How to teach listening?

How to teach listening?

1. Why teach listening?

   • One of the main reasons for getting students to listen to spoken English is to let them hear different varieties and accents.
     • They need to be exposed not only to one variety of English.
     • The number of different varieties will be a matter for the teacher to judge, based on the students' level, where the classes are taking place, etc.
   • The second major reason for teaching listening is because students to acquire language subconsciously even if teachers do not give attention to its special features.
   • Exposure language is a fundamental requirement for anyone wanting to learn Listening to appropriate tapes provides such exposure and students acquiere a lot of information not only about grammar and vocabulary but also about pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, pitch and stress.
     • Listening is a skill and any help we can give students in performance that skill will help them to be better listeners.

2. What kind of listening should students do?

   • You could argue that such a tape would at least give them a feel for the sound of the language, but beyond that it is difficult to see what they would get out it
     • we give them a realistic ( though not authentic tape of a telephone conversation, they may learn much more about the language - and start to gain confidence as a result.
   • Listening demands listener engagement, depends on level, and the kind of tasks that go with a tape. There may well be some authentic material which is usable by beginning such as prerecorded announcements, telephone messages etc.
     • More difficult material may be appropriate for elementary students provided the questions they are asked do not demand detailed understanding.
     • Advanced students may benefit from scripted material provided that it interesting and subtle enough - and provided the tasks that go with it an appropriate for their level
   • Listening to tapes is a way of bringing different kinds of speaking into the classroom, we will want to play different kind of tape to them, e.g. announcements, conversations,, 'plays' , news broadcasts, interviews, stories read aloud etc.

3. What's special about listening?

   • They can stop tapes and rewind them, but, essentially, the speed of the speaker(s) dominates the interaction, not that of the listener.
     • It is perhaps this relentlessness of taped material which accounts for the feeling of panic which many students experience during listening activities.
     • If they fail to recognise a word or phrase they haven't understood they often miss the next part of the tape and are soon falling behind in terms of comprehension.
       • They must get into the habit of letting the whole tape 'wash over them' on first hearing, thus achieving general comprehension before returning to listen for specific detail.
     • Listening is special too because spoken language, especially when it is informal, has a number of unique features including the use of incomplete utterances.
       • Experience of informal spoken English together with an appreciation of other spoken factors - the tone of the voice, the intonation the speakers use, rhythm, and background noise - will help students to tease meaning out of such speech phenomena..
         • Teachers need to ensure that students are well prepared for listening and that they are clearly able to hear what they listen to

4. What are the principles behind the teaching of listening?

   • Principie 1: The tape recorder is just as important as the tape
     • However good your tape is, it will be useless if the tape recorder has a poor speaker. You need to be sure that the tape recorder can be heard ali round the classroom.
       • Another vital feature is a tape counter that is easy to see. When you find the right place on the tape, you can either remember the number which the counter is showing In both cases, you can find your way back when you want to play the tape for the second or third time
   • Principle 2: Preparation is vital
     • Teachers need to listen to the tape all the way through before they present it into class. That way, they will be prepared for any problems
       • They can judge whether students would be able to cope with the tape and the tasks that go with it. Students need to be made ready to listen.
         • This means that they will need to look at pictures, discuss the topic, or read the questions first.
   • Principie 3: Once will not be enough.
     • There are almost no occasions when the teacher will play a tape only once. Students will want to hear it again to pick up the things they missed the first time.
       • The first listening is often used just to give students an idea of what the listening material sounds like so that subsequent listening are easier for students.
   • Principie 4: Students should be encouraged to respond to the content of a listening, not just to the language.
     • The most important part of lístening practice is to draw out the meaning, what is intended, what impression it makes on the students.
       • Questions like 'Do you agree?' are just as important as questions like 'What language did she use to invite him?' .
   • Principie 5: Different listening stages demand different lístening tasks.
     • Because there are different things we want to do with a listening text, we need to set different tasks for different listening stages for a first listening, the task needs to be fairly straightforward and general.
       • That way, the students' general understanding and response can be successful - and the stress associan with listening can be neutralised.
         • Later listenings, however, may focus in on detail - of information language use, pronunciation etc.
   • Principie 6: Good teachers explot listening texts to the full
     • If teachers ask students to invest time and emotional energy in a Iistening task then it makes sense to use the tape for as many differe applications as possible.
       • After an initial play of a tape, the teacher can play it again for various kinds of Study.
         • The listening then becomes an important event in a teaching sequence rather than just an exercise by itself .

5. What do listening sequences look like?

   • Engage the students, before preparing them with a brief study phase to face the listening phase.
     • Before the listening takes place, the students have been introduced to the topic and have enough vocabulary and teacher asks some introductory questions.
       • The first task has allowed students to listen to the tapes with only a very general (and fairly straightforward) task to perform. Now they are going to listen in more detail.
         • Notice how the sequence moves from preparation to general language practice followed by attention to detail (twice), finishing with a follow task.

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