English for Academic Listening: Teaching the Skills Associated

with Listening to Extended Discourse

Pamela L. A nderson-Mejias Pan American University

ABSTRACTMany ESL and bilingualstudents at our universities face problems in the transition from “special” programs, in which they listen and interact in settings with trained language specialists, to univer- sity courses, in which they are taught by professionals in other areas.

Research in discourse analysis has acquainted us with the need to view language as it is actually used before developing materials to teach its usage. This ar- ticle presents a brief review of literature available to most ESL professionals regamling the skills associated with listening, and provides an overview of one suc- cessful approach.

Introduction A major reason for the study of English by many of

our bilingual and ESL students is that of preparation for academic coursework in a variety of areas. Students often complete a required curriculum in ESL or remedial English, yet, due to faulty listening skills, cannot successfully follow a university lecture. In 1984, nearly an entire issue of Foreign Language Annals ad- dressed the skills associated with listening (Volume 17, number 4); yet, few materials have been created which focus on the problem of transition from classroom language instruction to real language use. Much of the material found in student textbooks is related to note- taking, listening to shortened discourse or lectures, or listening while reading along in a text. The few text- books which include discourse listening give informa- tion on such topics as turn-taking, interrupting, and

Pamela L. Anderson-Mejias (Ph.D., Indiana University) is Associate Professor of English at Pan American University, Edinburg, TX.

organizing in conversation. There have been few at- tempts to consider discourse at the lecture level since much of what is available as text is usually organized around what is commonly thought to be rhetoric, hence relegated to the composition course. Yet, it is in listening that the non-native learner experiences agreat deal of difficulty.

Recent research highlights the vital function of listening in communication and language acquisition and gives guidelines for advanced listening courses. According to Krashen and others (6) students learn language from “comprehensible input:’ and thus teachers should be more concerned with listening than with the productive skills in the language learning classroom. In studies of occupational or vocational ESL learners, listening comprehension was found to be vital for context-appropriate communicative com- petence (McGroarty, 9), which, according to Saville- Troike (16), translates into context-relevant vocabulary knowledge in English for the academic setting.

Some attempts have been made to define the skills necessary in listening, including those involved in listening to discourse. A recent example is the infor- mative article by Richards (12) in which the micro- skills of academic listening are outlined along with a general procedure for revising listening textbooks.

For the most part, however, the skills of listening that are taught to the more advanced learner of English are often subsumed under the heading of “note taking!’ They include listening to taped lectures from 5 to 30 minutes and taking notes over the infor- mation presented. Although many textbooks represent

Foreign Language Annals, 19, No. 5 , 1986 39 1

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notetaking as the advanced listening skill, teacher- training books give a different perspective with sugges- tions for teaching listening comprehension at ad- vanced levels.

Even students in the higher levels of ESL or remedial English need to learn listening skills. They need to learn how to bridge the gap between short practice lectures and conversational listening, or even sentence-level listening, and the intense reading re- quired by lectures presented in 45-minute classes. They also need to develop the skills of extrapolating infor- mation from discussion and questionlanswer sessions.

Having considered the major methodology text- books, observed several freshman course offerings in various fields, and analyzed those textbooks currently on the market which consider ESL listening beyond the sentence level, I began the search for discourse-level listening curriculum guidelines. The findings and ex- amples here come from materials I currently use in a course for foreign students that is equivalent to freshman composition.

Sources of Information on Academic Listening Some of the major points highlighted in method-

ology textbooks will be presented briefly here. For fur- ther discussion of the cognitive nature of listening comprehension the reader is referred to Melvin and Rivers (lo), Bever (I), and the September 1984 issue of Foreign Language Annals.

Rivers (13) outlines four components of listening: recognition, selection, anticipation, and memory. In addition, she enumerates the various parts of the message which ESL students must learn to decode. These include levels of discourse style, emotional con- tent, semantic, syntactic, and phonological informa- tion. She also discusses the need for normal speed in delivery of oral texts, including natural rhythm and in- tonation, consonant assimilation, and elision. Chas- tain (2) posits three levels of listening: the sound discrimination level, the auditory memory level, and the comprehension level. James (5 ) also discusses listening in terms of three dimensions: the linear, the structural, and the experiential. Paulston and Bruder (1 1) emphasize the importance of identifying clear goals and planning step-by-step lessons to train students where to listen, when to listen, how to listen, and what to listen for. Theauthors also stress the im- portance of active, overt participation by the learner and the need to develop tasks that have communicative urgency. This participation must be cognitive, not merely vocal, as in early pattern practice drills. George (3) agrees with the need for challengein listening and notes some of the problems often encountered within

listening exercises, such as cross-association of similar items (is and has), prior knowledge, or unfamiliar terms. He also discusses the importance of a repeated effort to recall information and cites as basic the fact that memory involves reconstruction of information. Rivers and Temperley (14) separate this active reconstruction of the message from the actual percep- tion of that message in their presentation of listening comprehension. The ESL or foreign language litera- ture contains useful information and a variety of ideas for listening to discourse. Unfortunately, with few ex- ceptions (see Ruetten, 15), much of this information has not found its way into student textbooks.

In addition t o considering the information presented on listening comprehension in the methodology textbooks, I spent a portion of one year observing lectures in freshman courses in economics, mathematics, art history, psychology, and sociology. Most of these lectures were presented (some rather loosely) deductively through generalizations sup- ported and explained by details. In economics, art history, and psychology, lectures included comparison or contrast, process description and abundant use of static description and definition. Mathematics and sociology tended to use more cause-and-effect and argument formats, providing explanation by means of analogy. All of the instructors I observed used non- lecture anecdotes (which many of the non-native learners dutifully copied into their notes). Most allowed for a question/answer period at some point during lectures. Some of the instructors used question/answer techniques to present new material, but most relied on the lecture format. In the questiodanswer format, students usually needed to recall the question and wait for an instructor or student summary, rather than get lost among the individual responses or guesses made. In observing non-native learners, I found that no notes were taken during question/answer sessions and thus, much of the information presented was missed. In following up one ESL math student in a course where the question/answer format was often used, 1 found that, in fact, he did not get much information from the class and considered the teacher to be very poor since he “didn’t teach? This observation could have come from any number of students I have known from cul- tures where an authority is assumed and other infor- mation is extraneous.

Thus, in preparing students to listen to discourse- level material, teachers must consider listening as recognition, selection, prediction, and memory on three levels: sound discrimination, auditory memory, and comprehension of ideas. Of course, successful listening includes automatic recognition of phonetics

OCTOBER 1986 393

and phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, seman- tics, register, style, cohesion, coherence, and logic It also draws upon background information or ex- perience about the topic (usually given in textbook assignments or handouts), familiarity with the sound of the terminology and not merely the written form, and ability to follow common rhetorical formats. Fur- thermore, lectures tend to be organized around certain typical formats depending upon the topic or subject area, and lectures tend to break up the formality by non-lecture information which is irrelevant except for its value in relieving memory load, tension, and perhaps illustrating a point.

Goals must be as clearly outlined at higher levels of proficiency as they are at earlier levels. Step-by-step se- quences must be planned, material must be presented at native speed with native intonation, elicit com- municative urgency, require students to respond cognitively, recognize the importance of cues from common cohesive and rhetorical devices, and use a variety of input styles and registers. Lebauer (8) sug- gests that students analyze transcripts from lectures given by trained language teachers based on a rough outline of the content. This allows the students to start listening to discourse-level information in a structured manner. If such practices were used at higher levels of remedial training, perhaps our students who suc- cessfully complete these courses would also more suc- cessfully merge into the university lecture courses re- quired at freshman and sophomore levels in most larger and many smaller schools.

Overview of an Approach To improve the listening abilities of non-native

learners at Pan American University, I have devised materials that meet the aforementioned criteria. Since most lecture courses contain reading materials which develop the topics slightly before they are presented in class, and since listening comprehension involves prediction and use of background or prior informa- tion, the materials I use begin with section I of two to four readings. (See Appendix A.) Included after the readings are vocabulary practice questions, both general and specific to the topic These are not to be read but to be listened to and pronounced. Section I1 is the taped lecture read from notes by an ESL instruc- tor. In order to increase students’ memory span, they are to listen without taking notes, and write the infor- mation they remember from the lecture. This exercise is followed by questions which require information of a general nature from the lecture. After answering from memory, students are allowed to listen to the tape again and answer the same questions in a separate

space (Appendix B). Section I11 begins with a discus- sion of typical cues used in American English and for which students can be trained to listen in longer discourse Much of the information contained in Sec- tion 111 throughout the materials comes from the cohesion forms described by Halliday and Hasan (4); discourse studies, especially the Larsen-Freeman discourse text (7), and my own studies of lectures of various disciplines. After brief explanation in the handout and further elaboration by the teacher in the class, students listen to the lecture from Section I1 again and attempt to identify the cue discussed. Other short passages including the cues are then provided as further exercises for students who may need additional practice. These also show students that cues have func- tions which often differ from the meaning provided in the dictionary (Appendix C). In later lessons, more than one cue is used in the exercises to help recycle those taught earlier. After the in-class discussion and analysis of cues from the tape, the expansion exercises can be done in the language laboratory.

Section IV explains and presents various rhetorical formats found in the lectures observed. The materials show examples of common statements used when speaking in the particular format; for example, while considering process, students discuss time adverbials and conjunction. Again, students listen to the tape in order to focus on the rhetorical format. After the ex- ercises in this section, students review vocabulary, cues, and format before note taking practice in the lab. The new taped lecture uses the same topic within the same organizational type and containing the same types of cues, but presented in a different manner. The teacher provides the students with the main points and students then compare these with the notes they have taken. The second lecture is listened to again to focus on rhetorical format. Notes taken by native-speaker students are also included in this section and are ac- companied by class discussion of typical abbreviations which can be used to help non-natives write more ef- ficiently (Appendix D).

Summary Through these materials, our advanced ESL

students seem to improve in their abilities to listen to longer discourse. By separating the steps of listening into 1) preparation, 2) memory practice, 3) cues, 4) organizational patterns, and 5 ) review, I have watched our advanced ESL and bilingual students come to terms with discourse-level listening. This approach helps our students prepare for university courses by helping them recognize the vocabulary they will hear in their classes. Of course, lessons cannot become too

394 FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS

specific in our basic, general, or intensive English pro- grams, as other programs in ESP can, but they can deal with topics that the majority of our students will encounter. Materials can, through cue practice, help students know when to select a piece of information on which to concentrate and take note. Students learn to predict and anticipate information through the cue and the rhetorical format practice. And students can actually expand their memory span for English through step-by-step memory activities. Such an ap- proach helps students at all levels-at the sound level, through vocabulary explanation and practice; in auditory memory, through practice in remembering; and in comprehension, by the questions directed toward the content of the lectures and by practice in listening for information as well as structure. Use of a variety of lecturers and types of classes accustoms students to different styles and registers. By structur- ing activities which require a response and by consider- ing the structure of lectures, students are involved ac- tively on a cognitive recognition plane.

This work has not presented any one answer to the non-native or bilingual learner’s problems in transfer- ring from the English language courses into the univer- sity courses. Academic listening is a rather special- ized skill in any language. Recently, from discourse studies of text, we have gained some insight into how people function at levels beyond the sentence. As ESL teachers and administrators, as linguists and/or ap- plied linguists, we need to demand materials which in- corporate the knowledge we have gained from both science and the classroom into our textbooks. Listen- ing, as necessary a skill as reading or composition in our universities, demands that we use step-by-step se- quences for teaching advanced ESL students to listen for academic purposes.

REFERENCES 1. Bever, Thomas G. “The Cognitive Basis for Linguistic

Structures:’ 288-331 in John R. Hayes, ed., Cognition and the Development of Language. New York, NY Wiley, 1970.

2.

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16.

Chastain, Kenneth. Developing Second-Language Skills. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally College Publishing, 1976. George, H.V. “Two Practical Experiments with Teachers-in-Training and Some Conclusions:’ 145-56 in John Oller and Jack Richards, eds., Focus on the Learner: Pragmatic Perspectives for the Language Teacher. Rowley, M A Newbury House, 1973. Halliday, Michael A.K. and Ruqaiya Hasan, Cohesion in English. London: Longman, 1976. James, Charles. “Are You Listening? The Practical Components of Listening Comprehension? Foreign Language Annals 17 (1984): 129-33. Krashen, Stephen S., et. al. “A Theoretical Basis for Teaching the Receptive Skills:’ Foreign Language An- nals 17 (1984): 261-75. Larsen-Freeman, Diane. Discourse Analysis in Second Language Research. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1980. Lebauer, Roni S. “Using Lecture Transcripts in EAP Lecture Comprehension Courses!’ TESOL Quarterly

McGroarty, Mary. “Some Meanings of Communicative Competence for Second Language Students!’ TESOL Quarterly 18 (1984): 257-72. Melvin, Bernice S., and Wilga Rivers. “In One Ear and Out the Other: Implications of Memory Studies for Language Learning:’ 155-64 in John Fanselow and Ruth Crymes, eds., On TESOL ’76. Washington, DC: TESOL, 1976. Paulston, Christina Bratt, and Mary Bruder. Teaching English as a Second Language: Techniques and Pro- cedures. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop, 1976, Richards, Jack. “Listening Comprehension: Approach, Design, Procedure!’ TESOL Quarterly 17 (1983):

Rivers, Wilga. Teaching Foreign-Language Skills. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1968.

and Mary Temperley. A Practical Guide to the Teaching of English as a Second or Foreign Language. New York, NY Oxford University Press, 1979. Ruetten, Mary. Comprehending Academic Lectures. New York, NY: MacMillan, 1986. SavilleTroike, M. “What Really Matters in Second Language Learning for Academic Achievement?” TESOL Quarterly 18 (1984): 199-219.

18 (1984): 41-54.

219-40.

OCTOBER 1986

Appendix A Part I: Prior Readings and Vocabulary

395

Reading One: Registration Information

Econ 2300. P. none. Intro to the basic principles of macro- and micro-economics. 3 cr. Req for 2310.

Explanation and Discussion:

Most schools have catalogues which present information about all courses offered at the school. These catalogues are to help students choose courses. The catalogue information is usually abbreviated. Also, the vocabulary is specialized. The abbreviated and specialized language makes understanding school catalogues very difficult.

Exercises:

1. Look at your school catalogue. List the abbreviations. Write their meanings.

2. Discuss with your teacher any questions you have about your school catalogue. Write the answers here.

Abbreviations: Organization: Content Information: Other:

Reading Two: Student guides or introductions.

Economics 2300 may be taken during your first year. This course includes general information about the laws of supply and demand. Economics 2300 is useful for business majors. It is not an easy course. This course also fulfills one of the university distributional requirements in the social sciences. The clearest teachers are Berry, Anderson, Myer, Perez and Reeves. Stay away from Marks and Steiner.

Exptanafion and Discussion: Student Guides

Many schools prepare books to guide new students. Often these books are written by other students. These guides give valuable information to students, but can sometimes be misleading.

Exercises:

Does your school have a student guide? Look up one course you are enrolled in. Do you agree with the course description in the student guide? - Why or why not? Ask others in your English class if they read the student guide before choosing their courses. Write their answers and discuss why they did or did not use the student guide. Look at the following words from the two readings. Guess what they mean from the context. Write your guesses in the first blanks, then look up the words in the dictionary. Write the dictionary definition in the second blank.

1. Course (N) 2. includes (V) 3. laws (N) 4. majors (N) 5 . fulfills (V)

Listen as your teacher pronounces the next list of words. Then read Reading Three about economics from Chapter One: What Economics is All About (Basic Economics Holt, Rinehart & Winston).

396 FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS

Appendix B Part II: Listening Practice

Listen to the introduction lecture to Economics 2300 (tape 1A). Do NOT try to take notes.

Exercise one:

Write the information you remember from the lecture.

Exercise two:

Try to answer the following questions. 1. Who is Elizabeth Myer? 2. Who is Judy Mc Gulliard? 3. How many exams will there be? 4. What is Basic Economics? 5 . Which edition is to be used? 6. What two key concepts will be covered in this course? 7. How many discussion sections are required each week? 8. How do you find out which discussion section you are in?

Now listen to the tape again and answer the above questions you did not remember.

Appendix C Part 111: Cues for Listening

Explanation:

When people talk, they use words which carry the meaning and other words which point out relationships among them. A CUE is a word which lets listeners know what is coming next. A CUE is like a sign pointing directions on a highway.

There are different types of cues. One type we will call a FRAME CUE or FR. This type separates major pieces of information. To the listener, a FR cue says something like this:

“I am finished talking about one major idea. I am beginning a new idea nod’

Listen to the lecture again. Try to identify two different FR cues. 1. 2.

In spoken English many people use the phrase OK to separate ideas. It is a common FRAME CUE. Another FRAME CUE is NOW. It tells us that a new topic i s to be talked about. A third FRAME CUE in this lesson is WELL. WELL also tells us that new information is probably following.

Exercise: Frame Cues

Arrange these sentences into a possible lecture using the cues.

OK. OK. I am Dr. Elizabeth Myer. This course is Economics 2300. Please take a copy of the syllabus. I will be teaching this course. It is required for all business majors. The syllabus is coming around.

This exercise is very difficult because there are many language cues besides OK. You should have ordered the OK sentences after others which contained different information. For example:

GOOD: This course is Economics 2300. OK. I am Dr. Elizabeth Myer.

POOR: I am Dr. Elizabeth Myer. OK. I will be teaching this course.

REASONS: Order 1 is good because the topic in the first sentence is the course. The topic in the second

Order 2 is poor because the topic in both sentences is the same person. That person is Dr. Elizabeth Myer. sentence is a person. Therefore, OK can be a cue for the separation of these two sentences.

That person is teaching the course. There is no need to separate these sentences.

OCTOBER 1986 397

Exercise Two: Frame Cues

Read the following questions. Then, to answer them, listen to the tape as many times as you want to.

1. What is the topic before the first frame cue? After it? 2. The speaker talks about the course to orient the students. Then she talks about the content of the course.

3. The speaker is talking about the textbook. She then says OK. What information follows this frame cue? What frame cue does she use between these topics?

Appendix D Part IV: Patterns for INTRODUCING Topics, People, or Things

Explanation:

When you are listening to information, often you can predict what will be said IF you know what pattern the speaker is using. Not all speakers use clear patterns, but most do.

The lecture in this lesson is an INTRODUCTION. Speakers may introduce things, ideas, or other people. In general, lecture INTRODUCTIONS include several main points. Often, these points will be discussed in detail later in the lecture or in another lecture.

Here are some common expressions used by speakers when they INTRODUCE a topic or idea. Listen while your teacher reads these expressions followed by some information. Write the information following the IN- TRODUCTORY remark. It is this information which is usually important to note.

Let me just say This is This is Oh, by the way, you need to As I started to say Today I want to discuss

talk about lecture on consider

Did I say anything about ? Have we considered ?

talked about ? discussed ? covered ?

Listen to the tape again and put an X beside any of these expressions you hear.

Now listen to tape 1-B. It is also an INTRODUCTORY lecture to Dr. Reeves’ economics course. Take notes of the important points.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS 398

Exercise S

Here is an example of notes taken by a native speaker. Discuss them with your class.

u