Listening

WHAT IS LISTENING?

Listening is an active, purposeful process of making sense of what we hear.

It is a receptive skill.

Listening usually happens in real time.

Buck 1995 points out the assumption that listeners simple decode messages is mistaken.

BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING OF LISTENING» In 1800s appeared Gouin`s series method.

» Later, the direct method by Charles Berlitz promoted the teaching of listening comprehension and the idea that new teaching should be introduced orally.

» After the World War II the audiolingual method dominated foreign language teaching.

PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING LISTENING

1. Expose students to different ways of processing information.

Bottom-up approach: students start with the

component parts: words, grammar

Top-dowm approach: learners start from their background knowledge either content schema or textual schema

2. Expose students to different types of listening Listening for specific information Listening for gist

3. Teach a variety of tasks

4. Consider text, difficulty, and authenticity Speed Authentic texts Authenticity is devided into: A. task authenticity: simulated, minimal/ incidental B. Input authenticity: genuine, altered. Adapted,

simulated, minimal/incidental.

Classroon techniques and class

1. Dictation with difference.

» Step 1 A road went through the forest. A women was walking down the road. Suddenly she saw a man. He was wearing a shirt, pants, and a hat. He smiled and said something.

» Step 2A - road went through the - forest. A - women was walking down the road. Suddenly she saw a - man. He was wearing a - shirt, - pants, and a - hat. He smiled and said-.

Do it yourself: Modifying materials to add listening for specific information:

» Micro-listening » Bits and pieces » What do I want to know» Dictation and cloze

2. What are they talking about? Listening for gits.» Step 1. Listen. Which are consultations between a doctor and patient, and which are general conversations? Circle your answer.A-Consultation, ConversationB-Consultation, ConversationC-Consultation, ConversationD-Consultation, ConversationE-Consultation, Conversation

» Step 2Listen again and write the key words that gave you the clue.

Do-it-yourself: Adding gist tasks.

» Main ideas» What is the order.» Which picture

3. Listening between the lines: Inference tasks.

» Step 1Look at the sign. What do you think it means? Listen to the dialogue, then circle the answer.

» Step 2Now read the script to see if you were right.

Man: So the office is, what, on the fifth floor?

Woman: That´s right, fifth floor. Room 503.

Man: Where´s the – oh, there it is. Well, shall

we go up?

Woman: Yeah, let's go.

Do-it-yourself inference.

» Focus on emotions.» Look for background information.

Listening in the class

» A warm-up that integrates top-down and bottom-up data.

» A main listening task.» A speaking task related to the previous task.

Conclusion