MODULE_1

BRI3043

TEACHING OF LANGUAGE

SKILLS IN ENGLISH FOR

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

(MODULE)

BRI3043

TEACHING OF LANGUAGE SKILLS IN

ENGLISH FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Writers

Goh Hock Seng

Seva Bala Sundaram

Abdul Halim Ibrahim

Mahendran Maniam

Faculty of Languages and Communication

University Pendidikan Sultan Idris

Tanjong Malim, Perak

2013

i

PREFACE

This module is written as a primary resource for the students taking the course BRI3143

Teaching of Language Skills in English for Primary Schools and especially for those

undergoing the distant learning programme. Indeed, there is abundant research and

discussion on the teaching of each individual language skill and that covering all that

literature is certainly impossible. Hence, the learning points covered in this module is

highly selective and more importantly, deemed essential in meeting the learning

outcomes of the course.

There are 12 units in this module covering much of the syllabus outlined in the

Instructional Plan of the course. Undoubtedly, it should be noted that these units will only

cover highly selected points in both the theoretical and pedagogical aspects of each

language skill with special emphasis to the primary school level. Tasks and sample

activities are provided to consolidate the learning points in each unit.

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COURSE GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

This course guide is aimed at giving essential information to students with regards to the

content of the course so as to enable successful completion of the course. BRI 3143

Teaching of Language Skills in English for Primary Schools seeks to provide students

the necessary theoretical and pedagogical knowledge with regards to the teaching of

English language skills i.e. reading, writing, listening and speaking with particular focus

on the context of the primary schools. This module will cover the teaching of the four

skills as well as the aspect of grammar. Besides that, the integration of the skills within

lessons and between lessons will also be given emphasis. It is hoped that having gone

through the course, students will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to

teach the four skills effectively and to improve further in their practice.

TARGET AUDIENCE

This course is designed specifically for students taking the B.Ed (Teaching of English as

a Second Language) programme.

STUDENT LEARNING TIME

Based on the UPSI and MQA Standards, 40 hours of student learning time (SLT)

contributes to every credit. As this course is a 3-credit course, the estimated SLTT is 120

hours and the distribution can be seen in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Estimated Course Student Learning Time

Learning Activity Learning Time

Face-to Face Independent

Reading the Module, revision and completing

assignments

60

Face to face tutorial at centres 10 10

On-line Tutorial (E-learning, for example via

BigBlueButton, Skype, etc.)

6 22

Online Forum (Using MyGuru3) 12

Sub Total 16 104

Total Learning Time 120 hours

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COURSE LEARNING OUCOMES

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. explain theoretical and pedagogical principles in teaching language skills; 2. explain methods, approaches and techniques in teaching primary school students

in the ESL context;

3. devise lesson plans that integrate various language skills in English; 4. demonstrate appropriate activities and self evaluation in teaching language skills.

COURSE SYNOPSIS

This course gives exposure to some approaches and techniques concerning the teaching

and learning of the four basic skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking and not

forgetting grammar to the primary school students. Where classroom teaching and

learning are concerned, the skills should be integrated and therefore this course gives

some ideas about how these skills are integrated in English lessons. Students are also

taught on how to write lesson plans integrating these four skills. Macro-teaching sessions

at the end of the course provide students with the practice and exposure in teaching

English confidently in the future.

(Kursus ini memberi pendedahan kepada pendekatan dan teknik pengajaran dan

pembelajaran dalam keempat-empat kemahiran berbahasa iaitu membaca, menulis,

mendengar dan bertutur dan tata bahasa kepada pelajar-pelajar sekolah rendah. Untuk

pengajaran dan pembelajaran di dalam kelas kemahiran-kemahiran ini hendaklah

bersepadu dan oleh kerana itu kursus ini memberi cara dan pendapat untuk

menyatupadukan kemahiran-kemahiran tersebut. Pelajar juga diajar cara menyediakan

rancangan pelajaran dengan menyatupadukan kemahiran-kemahiran tersebut. Sesi

pengajaran-makro di penghujung kursus memberi pelajar latihan dan pendedahan dalam

pengajaran Bahasa Inggeris dengan yakin pada masa akan datang).

iv

CONTENTS

Preface

Course Guide

Contents

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UNIT 1 Teaching of English Language Skills

(Goh Hock Seng)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

1.1 Teaching English at the primary level

1.2 Teaching English in Malaysian primary schools

1.3 Methods, approaches and techniques in language

teaching

1.4 Which Method?

References

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UNIT 2 Teaching of Listening I

(Seva Bala Sundaram)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

2.1 Perception skills

2.2 Language skills

2.3 Using knowledge of the world

2.4 Dealing with information

2.5 Interacting with a speaker

2.6 Listening for Information

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2.7 Listening for Judgmental Purposes

2.8 Five parts of critical listening skills that will help you

really hear the other person.

2.8.1 Focus and Pay Attention

2.8.2 Listen Actively

2.8.3 Offer Feedback

2.8.4 Wait to Pass Judgment

2.8.5 Respond Accordingly

2.9 Listening for Pleasure or Entertainment

2.10 Improving Your Listening Skills During a Lesson

2.11 Listening in Daily Life

References

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UNIT 3 Teaching of Listening II


Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

3.1 Listening and Speaking

3.2 Listening Comprehension

Sample lesson 3.1

3.3 What is successful listening?

3.4 Creating listening texts and tasks

3.5 Listening with a purpose

3.5.1 Performing physical tasks

3.5.2 Transferring information

3.5.3 Reformulating and evaluating information

3.6 Telephoning

Sample lesson 3.2

References

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UNIT 4 Speaking Skills

(Abdul Halim Ibrahim)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

4.1 Definition of speaking skills

4.2 Becoming a confident speaker

4.3 Being aware of fluency and accuracy

4.4 Right Vocabulary

4.5 Keeping the listener interested

4.6 Being a supportive listener

4.7 Sounding natural

4.8 Finding a speaking model

4.9 Main Idea

4.10 Effective Delivering

4.11 Clarify your objective

4.12 Structure your thinking

4.13 A conversation for action

4.14 Manage your time

4.15 Find common ground

4.16 Move beyond argument

4.17 Summarise your speech

4.18 Use visuals

4.19 Speaking in public

4.20 Assess Your Audience and Purpose

4.21 Deliver the Oral Presentation Professionally

4.22 Types of oral presentations

References

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UNIT 5 Teaching of Speaking


Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

5.1 The English language syllabus in primary schools

5.1.1 Learning Contents

5.1.2 The Spoken Language

5.1.3 Oral Work

5.2 Learning outcomes and specifications

5.3 Stages of conducting a speaking activity

5.4 Students cognitive development

5.5 Starting personal talk

5.6 Procedures of conducting activities

5.7 Presenting the Main Idea

5.8 Speaking activities

5.8.1 Pass the ball Game

5.8.2 Guess the mime Game

5.8.3 Children speaking in groups

5.8.4 Starting to speak freely - eliciting personal talk

5.8.5 Role play

5.8.6 Personal information

5.8.7 Guess what is in my pocket

References

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UNIT 6 Teaching of Reading I

(Goh Hock Seng)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

6.1. What is reading?

6.2. The reading process

6.2.1 Bottom-up Models

6.2.2. Top-down Models

6.2.3 Interactive Models

6.3. Reading in a second language

6.4. Schema theory

References

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UNIT 7 Teaching of Reading II

(Goh Hock Seng)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

7. 1 Word recognition

Sample activity 7. 1


7. 2 Vocabulary development


7. 3 Comprehension

Sample Activity 7. 4

References

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UNIT 8 Teaching of Writing I

(Mahendran Maniam)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

8. 1 The Development of the Teaching of Writing

8.1.1 Composition in the First Language Classroom

8.1.2 Features of the traditional approach

8.1.3 Features of the process approach

8. 2 Development of the Teaching of Writing in ESL

8. 3 Writing Issues and Concerns in the ESL Writing

Classroom

8.3.1 Issues in the Teaching of Writing

8.3.2 Traditions of Recognition

8. 4 Approaches to the Teaching of Writing in ESL

8.4.1 The Traditional Approach to Teaching Writing

8.4.2 Overview of the difference between the Process

and Product Approach

8.4.2.1 Product Approach

8.4.2.2 Process Approach

8.4.2.3 Genre-based Process Approach to the

Teaching of Writing

8. 5 Classroom Techniques in the Teaching of Writing in

ESL

8.5.1 Writing Goals and General Techniques of

Teaching Writing in ESL

8.5.2 Getting started

8.5.3 Writing Assignments and Responding to Students

Writings

8. 6 Writing Activities- Initial Steps

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8.6.1 Gathering Information

Sample Activity 8.1

8.6.2 Brainstorming

Sample Activity 8.2

8.6.3 Making Mind Maps

Sample Activity 8.3

8.6.4 Giving Feedback to Students Writing

References

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UNIT 9 Teaching of Writing II

(Mahendran Maniam)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

9.1 Journal Writing (Guidelines)

9.2 Journal Writing Activity

9.3 Journal Writing Activity based on a Reading Text

Sample Activity 9.1

9.4 Writing Activity based on a Reading Text

Sample Activity 9.2

Sample Activity 9.3

9.5 Writing Activity Conducting a Survey

Sample Activity 9.4

9.6 Writing Activity Observing and Note-making

Sample Activity 9.5

9.7 Collaboration

Sample Activity 9.6

9.8 Peer Editing / Feedback

Sample Activity 9.7

Sample Activity 9.8

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References

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UNIT 10 Teaching of Grammar


Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

10. 1 Teaching Approach

10. 2. Learner language learning setting

10. 3 Quality of input

10. 4 Communicative Approach in Malaysian Classrooms

10. 5 Constraints of Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

10. 6 Focus-on-form instruction

References

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UNIT 11 Integration of Language Skills in a Lesson


Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

11.1. Beginning reading and writing: introducing letters

11.1.1 The sound system of English

11.1.2 Introducing letters

11.1.3 Phonics approach

11.2. Beginning reading and writing: internalising letters

11.3 Beginning reading and writing: learning words

11.4 Beginning reading and writing: recognition games

11.5 Reading and writing: beginning vocabulary

11.5.1 Beginning vocabulary: introduction

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11.5.2 Beginning vocabulary: practice activities

11.5.3 Beginning vocabulary: presenting new

vocabulary

11.5.4 Beginning vocabulary: pronunciation and

drilling

11.6. Teaching children: speaking and listening

References

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UNIT 12 Macro Teaching

(Mahendran Maniam)

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

Learning Points

12.1 Micro Teaching

12.2 Macro Teaching and Micro Teaching

12.3 The Training Program Process and Issues

12.4 Issues to Deal With in Micro Teaching

12.5 Issues to Deal With in Macro Teaching

12.6 Sample Lesson Plans for Macro-Teaching

Sample lesson plan 1



Specimen Lesson plan for Macro-teaching

References

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UNIT 1

Teaching of English Language Skills

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, students should be able to:

1. identify the main reasons of teaching English at the primary level.

2. describe the standards found in the Malaysian English language Curriculum for Primary

Schools

3. compare and contrast between language teaching methods.

4. evaluate own teaching practices.

Introduction

Learning English is presently a global phenomenon and being proficient in English has become

essential to millions around the world for numerous reasons. It is undeniable that the English language

is the lingua franca in many spheres of our daily lives such as in technology, politics, business, social

networking and so on. Of course, one seeks (or is encouraged, e.g. in the countrys educational

system) to learn English for his or her own reasons.

If the learning of English is so important, the teaching of it is certainly no less important and

more so in the primary schools when young children are required to learn the language. Hence, it is

essential that English language teachers in the primary schools are grounded with sound theoretical

and pedagogical knowledge to enable them to become effective teachers. This module is aimed at

contributing towards that quest of preparing teachers to teach English language skills effectively in the

primary schools.

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Learning Points

1. 1 Teaching English at the primary level

As much as the English language has gained popularity and importance throughout the world,

it is well to note that the teaching of English is carried out in a wide variety of contexts of English as

a foreign language or English as a second language. Similarly, the age of the learners varies from

the very young to the very old. We will focus our attention to learners who at the primary school level.

In the context of Malaysia, this would mean students who studying in Primary 1 to Primary 6 where

every student is taught English.

While it is debatable with regards to when is the best time to learn (and teach) another

language, many scholars believe that the best time to learn a language is when one is young as

compared to when one is an adult already. Brumfit (1991, p. vi) offers a few other reasons for the

teaching of English at the primary level:

the need to expose children from an early age to an understanding of foreign cultures so

that they grow up tolerant and sympathetic to others

the need to link communication to the understanding of new concepts

the need for maximum learning time for important languages the earlier you start the

more time you get

the advantage of starting with early second language instruction so that the language can be

used as a medium of teaching

These reasons are indeed applicable to a multicultural and multilingual country such as

Malaysia. Nonetheless, it is also these cultural and linguistic diversity that an English language teacher

in Malaysia should take into consideration and be aware of the sensitivities that exist.

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1. 2 Teaching English in Malaysian Primary Schools

The teaching of English has always been an important agenda in the Malaysian education system.

Recently, a new curriculum was introduced and it will replace the old one progressively. The new curriculum,

Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (Primary School Curriculum Standards) or popularly known with the

acronym KSSR will be fully implemented in 2016. At present, the new Malaysian English Language

Curriculum for Primary Schools was introduced in stages beginning 2011 starting with Year 1, Year 2 in 2012

and Year 3 in 2013 (Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia, 2012, p. v)

The aim of the new syllabus is to equip pupils with basic language skills to enable them to

communicate effectively in a variety of contexts thats appropriate to the pupils level of development (ibid,

p.3). The syllabus also laid down five objectives of the curriculum and states that by the end of Year 6, pupils

should be able to:

1. communicate with peers and adults confidently and appropriately in formal and informal situations.

2. read and comprehend a range of English texts for information and enjoyment

3. write a range of texts using appropriate language, style and form through a variety of media

4. use correct and appropriate rules of grammar in speech and writing

5. appreciate and demonstrate understanding of English language literary or creative works for

enjoyment

Based on the objectives outlined above, it can be seen that the curriculum revolves around the teaching

of language skills (i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing) and grammar. These elements make up what is

called the language focus which is the first strand in the overall design of the curriculum. The second strand is

Language Arts which is included to allow pupils to engage and enjoy stories, poems, songs, rhymes and

plays written in English (Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia, 2012, p. 4)

Given in Table 1.1 below are details of how the language skills and language arts should be taught and

also the standards (Core standards and Learning standards) set for the primary school students to achieve. The

Core Standards specify the essential knowledge, skills, understandings and strategies that pupils need to learn

while the Learning Standards describe in detail the degree or quality of proficiency that pupils need to display

in relation to the Content Standards for a particular year (Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia, 2013, p. 10).

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Table 1.1: Language Skills and Standards in the KSSR English Language Curriculum

SKILLS Content Standards Learning Standards Listening and Speaking Skills

Listening and speaking are seen as core skills of

early literacy. As such, pupils should be taught:

how to listen carefully;

to speak from the basic level of sound, word, phrase and structural sentences in various

situational contexts;

the stress, rhythm and intonation patterns and how to use them correctly;

to recognise, understand and use not only verbal but also non-verbal communication; and

oral communication practice by means of repeating, responding,

understanding and applying structures of the language in order to prepare them for

communication.

By the end of the six-year primary schooling,

pupils will be able to:

1.1 pronounce words and speak confidently with the correct stress, rhythm and intonation.

1.2 listen and respond appropriately in formal and informal situations for a variety of purposes.

1.3 understand and respond to oral texts in a

variety of contexts.

The learning standards begin with basic listening

and speaking skills which have been developed

incrementally in this manner :

develop pupils phonemic awareness

engage in fun learning activities such as reciting rhymes, poems and tongue twisters as well as

singing songs

participate in daily conversations

follow and give instructions and directions

able to participate in conversations

talk on topics of interest

Reading Skills

The teaching of reading skills:

enables pupils to become independent readers who are able to comprehend a text effectively

and efficiently.

begins at the word and phrase levels before progressing to sentence recognition and reading

at the paragraph level.

focuses on basic literacy with the use of phonics in Year 1 and 2.

teaches pupils to extract specific information from a text and respond to a text with their own

ideas and opinions.

By the end of the six-year primary schooling,


2.1 apply knowledge of sounds of letters to

recognize words in linear and non-linear texts.

2.2 demonstrate understanding of a variety of

linear and nonlinear texts in the form of print

and non-print materials using a range of

strategies to construct meaning.

2.3 read independently for information and

enjoyment.

The learning standards begin with basic literacy

which has been developed incrementally in this

manner :

distinguish the shapes of the letters;

recognise and articulate phonemes;

blend and segment words;

apply word recognition and word attack skills to acquire vocabulary;

read and understand phrases, simple sentences and texts; and

read independently for information and enjoyment.

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Table 1.1: Language Skills and Standards in the KSSR English Language Curriculum (Continue)

SKILLS Content Standards Learning Standards Writing Skill

It is expected that by the end of Year 6 :

pupils will be able to express their ideas clearly on paper in legible handwriting or to communicate via the electronic media.

the focus of writing is on developing pupils writing ability beginning at the word and phrase

levels before progressing to the sentence and

paragraph levels.

pupils who are capable must be encouraged to write simple compositions comprising several

paragraphs.

attention is also paid to penmanship so that even from a young age, pupils are taught to write

clearly and legibly including cursive writing.

simple compositions and the various steps involved in writing, such as planning, drafting,

revising, and editing are taught. In the process,

pupils learn the genre approach to writing as they

are taught to use appropriate vocabulary and

correct grammar to get their meaning across

clearly.

all pupils will be encouraged to write for different purposes and for different audiences.

although much of the writing at this level is guided, the amount of control is relaxed for

pupils who are able and proficient in the language.

spelling and dictation are also given emphasis.

By the end of the six year primary schooling,


3.1 form letters and words in neat legible print

including cursive writing.

3.2 write using appropriate language, form and style for a range of purposes.

3.3 write and present ideas through a variety of

media.

Content standards are achieved through learning

standards that have been devised carefully

throughout primary schooling. Learning standards

have been developed progressively, from acquiring

fine motor control of hands and fingers to copying

writing activities, before being taught to write with

guidance linear and non-linear texts using appropriate language, form and style. The use of

various media is also encouraged and pupils can

create both linear and non-linear texts with

guidance or independently.

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Table 1.1: Language Skills and Standards in the KSSR English Language Curriculum (Continue)

SKILLS Content Standards Learning Standards Language Arts

The rationale behind Language Arts is to steer the

continuous growth and development of pupils thinking and language abilities. The standards for

Language Arts:

cover a range of creative and literary works in English such as rhymes, songs, poems, stories

and plays to activate pupils imagination and interest.

allow pupils to benefit from hearing and using language from fictional as well as non-fictional

sources.

allow pupils to gain rich and invaluable experiences using the English language through

fun-filled and meaningful activities.

train pupils to be able to appreciate, demonstrate understanding and express personal responses to

literary and creative works for enjoyment. Hence

they will also be able to use English for both

functional as well as aesthetic purposes,

confidently and competently by the end of Year

6.

By the end of the six year primary schooling,


4.1 enjoy and appreciate rhymes, poems and songs

through performance.

4.2 express personal response to literary texts.

4.3 plan, organise and produce creative works for enjoyment.

The culmination of all content standards in

language arts will be shown in practice when

pupils are able to come up with their very own

production. By the end of Year 6, pupils will learn

the art of acting out, play-acting and producing

works of creativity such as drawings, poems or

singing. Pupils will also learn values of cooperating with people of different race, gender,

ability, cultural heritage, religion, economic, social

background, and, understand and appreciate the

values, beliefs and attitudes of others. Each pupil

will also develop knowledge, skills and attitudes,

which will enhance his or her own personal life

management and promote positive attitudes.

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As can be seen from the table above, all the four language skills of listening,

speaking, reading and grammar are given emphases with the intention of helping students

develop these skills. As for the language arts strand, teachers may plan lessons in

relation to the language skills taught or they may come up with generic lessons. Teachers

should incorporate the fun element in specified contexts to make their lessons

meaningful. (ibid, p. 5).

With regards to the four language skills, they are often placed under two

categories which are receptive skills and productive skills. The skills of listening and

reading are categorized as receptive skills because the user receives information

through the skills. Productive skills, then, are speaking and writing skills whereby the

user produce the language that is required in a discourse. Nonetheless, it should be

noted that the skills are seldom used in isolation in real life contexts. For example, the

skills of listening and speaking goes hand in hand during a conversation or discussion.

Additionally, the all the skills would probably be used in a situation such as a lecture.

Hence, it is important to note that integration of language skills is an important

consideration in the curriculum.

Indeed the new curriculum is well thought through and it is hoped the English

language teachers in Malaysian primary schools will be able to implement the curriculum

effectively and efficiently. Should that happen, the teaching and learning of English at the

primary level in Malaysia should lead the achieving the aim of the curriculum.

1. 3 Methods, approaches and techniques in language teaching

Teaching of English certainly comes under the purview of teaching a second language or

teaching a foreign language in the many countries where it is taught. There is abundant

literature and rich history on language teaching methodology i.e. how language is or

should be taught. Inevitably, many varied ways have been suggested as answers to the

question of how a language should be taught and one can certainly anticipate that more

answers will be mooted. The methodologies in language teaching often revolves around

the discussion pertaining to a few key terms such as approach, procedures and

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techniques. Although a quick survey of the literature involving these terms would show

that there is not a general consensus as to what these terms actually mean and how they

are use, a few common strands would emerge to provide generally accepted

understanding of the terms. To simplify matters, the meanings of the terms provided here

are based on two sources i.e. Richards and Rodgers (1987) and Harmers (2007) work.

Richards and Rodgers (1987) place the term method as the umbrella term under

which three interrelated elements of organization upon which language teaching

practices are founded (p. 146). These elements are approach, design and procedure.

Harmer (2007) does not propose a system to show how the elements are interrelated but

merely defines the terms approach, method, procedure and technique. Nonetheless, it is

clear from the definitions that these terms are related to one another.

Richards and Rodgers (1987) and Harmer (2007) agree that the term approach

refer to the theories on the nature of language and the nature of language learning. These

theories provide the theoretical underpinnings of a method where designs, procedures and

techniques are utilized. While, as mentioned earlier, Richards and Rodgers see the term

method as consisting the three other interrelated terms, Harmer defines method as

practical realization of an approach and that Methods include various procedures and

techniques as part of their standard fare (ibid, p. 62).

Different approaches would of course lead to different designs. According to

Richards and Rodgers (1987), a design includes specifications of 1) the content of

instruction i.e. the syllabus, 2) learner roles in the system, 3) teacher roles in the system,

4) instructional materials types and functions (p. 148). Based on the design, the aspect of

procedures and techniques are considered as practical implementations of the methods in

the language classrooms. Richards and Rodgers (1987) explain that procedure describes

the actual moment-to-moment techniques, practices, and activities that operate in

teaching and learning a language according to a particular method (p. 153). Harmer

(2007, p. 62) describes procedure as a sequence which can be described in terms such as

First you do this, then you do that , Smaller than a method, it is bigger than a

technique.

Based on the descriptions above, it may be seen that the terms essentially points

to two core aspects of language teaching methodology i.e. theoretical aspect and practical

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or implementation aspect. Harmer (2007, p. 79) provided an interesting note regarding

the terms discussed above as follow:

Many teachers use metaphors to separate out these different levels of

abstraction. For example, the trainer David Valente turns to the art of

cooking. The approach is our belief about cooking, the method is the recipe

book, the procedures are actions such as mixing, chopping, marinating, etc,

and the techniques are how we mix and chop, for example.

Johnson (2001) noted that the history of language teaching does indeed display a

bewildering variety of different methods and approaches, all jostling for our attention

(p. 161). Examples of the more commonly known methods of language teaching

throughout that rich history are given in Table 1.2 below

Table 1.2 : Language Teaching Methods

(Source: Harmer, 2001)

Method Brief Description

Grammar-

translation

Students were given explanations of individual points of grammar,

and then they were given sentences which exemplified these

points. These sentences had to be translated from the target

language (L2) back to the students first language (L1) and vice versa

Direct method

Translation was abandoned in favour of the teacher and the

students speaking together, relating the grammatical forms they

were studying to objects and pictures, etc, in order to establish

their meaning. The sentence was still the main object of interest,

and accuracy was all important.

Audiolingual

method

When behaviorist accounts of language learning became popular in

the 1920s and 1930s the Direct method morphed, especially in the USA, into the Audiolingual method. Using the stimulus-

response-reinforcement model, it attempted, through a continuous

process of such positive reinforcement, to engender good habits in

language learners.

Presentation,

practice and

production (PPP)

The teacher introduces a situation which contextualizes the

language to be taught. The language, too, is then presented. The

students now practice the language using accurate reproduction

techniques such as choral repetition, individual repetition and cue-

response drills. Later, the students, using the new language, make

sentences of their own, and this is referred to as production.

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Community

Language Learning

A knower stands outside a circle of students and helps the students say what to say by translating, suggesting or amending the

students utterances. The students utterances may then be recorded so that they can be analysed at a later date. Students, with

the teachers help, reflect on how they felt about the activities.

Suggestopaedia

It is concerned above all with the physical environment in which

the learning takes place. Students need to be comfortable and

relaxed so that their affective filter is lowered. Students take on

different names and exist in a chil-parent relationship with the

teacher.

Total Physical

Response (TPR)

A typical TPR lesson might involve the teacher telling students to

pick up the triangle from the table and give it to me or walk quickly to the door and hit it (Asher 1977: 54-56). When the students can all respond to commands correctly, one of them can

then start giving instructions to other classmates.

The Silent Way

In the Silent Way, the teacher frequently points to different sounds

on a phonemic chart, modeling them before indicating that

students should say the sounds. The teacher is then silent,

indicating only by gesture or action when individual students

should speak (they keep trying to work out whether they are saying

the sound correctly) and then showing when sounds and words are

said correctly by moving to the next item.

Communicative

Language Teaching

(CLT)

A major strand of CLT centres around the essential belief that if

students are involved in meaning-focused communicative tasks,

then language learning will take care of itself and that plentiful exposure to language in use and plenty of opportunities to use it

are vitally important for a students development of knowledge and skill. Activities in CLT typically involve students in real or

realistic communication, where a successful achievement of the

communicative task they are performing is at least as important as

the accuracy of their language use.

Task-based learning

(TBL)

TBL makes the performance of meaningful tasks central to the

learning process. It is informed by a belief that if students are

focused on the completion of the task, they are just as likely to

learn language as they are if they are focusing on langue forms.

Instead of a language structure or function to be learnt, students are

presented with a task they have to perform or a problem they have

to solve.

11

Johnson (2001) went on to suggest seven questions that one should attempt to

answer in distinguishing one method from another. In a way, the answers to the questions

posed will enable one to further understand the what, why, and how about a

particular methodology. Additionally, answers to them will help one to view the differing

methods in relation to each other. These questions can be seen in Table 1.3 below.

Table 1.3 : Seven questions to ask about a method

(Source: Johnson, 2001, p. 162 & 163)

1. What are the methods Big Ideas? Many are based on a small number of central insights, which act as guiding inspirations

2. What are the theoretical underpinnings behind the method? In an ideal world, it would

be supported by a view both of language and of language learning.

3. How much engagement of the mind does the method expect? Different learning theories have very different views about the role of the mind in learning.

4. Is the method deductive or inductive in approach? Deductive learning is where the

learner is first given a rule. These rules are then demonstrated working in practice.

5. Does the method allow the use of the L1 in the classroom? Some methods shun this at

all costs; the L1 must never be used, however desperate the struggle to communicate becomes is a common dogma. In some others, you may find a major part of the lesson is given in the learners L1, with the target language only making an occasional guest appearance.

6. Which of the four skills are given emphasis in the method? The four skills are listening

and speaking (the spoken skill), reading and writing (the written skills).

7. How much importance does a method give to authenticity of language? there are methods which take great pains to make the language the learner is exposed to as

realistic as possible. In other methods, no effort at all is made in this direction.

12

Task 1.1

1) Select any two methods for language teaching and answer the questions set by Johnson

(2001) with regards to the selected methods.

2) Based on the two selected methods again, provide the descriptions for the elements of

approach, design, procedure, and technique as explained by Richards and Rodgers

(1987) and Harmer (2007).

1. 4 Which Method?

With the long history of language teaching methodology and the numerous methods

proposed, one would think that language teachers are spoilt for choice and that it is

merely a matter of selecting the best or most appropriate method to be used in the

classroom. Unfortunately, that is definitely not the case as each method is designed based

on certain contexts and theoretical assumptions that may not be applicable to the local

context in which a foreign language is taught. Harmer (2007, p. 77) rightly give the

following advise.

Applying a particular methodology thoughtlessly to any and every

learning context we come into contact with may not always be

appropriate. What we need to ask ourselves, therefore, is how to decide

what is appropriate, and how to apply the methodological beliefs that

guide our teaching practice.

Geyser (2006, p. 43) reminds us that what approach best works in your classroom will

depend on the age of your students, the dynamics of the relationships, cultural

backgrounds, their level of study and of course your preferences. It may be argued that

the actual practices of a teacher in the classroom is very much a mixture of theoretical

13

knowledge as well as personal preferences and competence in providing what is thought

best for the students.

Task 1.2

1) Consider your own practice in the classroom thus far. What are your answers to the

seven questions posed by Johnson (2001) given above. For example, what are the big

ideas that influence you when you teach? How do you view about the nature of

language learning?

2) Based on a lesson that you have taught, briefly state your practices based on the terms

approach, design, procedure and technique.

What about teaching English in the Malaysian primary schools? The authors of

the KSSR Guidebook for English Year 3 (Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia, 2012, p. vi)

have this to say:

There is no single best way and teachers have to use their pedagogical

content knowledge, experience, skills and creativity to plan their lessons in

order to help their pupils learn better. Teachers should decide on a

theme/topic and then select suitable listening and speaking, reading,

writing and language arts activities to be used for teaching that topic.

Indeed, no single method is prescribed or sanctioned for use in the curriculum

for the reasons given above. What is given, however, is a set of pedagogical principles to

guide teachers in their planning (see Table 1.4 below).

14

Table 1.4: Underlying Pedagogical Principles of the Curriculum

(Source: Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia, 2013, p. ix & x)

The approach adopted in the Standard-based curriculum is underpinned by the following

principles:

i. Back to basics where the emphasis is on basic literacy skills in order to build a strong

foundation of language skills. The strategy of phonics is introduced in order to help

pupils begin to read and a good foundation in penmanship will help pupils acquire

good handwriting.

ii. Learning is fun, meaningful and purposeful. Lessons, which emphasise

meaningful contexts and the integration of language skills, allow pupils to learn by

doing in fun-filled activities. Contextualised as well as purposeful activities will

promote the fun element in language learning.

iii. Teaching is learner-centred so teaching approaches, lessons and curriculum

materials must suit the differing needs and abilities of pupils. It is important that

appropriate activities and materials are used with pupils of different learning

capabilities so that their full potential can be realised.

iv. Integration of salient new technologies in line with growing globalisation.

Technology is used extensively in our daily communication. Information available on

the internet and other electronic media will be vital for knowledge acquisition.

Networking facilities will be useful for pupils to communicate and share knowledge.

v. Assessment for learning includes continuous assessment as an integral part of

learning which enables teachers to assess whether pupils have acquired the learning

standards taught. Formative assessment is conducted as an on-going process, while

summative assessment is conducted at the end of a particular unit or term.

vi. Character-building is an important principle which needs to be inculcated through

the curriculum to infuse character building. Lessons based on values have to be

incorporated in teaching and learning in order to impart the importance of good

values for the wholesome development of individuals.

Additionally, some other points about the curriculum should also be noted.

Firstly, the four language skills are to be integrated within a lesson or over a few lessons

based on a topic. For example, it is noted that activities are contextualized and fun-filled

with integration of language skills in meaningful contexts (Kementerian Pelajaran

Malaysia, 2012, p. 4). Besides that, the aspects of vocabulary, grammar and sound

15

systems that are needed to perform the language skills are to be included and taught.

Furthermore, grammar should not be taught in isolation but in context.

The teaching of English in the primary school is indeed a crucial element in the

overall educational system in Malaysia and the importance of English proficiency in the

human resources of the nation is undeniable. Hence, the English teachers in the primary

school have the challenging task of teaching the language effectively in varied contexts

found in multicultural and multilingual Malaysia. It is hoped that the teachers will rise to

the occasion.

References

Geyser, J. P. (2006). English to the world: Teaching methodology made easy. Subang

Jaya: August Publishing.

Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching (4th ed.). Harlow: Pearson

Education.

Johnson, K. (2001). An introduction to foreign language learning and teaching. Harlow:

Pearson Education.

Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. (2012). Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR):

Teachers Guide SK & SJK: English Language Year 3. Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum. Retrieved from

http://www.moe.gov.my/bpk/v2/kssr/dokumen_kurikulum/tahap_ii/mata_pelajara

n_teras/bahasa_inggeris

Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. (2013). Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR):

Teachers Guide Book English Year 4. Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum. Retrieved from

http://www.moe.gov.my/bpk/v2/kssr/dokumen_kurikulum/tahap_ii/mata_pelajara

n_teras/bahasa_inggeris

Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. (1987). Method: Approach, design and procedure. In M. H.

Long & J. C. Richards (Eds.). Methodology in TESOL: A book of readings

(pp.145-157). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

16

UNIT 2

Teaching of Listening I

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, students should be able to:

1. differentiate between the various types of listening;

2. analyse the different factors which affects a persons judgment;

3. recognize the different listening skills.

Introduction

istening is not merely not talkingit means taking a vigorous human interest in

what is being told us. You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium

where every sound comes back fuller and richer.

Alice Duer Miller

Learning Points

2. 1 Perception skills

- recognizing individual sounds

- discriminating between sounds

- identifying reduced forms in fast speech

- identifying stressed syllables

- identifying stressed words in utterances

- recognizing intonation patterns.

L

17

2. 2 Language skills

- identifying individual words and groups and building up possible meanings for

them.

- identifying discourse markers which organize what is being said, for e.g. then, as

I was saying, as a matter of fact, to start with.

2. 3 Using knowledge of the world

- connecting groups of words to non-linguistic features such as expressions,

gestures or objects in order to get clues to meaning

- using knowledge of a topic to guess what the speaker might be saying

- using knowledge about the patterns certain oral interactions take in order to

predict what is being said, e.g. ordering in a restaurant, making a phone call.

2.4 Dealing with information

- understanding the gist meaning (the overall idea)

- understanding the main points

- understanding details, for e.g. Train times

- inferring information which is not explicitly stated or is missing.

2.5 Interacting with a speaker

- coping with variation among speakers e.g. speed, accent etc

- recognizing the speakers intention

- identifying the speakers mood/attitude

- recognizing the speakers cues about things, e.g. when to speak, change in topic

- predicting what the speaker will say next.

(Goodith,2003).

18

In order to listen well you need to combine sub-skills at the same time when

listening to someone speaking. And these sub-skills depend on the type of text you are

listening to and why you are listening to the text. So, it is the duty of the teacher to teach

the strategies for listening.

Strategies here could include making inferences, realizing where

misunderstandings have occurred and asking for clarification. As the students become

more competent listeners they will need less of these strategies, although even very

proficient listeners will have to resort to these strategies sometimes (Kathleen,. 2005).

It is thus important to interrupt the listening process and get students to reflect on

what they have been just doing in order to teach these strategies.

There are various reasons for our listening. We may listen to get information,

maintain or improve relationship, make judgment and for pleasure or entertainment. For

each of the listening situation we will require different listening skills.

2.6 Listening for Information

Here the listener needs to listen in order to understand what the speaker is saying.

When the listener is able to get the message the speaker intends then the listener is

successful and the listening is effective.

In this kind of situation we listen to lectures, listen to new procedures at the

workplace, listen to instructions, briefing, reports and speeches. Careful listening is

required to get the correct information as very often getting the correct message is

important and sometimes it may even save lives, and at other times may end in

aggravation or misunderstanding.

For effective listening for information the listener has to have good vocabulary.

Concentration is another important factor for effective listening. The listener should not

try to divide his attention to competing stimuli. The listener should succumb to any

listening barriers. Memory too plays an important role in effective listening. We have

discussed this earlier.

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2.7 Listening for Judgmental Purposes

Critical listening is important almost in any situation. Politicians, the media,

salesperson, advocates of policies and procedures, our own financial, emotional,

intellectual, physical and spiritual needs require us to place a premium on judgmental

listening and reasoning. Essentially, as listeners we are affected by factors such as ethos,

logos and pathos. When we attend conferences, it is impossible to attend parallel sessions

concurrently. Conference participants will select paper presentations to listen to by

considering the speakers credibility and/or the topic being presented.

According to Aristotle, there are three factors to be considered for critical

listening and they are:

i. Ethos: There will be people (speakers) who are experts in certain

things but not trustworthy and we may not be able to trust whatever

they say. On the other hand there may be people who we can trust but

are not experts on the topic of conversation. In this case the listener

has to ask himself if the speaker has credibility, that is, is the speaker

honest, unbiased and straightforward. Effective critical listening

requires careful judgment (John, A. K, 2003).

Ethos or speaker credibility and trustworthiness are important

factors for effective critical listening. When you listen to a message

that requires critical judgment or response, you need to evaluate

carefully and ask yourself whether the speaker is credible, is

knowledgeable on the subject and can be trusted to be honest,

straightforward and unbiased. However, you can still write down

informational type questions that can be asked at the end of the lecture,

for example I dont understand Can you please explain? You can

also write down clarifying type questions while listening to the lecture,

for example Is it true that ?

20

Another example of a situation in which you need to be wary of

speaker ethos is when you receive information or messages through

someone. Your coursemate is trustworthy and has high ethos. He or

she informs you of the dates and number of times you need to

participate in online forums of the courses that you have registered for

the semesters distance learning programme. But you still have to

check the online announcement to find out whether the message from

your friend is true and check the deadlines for the forums.

Additionally, you listen critically to arguments put forth by speakers in

your daily life. You need to concentrate and be deliberate with your

listening even when a person has a high ethos. You still need to be

aware that a message or an argument can be affected by the speakers

logos.

ii. Logos: Sometimes speakers with high ethos make errors in

reasoning by accident, being careless, not paying attention or lacking

of analysis. In order to assess logos one need to ask questions such as:

a. Are the data true?

b. What is the source of the data?

c. Are the data the best that can be obtained?

d. Are the data accurately portrayed?

e. Does the speakers conclusion follow from the data?

f. Is the conclusion a certainty, or are exceptions possible?

Speakers who have a high ethos may make errors in logic due to

carelessness or inattention to detail. Ethos cannot exist without logos. As a

critical listener, you will expect well supported arguments that consist of

propositions and valid conclusions from speakers. You will also again need to

ask clarifying questions to verify whether statements, data and data sources

heard from speakers are true and accurate.

21

When drawing conclusions and making inferences, we analyze based

on logic. Sometimes the logic may be faulty and data may not lead to or

justify the inferences and conclusions drawn. Therefore, we may ask ourselves

the following questions:

b. Is the conclusion certain? Can there be exceptions?

c. Are the cause-effect relationships established without any doubt?

d. Does the inference follow from the data? Is there a non sequitor?

e. Is there evidence that the speaker used strong logical thinking?

When listening, we can capitalize on our faster thought speed. While

listening to a talk, we can use the time wisely to predict what will be discussed

next, to evaluate evidence that is presented, to find links among topics or

details, and to think of additional comments or questions that can be made to

the speaker.

iii. Pathos: The psychological or emotional element of communication is

often misunderstood and misused. Listeners have to carefully

determine the speakers message. The speakers may make use of our

weakness to gain desired response from the listener. We can assess the

pathos by asking the following questions:

a. Is the speaker attempting to manipulate rather than

persuade me?

b. What is the speakers intent?

c. Is the speaker combining logos with pathos?

d. Am I responding merely to the pathos?

e. Next week or next year will I be satisfied with the decision

I am making today based on my response to this speaker?

Speakers may appeal to our emotional need, desire and values that are

important to listeners. Without critical listening and evaluation, those who

want adventure and companionship are tricked into becoming drug mules.

Similarly, without pathos we may be cheated when people take advantage of

22

our curiosity, fear, creativity, companionship, guilt, independence, loyalty,

power, pride, sympathy, altruism. Critical listeners should ask themselves

questions when assessing the pathos element:

Is the speaker attempting to manipulate or to persuade me?

What is the speakers intent?

Is the speaker combining logos with pathos, or merely pathos?

Will I be satisfied with the decision I am making today?

Critical listening is effective if the listener considers all three elements of the

message in the analysis and in perspective: ethos, or source credibility; logos, or

logical argument; and pathos, or psychological appeals.

2.8 Five parts of critical listening skills that will help you really hear the

other person.

2.8.1 Focus and Pay Attention

Focus on the speaker and pay attention to him. Match your nonverbal

body language with your words so he knows you are listening. Look at him

while he speaks and don't let distractions get in the way. In a group setting,

don't talk to others if a main speaker has the floor. Don't try to find something

to counter the speaker's thoughts.

2.8.2 Listen Actively

Communicate through your body language that you are focusing on the

speaker. You want to not only understand the meaning of the conversation but

you want to connect emotionally through a smile and interested expressions.

Remain engaged by nodding from time to time, keeping an open stance and

encouraging the speaker with little verbal affirmations.

23

2.8.3 Offer Feedback

Provide input into the conversation so that you can better understand what

the speaker says. This will probably mean that you need to paraphrase what

the speaker's own words. Say something like the following, "I am hearing you

say....." or "Do you mean....." Ask additional questions or ask for extra

information if needed for clarification.

2.8.4 Wait to Pass Judgment

You have filters, beliefs and life history that can distort your perception of

a conversation. This can cause you to judge what you hear before you know

the whole story. Wait to speak until the speaker finishes. Don't interrupt. It

frustrates both you and the speaker. Allow the speaker to state his thoughts so

you can grasp his full meaning. Be aware of any of your own biases toward

the subject or toward the speaker.

2.8.5 Respond Accordingly

Be respectful in the conversation. State your opinions clearly but nicely.

You don't need to be obnoxious. As you engage in active listening, you

demonstrate understanding and honoring the other person. Your intention is to

gather information and see his perspective. You will not benefit by putting

anyone down (Goodith, W, 2003).

24

2. 9 Listening for Pleasure or Entertainment

This form of listening is for enjoyment and it can be listening to music, a speaker,

theatre, television, radio or a film. It is not the source that makes it entertaining but the

listener who finds it entertaining (Anne, A. & Tony, L, 2008). Some input may be

entertaining to some and not others and what we appreciate will depend on:

i. Presentation: It is the way something is presented. Two things can be

presented in two different ways and one may entertain you while the

other may not.

ii. Perception: Sometimes it is the perception of the listener that makes

something entertaining and may not be the actual presentation and

expectation plays a large role in perception.

iii. Previous experience: Our previous experience may or may not make

us enjoy something and usually we will enjoy something which we

know a lot about. If what we listen to is associated with something

pleasant then we will enjoy and vice-versa.

2. 10 Improving Your Listening Skills During a Lesson

As students you spend a lot of hours listening (or perhaps I should say

"hearing"by now you should already know that there is a difference between listening

and hearing). See if you can improve your listening skills by following some of the

strategies below:

Maintain eye contact with the teacher.

Of course you will need to look at your notebook to write your notes, but eye

contact keeps you focused on the job at hand and keeps you involved in the

lecture.

Focus on content, not delivery.

Have you ever counted the number of times a teacher clears his/her throat in a

fifteen minute period? If so, you weren't focusing on content.

25

Avoid emotional involvement.

When you are too emotionally involved in listening, you tend to hear what you

want to hear--not what is actually being said. Try to remain objective and open-

minded.

Avoid distractions.

Don't let your mind wander or be distracted by the person shuffling papers near

you. If the classroom is too hot or too cold try to remedy that situation if you

can. The solution may require that you dress more appropriately to the room

temperature.

Treat listening as a challenging mental task.

Listening to an academic lecture is not a passive act--at least it shouldn't be.

You need to concentrate on what is said so that you can process the information

into your notes.

Stay active by asking mental questions.

Active listening keeps you on your toes. Here are some questions you can ask

yourself as you listen. What key point is the professor making? How does this

fit with what I know from previous lectures? How is this lecture organized?

Use the gap between the rate of speech and your rate of thought.

You can think faster than the lecturer can talk. That's one reason your mind may

tend to wander. All the above suggestions will help you keep your mind

occupied and focused on what being said. You can actually begin to anticipate

what the professor is going to say as a way to keep your mind from straying.

Your mind does have the capacity to listen, think, write and ponder at the same

time, but it does take practice.

26

2. 11 Listening in Daily Life

Listening skills is vital for our social, emotional and professional success, and it has been

proven that listening is a skill we can learn (John, 2003).

Active listening is really an important skill. To know how to listen to someone else, think

about how you would want to be listened to. While the ideas are largely intuitive, it might

take some practice to develop (or re-develop) the skills (Anne, A. & Tony, L, 2008)..

Heres what good listeners know and you should, too:

a. Face the speaker: Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness

through body language.

b. Maintain eye contact, to the degree that you all remain comfortable.

c. Minimize external distractions

d. Turn off the TV. Put down your book or magazine, and ask the speaker and other

listeners to do the same.

e. Respond appropriately: Show that you understand. Murmur (uh-huh and um-

hmm) and nod. Raise your eyebrows. Say words such as Really, Interesting, as

well as more direct prompts: What did you do then? and What did she say?

f. Focus solely on what the speaker is saying: Try not to think about what you are going

to say next. The conversation will follow a logical flow after the speaker makes her

point.

g. Minimize internal distractions: If your own thoughts keep horning in, simply let them

go and continuously re-focus your attention on the speaker, much as you would

during meditation.

h. Keep an open mind: Wait until the speaker is finished before deciding that you

disagree. Try not to make assumptions about what the speaker is thinking.

27

i. Avoid letting the speaker know how you handled a similar situation: Unless they

specifically ask for advice, assume they just need to talk it out.

j. Even if the speaker is launching a complaint against you, wait until they finish to

defend yourself. The speaker will feel as though their point had been made. They

wont feel the need to repeat it, and youll know the whole argument before you

respond. Research shows that, on average, we can hear four times faster than we can

talk, so we have the ability to sort ideas as they come inand be ready for more.

k. Engage yourself: Ask questions for clarification, but, once again, wait until the

speaker has finished. That way, you wont interrupt their train of thought. After you

ask questions, paraphrase their point to make sure you didnt misunderstand. Start

with: So youre saying

As you work on developing your listening skills, you may feel a bit panicky when there is

a natural pause in the conversation. What should you say next? Learn to settle into the

silence and use it to better understand all points of view.

Ironically, as your listening skills improve, so will your aptitude for conversation. A

friend once complimented me on my conversational skills. I hadnt said more than four

words, but I had listened to him for 25 minutes.

28

Task 2.1

Call a friend to carry out this activity. You were absent from school as you were not

feeling well. Call your friend to inquire about the days lesson and whether there is any

homework to be completed.

You

Call your friend to find out what happened in class that day and ask about whatever

homework there is that you need to complete.

Your friend

Tell your friend about the lessons for the day and if there is any homework to be

completed.

Task 2.2

1. List and explain the four types of listening.

2. What are the three factors to be considered for critical listening?

References

Anne, A., & Tony, L.(2008). Language teaching: Listening. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

Goodith, W. (2003). Resource books for teachers: Listening effectively. Alabama:

Prentice Hall.

John, A. K. (2003). Listening effectively: Achieving high standards inc. Ohio: Prentice

Hall.

29

UNIT 3

Teaching of Listening II

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit, students should be able to:

1. identify most of the skills and strategies in order to teach listening skills more

effectively;

2. to create suitable listening tasks for your students using the examples given in this

topic;

3. get students to participate actively in tasks which are related to their daily lives.

Introduction

This topic contains some sub-skills which actually make up the overall skill of listening.

They involve recognizing small bits of language and larger clues, such as knowledge of

the topic a speaker is talking about, the setting he/she is speaking in or the gestures used

in order to make listening more accurate. Although, others may use different terms or

categorize in different ways, this topic contains a wide range of possible skills as seen by

Goodith, W. (2003)

Learning Points

3.1 Listening and Speaking

In listening the settings may range from individual, for example, listening to your

favourite cd, to interpersonal, for example, gossiping on the phone with your best friend,

and to group-based, for example, hearing to announcements over the PA system. Some

30

form of listening may involve a response to others, interactional, while others may not,

non-interactional (Anne. & Tony, 2008).

Firstly, we must understand that listening and speaking always go together. We

cannot communicate effectively unless the two skills are developed in sequence. In many

circumstances, listening is a reciprocal skill, that is, speakers and listeners always

exchange roles.

Task 3.1

1. When you read, do you read aloud to yourself in your head and listen to your mental

voice? Are you reading or actually listening?

2. To communicate effectively, do you think it is essential for us to be skillful in listening

and speaking? Why?

I am sure you have sometimes in your live experienced learning part of a

language, a phrase or sentence, in another language and used it with a person who speaks

the other language only to find yourself bombarded with a torrent of unintelligible

language. This shows that listening and speaking are complementary skills, equally

important for successful communication. So, it is important to be skilled in both listening

and speaking and be able to integrate them. Anne, A. & Tony, L. (2008), say that

effective speaking depends on successful listening for both L1 and L2 learners.

31

Task 3.2

How has your listening and speaking skills improved over the years? In your opinion,

what are the reasons for this evolution?

3.2 Listening Comprehension

How do we hear sounds?

In simple terms, when sound waves from the outside world strike the eardrum, it

vibrates. These vibrations from the eardrum pass through the bones of the middle ear

(ossicles) and into the inner ear through the oval window. They then are disseminated

into the cochlea where they are converted into electrical impulses and are transmitted to

the brain via the auditory nerve. For further information visit:

http://www.theearfound.com/anatomy.html

Speech perception takes place by identifying phonemes. English phonemes are

classified into consonants and vowels. Consonants are described in terms of:

Voicing;

place of articulation;

manner of articulation.

While vowels are described in terms of:

lip rounding;

tongue height;

tongue position.

In normal speech, phonemes do not occur in isolation but it the sounds that flow

into each other. During speech, the articulators are in constant movement. Assimilation

32

makes a sound become more like an adjacent sound due to articulatory features such as

voicing, place or manner of articulation. For example, the pronunciation of the plural

suffix (-s) usually agrees with the final consonants of words, that is, the voiceless /s/ is

used for words ending with a voiceless consonant (cats [kats]) and the voiced /z/ is used

for words ending with a voiced consonant (dogs [dagz]). Sometimes speakers insert

sounds into words, for example when doing it consciously for the single syllable word

please in order to emphasize it - /pli:z/. And very often native speakers delete sounds

especially unstressed vowels, for example, in the word mathematics is pronounced

/mmtiks/ and family is pronounced /famli:/ (Gerald, K. 2004)

Continuous speech is always perceived within a context and not in isolation. In

order to learn a language we must learn words in that language as without words there

will be no communication. We also need to learn to infer meanings from key words in

order to make meaningful interpretations. Here stress, intonation and non-verbal clues

will help us perceive words more clearly. Content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives)

carry the most information in a phrase and therefore are important while the less

prominent parts are function words (prepositions, articles, pronouns).

How quickly we recognize words will depend on:

word frequency (how often do we listen to the words);

the presence of competitors (similar words);

meaning and context (a words relationship to the larger meaning).

Estimating the meaning of words will also be influenced by ambiguity. Ambiguous

words will influence the actual process of interpretation. For example:

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Names

Aida : Theres a telephone call for you.

Suzy : Whos it?

Aida : Paul.

Suzy : Paul who?

It is clear here that Suzy must know more than one Paul. So the name Paul becomes

ambiguous.

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Homophones

These are words with the same sounds but different spelling and meaning. For example:

sum - some

bare - bear

meat - meet

seen - scene

sea - see

Homonyms

These are words with the same sounds and same spelling but different meanings. For

example:

Bank (of a river) - bank (place of business)

Mole (on the skin) - mole (an animal)

Bark (of a tree) - bark (of a dog)

Both homophones and homonyms will not be a problem in listening to experienced

speakers of a language as the context will nearly rule out the competing word.

Polysemy

These are words with the same or different meaning depending on its usage. For

example:

i. The words ripe and mature can be used to describe fruits and they mean the

same. But, when they used for animals they mean different things.

ii. Profound and deep can be used to describe thoughts which would mean the

same. But, only deep can be used to describe water while profound cannot.

Source: Kathleen (2005) Practical English Language Teaching: Speaking

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Task 3.3

In the following advertisements, identify the ambiguous items. How does the context help

you choose the correct meaning?

1. The best solution is no solution. (On an advertisement for disposable contact

lenses).

2. You can bank on our bank. (On an advertisement for a local savings bank).

3. Vacation in England and gain some pounds. (On a travel advertisement)

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Sample Lesson 3.1

Interrupting

Level : Elementary and above

Time : 10 15 minutes

Aims : To encourage the students to ask for clarification and to realize it is not always

their fault when they do not understand; to guess the meaning of words they have

missed.

Preparation: Find or write a short text that the students will find interesting, and which

is at their level. It must be fairly chatty. When you read the text you have to obscure

some of the words by coughing or mumbling. Do not have too many of such words. It is

a good idea to underline these words and it should be about one to every 20 words. Try

to find the best words to obscure.

Procedure: Tell the students that they are going to hear a story but you are having a sore

throat. When they are not able to hear any word they have to ask you politely to repeat

the last few words or if they think they can, let them guess the word. Every body in the

class must try to interrupt at least once.

Follow-up: Students can read texts in pairs and one interrupt or guess words.

Follow-up 1: For this story, the students suggest what the howling noise was.

Follow-up 2: In pairs, the students construct similar stories to tell each other. You could

also play short excerpts of news, talks or dialogues and ask students to say what the

topic is and to predict what will be said next. Give the students the opportunity to

become participants rather than overhearers. Allow them to answer back to the speaker

on the tape.

Source: Goodith (2003). Resource Books for Teachers: Listening Effectively

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3.3 What is successful listening?

There are a number of different ways in which the listener can process or fail to process

incoming speech, which could serve as a basis for evaluating the degree of success of a

particular listening performance.

First the listener may not hear adequately what has been said, due for example, to

competing background noise or unfamiliarity with the speakers accent. Under these

circumstances, the speech may have been heard in a strictly limited sense; the listener

recognizes that he has been spoken to, but has no idea what the message contained in the

speech was.

Secondly, and this is presumably a common problem for the foreign listener,

speech may contain words or phrases that the listener can hear adequately but is unable to

understand because of serious problems with the syntax or semantics of the foreign

language.

Thirdly, there are times when the listener is perfectly able to hear and understand

the speaker but may have switched off consciously or unconsciously. For instance, we

might suddenly remember that we have only ten minutes before the bank closes. In this

sort of situation it is common to find ourselves allowing the incoming speech from our

interlocutor to flow past us as a stream of sound which we make no attempt to process.

Fourth, there are those messages which the listener attends to fully and from

which he tries to construct a coherent interpretation. We might consider this last situation

to be one of maximally co-operative listening, in the sense that the listener is both able

and willing to play his part in the reciprocal activity of communication.

Traditionally, listening has often been regarded, alongside reading, as a passive

language skill. We have already suggested how it involves more than language; we also

need to challenge the view that listening is merely passive or receptive. As we hope to

show the role of the successful listener has to be thought of as an active one.

Understanding is not something that happens because of what a speaker says; the listener

has a crucial part to play in the process, by activating various types of knowledge, and by

applying what he knows to what he hears and trying to understand what the speaker

means.

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Listening is also closely connected to speaking. Being a good listener involves

collaborating with speakers and taking an active role in asking for clarification when you

do not understand. Some people especially children are quite shy to do this. Effective

listening also involves empathizing with the speaker and trying to see things from his/her

point of view.

3.4 Creating listening texts and tasks

i. Personalizing listening texts

Texts and tasks should build confidence, provide motivation, entertain and generally

make listening a less stressful activity. This can be done by personalizing the listening the

students do. Instead of bringing listening materials recorded outside, try to use the

students voices and deciding on their own goals and reasons for listening. This will

mean they are listening to familiar voices and to topics that will interest and motivate

them. You can also use teacher talk in the classroom. The teacher can also get the

students to make their own listening texts.

ii. Adapting published materials

Published materials in the form of audio or video tape distances the original speakers in

time, space and culturally from the receivers in the classroom. Here the students will have

to react as an overhearer or judge to something that was not addressed to them. These

create a psychological distance between the students and what they hear. So,

a. adapt the recordings to make them more personal;

b. give the students the opportunity to become participants rather than overhearers;

c. allow them to answer back to the speaker on the tape.

iii. Using authentic listening materials

This idea is to provide students with some strategies for coping with real-life listening

(radio and television programmes, lectures and so on.) When listening to these types of

texts the listeners cannot stop speakers and ask them to repeat or clarify something. These

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types of listening give the students information about current world events and other

cultures.

(Source: Goodith (2003). Resource Books for Teachers: Listening Effectively.)

3.5 Listening with a purpose

The active nature of listening means the learner must be motivated by a communicative

purpose. The purpose will determine what he must listen for and what is important for

him. Here are some activities according to the kind of response the learner must produce:

3.5.1 Performing physical tasks

Learners are required to listen for specific meanings related to a task which he must

perform. He does not need to understand every word but enough to perform his task.

a. Identification and selection

The learner has a set of pictures (a wanted person, stolen car etc) and listens to short

dialogues. He then must decide which dialogue refers to the picture. Or, the learner can

hold one picture and listen to a few descriptions or dialogues and determine which

spoken text refers to the picture.

b. Sequencing:

Learners must listen and identify successive pictures that are described in the correct

sequence. The pictures can be events in a story or places visited by tourists. And the

spoken texts can be narratives or a conversation between tourists.

c. Locating:

Here learners are required to place items in their appropriate location, for example, on a

plan of a place. They can also follow a route on a map. The spoken text can be direct

instruction, description of a scene, a conversation or two people discussing.

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d. Drawing and constructing:

Learners listen to a description or discussion and draw a scene or colour. They can also

construct a model or pattern using blocks or pieces that are provided.

3.5.2 Transforming information

In these kinds of activities learners have to process meanings intensively in short texts or

scan a longer text. Learners will be required to transfer information from a text to a table,

chart or diagram. For example, transferring information about people to a table. Other

example can be recording a series of station announcements, filling in of a form about the

interviewee while listening to an interview, answering true/false questions while listening

to a talk or completing blanks in a number of statements (John, A. K. 2003).

3.5.3 Reformulating and evaluating information

Here learners will be required to reformulate important contents in their own words in the

form of notes or summary. More advanced learners can be asked to evaluate information

for arguments or group discussions.

3.6 Telephoning

Telephoning in English is usually quite difficult because you do this with

strangers. This is because if you are speaking to your family members or friends you will

be using your own language. And through the telephone you will not be able to see the

person you are talking to and will miss all the expressions and gestures which mean you

miss all the clues of listening. Furthermore, some of the 'telephone language' will also be

quite strange if you are not used to them. Telephone habits also differ from culture to

culture. For some people the speaker is important while for others the importance is given

to the listener.

It is important to lead the students slowly through several stages of learning how

to use the telephone before they really make telephone calls in the target language.

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Stage 1

Documents

MODULE_1