd m_r_ t_m_ _n th__r m_b_l_ ph_n_s." Th_ r_s__rch f__nd th_t m_ny t__n_g_rs th__ght v__c_ s__rch w_s _ n_rm_l p_rt _f t_chn_l_gy, wh_r__s _d_lts s__d _t m_d_ th_m f__l "t_ch s_vvy". B_th t__ns _nd _d_lts _s_d v__c_ s__rch t_ m_lt_-t_sk wh_l_ w_tch_ng TV _r c__k_ng. R_s__rch_rs s__d p__pl_ _s_d v__c_ s__rch f_r d_ff_r_nt p_rp_s_s. _n_ _mp_rt_nt _s_ f_r t__ns w_s t_ st_dy. _lm_st _n_-th_rd _f th_ 13-18-y__r-_lds s_rv_y_d s__d th_y _sk th__r ph_n_s f_r _nsw_rs t_ th__r h_m_w_rk.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

More and more people are speaking to their computers or mobile devices to search for things online or on their hard drives. Voice recognition technology, like Google's Voice Search or Apple's Siri, means our technology is beginning to understand what we are saying. The technology research company Northstar recently conducted Google's Mobile Voice Study and found that voice searches on mobile devices have more than doubled in the past year. Northstar said that voice search is a lot more popular among teenagers than adults. Researchers interviewed 1,400 Americans. They found that 55 per cent of teens use voice search at least once a day, compared with 41 per cent of adults.

Google's Vice President for Conversational Search explained how important voice search is becoming. He said: "Voice search is a key feature of the Google app that's becoming ever more important as people spend more time on their mobile phones." The research found that many teenagers thought voice search was a normal part of technology, whereas adults said it made them feel "tech savvy". Both teens and adults used voice search to multi-task while watching TV or cooking. Researchers said people used voice search for different purposes. One important use for teens was to study. Almost one-third of the 13-18-year-olds surveyed said they ask their phones for answers to their homework.

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Moreandmorepeoplearespeakingtotheircomputersormobiledevices
tosearchforthingsonlineorontheirharddrives.Voicerecognitiontechn
ology,likeGoogle'sVoiceSearchorApple'sSiri,meansourtechnologyis
beginningtounderstandwhatwearesaying.Thetechnologyresearchc
ompanyNorthstarrecentlyconductedGoogle'sMobileVoiceStudyandf
oundthatvoicesearchesonmobiledeviceshavemorethandoubledinth
epastyear.Northstarsaidthatvoicesearchisalotmorepopularamongt
eenagersthanadults.Researchersinterviewed1,400Americans.They
foundthat55percentofteensusevoicesearchatleastonceaday,compa
redwith41percentofadults.Google'sVicePresidentforConversational
Searchexplainedhowimportantvoicesearchisbecoming.Hesaid:"Voi
cesearchisakeyfeatureoftheGoogleappthat'sbecomingevermoreim
portantaspeoplespendmoretimeontheirmobilephones."Theresearc
hfoundthatmanyteenagersthoughtvoicesearchwasanormalpartofte
chnology,whereasadultssaiditmadethemfeel"techsavvy".Bothteens
andadultsusedvoicesearchtomulti-taskwhilewatchingTVorcookin
g.Researcherssaidpeopleusedvoicesearchfordifferentpurposes.One
importantuseforteenswastostudy.Almostone-thirdofthe13-18-ye
ar-oldssurveyedsaidtheyasktheirphonesforanswerstotheirhomew
ork.

FREE WRITING

Write about voice search for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Voice recognition will transform our lives. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about voice search. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. VOICE SEARCH: Make a poster about voice search. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. VOICE RECOGNITION: Write a magazine article about voice recognition technology. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to a technology expert. Ask him/her three questions about voice recognition. Give him/her three of your ideas on what to use it for. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

F

c

F

d

T

e

F

f

T

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	devices	a.	gadgets
2.	conducted	b.	carried out
3.	doubled	c.	increased twofold
4.	a lot	d.	considerably
5.	at least	e.	no less than
6.	key	f.	essential
7.	normal	g.	standard
8.	savvy	h.	intelligent
9.	purposes	i.	reasons
10.	surveyed	j.	interviewed

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Hard drives
2.	What we are saying
3.	Northstar
4.	They have more than doubled
5.	At least once
6.	Key
7.	Their mobile phones
8.	Tech savvy
9.	Watch TV and cook
10.	Almost one-third

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

a

2.

c

3.

b

4.

d

5.

a

6.

d

7.

b

8.

d

9.

c

10.

1.

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Teens like voice search, adults not so keen (18th October, 2014)

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