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2#1 Listening S!i""s
,istening is among one of the important sills in learning a language. or
the acquisition of a language/ listening plays a pivotal role. The process of
acquiring a language starts with listening and ends up in the production of
writing.
After birth/ a child hears a variety of sounds and can distinguish
among them. 0very language has a common and a natural sequence forthe development of the language sills. 1imilarly 0nglish language has the
natural sequence of listening/ speaing/ reading/ and writing. ,istening sill
is raned first of all the four. This highlights the importance of listening sill
in the life of human beings.
2irsch 3"45)6 stated/ 7,istening as an aspect of sills8 involves
neurological response and interpretations of sounds to understand and to
give meaning by reacting/ selecting meaning/ remembering/ attending/
analy9ing and including previous experience.:
,undsteen 3"4+46 stated/ 7,istening is a highly complex/ interactive
process that has been defined as ;the process by which spoen language
2
. ,istening comprehensionproblems.." actors affecting
listening problems// ,istening
comprehensionproblems
.& Techniques of Teaching ,istening
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is converted to meaning in the mind=. As this definition suggests/ listening
is more than $ust hearing.:
>olvin and
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A good listener does not merely remain silent. 2e ass questions.
2owever/ these questions must avoid all implications 3whether in tone of
voice or in wording6 of septicism or challenge or hostility. They must
clearly be motivated by curiosity about the speaer@s views.
1teinberg + said/ 7Listening is more complex than merely hearing. It is
a process that consists of four stages8 sensing and attending/
understanding and interpreting/ remembering/ and responding . . .. The
stages occur in sequence but we are generally unaware of them.B
(Sheila Steinbe!" An Introduction to Communication Studies# $%ta an& C')an*
Lt" +00,-
There are four elements of good "istening8
". attention--the focused perception of both visual and verbal stimuli
. hearing --the physiological act of @opening the gates to your ears@
!. understanding --assigning meaning to the messages received
&. remembering --the storing of meaningful information
In addition to the four elements/ there are also four levels of listening/
namely acnowledging/ sympathi9ing/ paraphrasing/ and empathi9ing. The
four levels of listening range from passive to interactive when considered
separately. 2owever/ the most effective listeners are able to pro$ect all four
levels at the same time. That is/ they demonstrate that they are paying
attention and maing an effort to understand and evaluate what it is they
are hearing/ and they complete the process by demonstrating through their
responses their level of comprehension and interest in what the speaer is
saying.
Active "istening involves six sills/ that is/ paying attention/ holding
$udgment/ reflecting/ clarifying/ summari9ing/ and sharing. 0ach sill
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contributes to the active listening mind-set/ and each sill includes various
techniques or behaviors. These sills are not mutually exclusive. or
example/ paying attention isn@t something you stop doing when you start
holding $udgment. #or are the sills consistently weighed in importance. In
one conversation/ clarifying may tae much effort and timeC in another
conversation/ gaining clarity and understanding may be quic and easy.B
2#2 Listening compre&ension pro*"ems
efore we begin/ let=s tae a minute to discuss the term listening
comprehension. This sill can be observed when you read to the children.
,istening comprehension can be defined as 7the ability to recall
and understand information which is presented orally.: This information
might be presented through a boo/ filmstrip/ video/ or felt board set.
,istening comprehension is a very important sill for a number of reasons.
irstly/ being able to recall and understand information is an
important prereading sill. In order to be a strong reader later on/ a childmust be able to recall information when it is presented orally.
1econdly/ children who have strong listening comprehension sills
also tend to be good listeners overall. As adults we often spend too much
of our time taling and not enough time listening. ,istening is a sill that a
child will use throughout hisEher entire life. Developing strong listening
comprehension sills early on will help each child become a better listener
for life.
And finally/ strong listening comprehension sills also promote
thining and problem-solving sills. >hen listening to a story/ the children
begin to develop their own thoughts and ideas about the situations
presented in the story.
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2#2#1 Factors a((ecting "istening pro*"ems
There are a number of factors that affect listening and the ability of
the speaer to spea and the listener to listen. In particular/ in more
sensitive situations when attention and privacy are important/ then external
elements that distract or interrupt become increasingly significant.
Sensory factors
Any factors which affect the senses can either support or hinder listening.
In particular/ sudden changes in sensory factors create a contrasting effect
that can be very distracting.
Sig&ts
>hat you can see can be very distracting or otherwise. Anything moving
and people in particular are distracting/ even when we do not now them.
1itting by a window can be both relaxing and also distracting when
interesting events are unfolding outside. Thus pupils who sit by the window
may be distracted enough not to listen to their teachers.
Soun)
A noisy room provides much distraction/ as sound is an important element
of listening. 'eople interrupting and asing questions or even taling
nearby are a particular distraction and can put talers off.
Sme""
The human nose is a very sensitive instrument and smells can be very
evocative and distracting. or this reason/ listening in a cafeteria or
restaurant may or may not be a good idea. A good chat over dinner can be
very helpful/ but sitting in the school cafeteria whilst luncheon smells waft
past may be less desirable.
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Temperature an) &umi)ity
It is difficult to tal comfortably if it is too hot/ too cold or too humid. If you
are sweating profusely it is not easy to tal or listen.
'ecor
The decoration of a room can be relaxing/ with pastel shades and subdued
lighting/ or it can be fussy/ loud and generally distracting.
P&ysica" com(ort
The comfort of seating/ carpeting and other elements also helps with
encouraging tal. This is particularly so if you are going to be taling for a
while. Therefore in this case a comfortable environment can be important.
Physiological factors
'iscom(ort
If the listener is uncomfortable in any way then their discomfort acts as a
distraction and reduces their ability to tal or listen. 'ain is an even more
extreme version of this/ and if somebody is hurting they will not be able to
tal or listen for long.
I""ness
Felated to distraction is illness. 1omeone who is ill in some way may first
be more interested in getting better than taling or listening. Illness also
may affect the mind and the ability to focus.
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Fatigue
>hen somebody is tired/ either after physical exercise or perhaps a hard
day@s wor/ they will liely lac the ability to concentrate on listening or be
less ready to tal/ particularly about important topics.
Stress
Any form of stress is liely to put the person into a state where they are
less comfortable and are unwilling or unable to tal or listen. 1tress should
thus be treated either by an initial winding down to reduce it or by putting
off the discussion until a place and time can be found that is less stressful.
2#2#2 Listening compre&ension pro*"ems
+&y some "earners (in) "istening )i((icu"t
1# T&ey are trying to un)erstan) e,ery or)
Despite the fact that we can cope with missing whole chuns of speech
while having a conversation on a noisy street in our own language/ many
people don@t seem to be able to transfer that sill easily to a second
language. Gne method of tacling this is to show them how to identify the
important words that they need to listen out for. In 0nglish this is shown in
an easy-to-spot way by which words in the sentence are stressed 3spoen
louder and longer6. Another is to give them one very easy tas that you
now they can do even if they do not get 4H of what is being said to build
up their confidence/ such as identifying the name of a famous person or
spotting something that is mentioned many times.
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ritish/ American and Australian accents/ but might also have Indian or
rench thrown in. >hilst this is theoretically useful if or when they get a $ob
in a multinational company/ it might not be the additional challenge they
need right now- especially if they studied 0nglish as a second language at
school. In such cases/ it is better for teachers to record the conversation
before class/ reading all or part of the tapescript out in your 3hopefully
more familiar and therefore easier6 accent/ and giving them a listening tas
where the written questions help out lie gap fills.
# T&ey "ac! "istening stamina t&ey get tire)
This is a problem with a second or foreign language. ou can listen for
sometime until your brain seems to reach saturation point and from then
on nothing goes in until you escape to the toilet for " minutes. The first
thing you@ll need to bear in mind is to build up the length of the texts you
use 3or the lengths between pauses6 over the course in exactly the same
way as you build up the difficulty of the texts and tass. ou can mae the
first time they listen to a longer text a success and therefore a confidence
booster by doing it in a part of the lesson and part of the day when they aremost alert. Teachers should not overload their brains with new language
beforehand. Instead teachers should give them a brea or easy activity
before they start. ou can build up their stamina by also maing the
speaing tass longer. They can practice the same thing outside class by
watching an 0nglish movie with subtitles and taing the subtitles off for
longer and longer periods each time.
3# T&ey &a,e a menta" *"oc!
1ometimes a learner has to struggle with badly graded listening texts in
school/ examinations or self-study materials. This experience mae them
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feel that they are not able and will not be able to learn the language.
>hatever the reason/ before you can build up their sills they need their
confidence bac. The easiest solution is $ust to use much easier texts/
perhaps using them mainly as a prompt for discussion or grammar
presentations to stop them feeling patroni9ed. ou can disguise other easy
listening comprehension tass as pronunciation wor on lined speech and
so on.
4# T&ey are )istracte) *y *ac!groun) noise
eing able to cope with bacground noise is another sill that does not
easily transfer from the first language. This has to be built up along with
learners@ listening and general language sills. 'lan listenings for when you
now it will be quiet outside/ not during recess time or when the class next
door is also doing a listening session.
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16# T&ey &a,e &earing pro*"ems
ou might also have learners who have problems hearing particular
frequencies or who have particular problems with bacground noise. In this
case teachers could try setting most listening tass as homewor andE or
letting one or more learners read from the tapescript as they listen.
11# T&ey can.t te"" t&e )i((erence *eteen t&e )i((erent ,oices
%oices that are clearly distinct to a native speaer can be completely
confusing for a non-native speaer. Teachers can avoid these problems by
using texts with one woman and one man/ or you can practice them with
tass where the students only have to count how many times the speaer
changes.
2#$ %ssessing Listening Compre&ension
There are two inds of listening tests 8 tests that assess specific
aspects of listening/ lie sound discrimination and tas based tests
which test sills in accomplishing different types of listening tass
considered important for the learners being tested. >hen testing/ textselection has to be carried out carefully.
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A tal or story which is read aloud is easier to understand than a
conversation or story that is told. This is because of the false starts and
irrelevant materials or interruptions that occur in conversations and
stories that are told.
The test can be presented live J that is the test administrators could
either read it aloud in front of the class or it can be taped. or greater
reliability/ taping is recommended. This is particularly important if the
same test is to be administered several times to different classes.
Different people may read the text differently and even the same
person may not read the text in exactly the same way each time the
test is administered. This reduces test reliability. The best would be to
use a clear tape in a room with good acoustics. %ideo tapes are better
at the early stages than audio tapes. They are more lie a live
presentation. They allow the listener to use facial expressions as clues
to meaning. Tapes also have the advantage in that they mae it
possible for the pupils to hear a variety of voices and ways of speaing.
Ideally/ a teacher should use real language/ real conversations/ tapes
or stories and so on. In practice/ this is not always suitable. Feal
conversations often tae place in noisy surroundings. This maes cleartaping very difficult. 1ometimes it is difficult to get the right length of
tape for a test. And most commercially produced tapes / except story
tapes/ are unsuitable for small children. This often means that a teacher
should mae his orf her own tapes. Usually/ a teacher does this by
reading aloud a written text. This is not a very good practice. >ritten
language is very different in the way it wors. It has to be edited to
mae it more lie a spoen text.
1ome listening comprehension tests are quitely easy to carry ou. As a
teacher you can hold these tests to determine what your pupils=
listening problem is thus enabling you to plan your teaching ob$ectives
and strategies accordingly.
2#$#1 Nouns
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To determine if the pupil nows the meaning of the word used
to label things. The easiest way to do this is for the teacher to
say the word and have the pupil point to a picture or ob$ect in
question. As an example/ to assess if a pupil has understood
the names of local fruits/ teacher place a few pictures of the
fruits/ then say mango. 2ave the pupil point to the correct
picture. The teacher can substitute pictures of fruits with
pictures of furniture/ vehicles/ buildings/ parts of the body and
so on. It will be good if the teacher can as the pupils to point
to real ob$ects.
2#$#2 %)-ecti,es
To test for listening comprehension of ad$ectives/ the teacher
can show a picture of two similar ob$ects but with different
characteristics/ and as the pupil to point to the ob$ect with
the named characteristics. or example/ to find out whether
the pupil has understood the word =thic=/ the teacher can
show a picture of two or more boos/ one of which is thicer
than the other. The teacher then says/ ='oint to the thic
boo=. If the pupil understands/ he will point to the correctpicture.
2#$#$ 7er*s
To test a pupil=s comprehension of action words/ the teacher
can as the pupil to either perform the action named/ or to
point to a picture showing the action.
or example/ the teacher can say=Kump= and as the pupil to
show the $umping action.
2#$#/ Preposition
To test the student=s understanding of words used to indicate
position/ the teacher can show pictures of similar ob$ects in
different positions. or example/ the teacher can show three
pictures/ one of a boo under the des/ another of a boo on
the des and the third of a boo beside the des. The teacher
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then says/ ='oint to the boo which is under the des=. And if
the pupil can do so/ it shows heEshe has understood the
preposition used.
2#$#0 Tenses
To test whether the pupil understands present action/
completed action and future action/ the teacher can again
use pictures. or example/ the teacher can show three
pictures/ one of a boy icing a ball/ another of a boy waling
towards the ball and the third of a boy about to ic the ball.
The teacher then says/ =1how me :The picture of a boy who
has iced the ball.:.If the pupil point to the correct picture/ it
shows heEshe has understood the tense used.
2#$# 8n)erstan)ing )irection an) instruction
To test whether a pupil can understand instructions given by
the teacher/ the teacher concerned gives the instructions for
the pupil to perform the tas given to carry out the
instructions. or instance/ the teacher can say/ =>ipe your
mouth.= .If the pupil can carry out as instructed it shows
heEshe has understood the instruction.2#$#3 8n)erstan)ing )iscourse
To test whether the pupil can understand connected text/ the
teacher can read from a text and then as questions based
on the text.
2#/ Tec&ni9ues o( Teac&ing Listening Compre&ension in 'i((erent
Communicationa" Conte:ts
,istening is a difficult sill. ou need to mae sure that pupils are
always motivated and one of the best ways of maintaining
motivation is to ensure a high degree of success. uild up your
pupils= sills and self confidence by maing sure pupils understand
clearly what they are expected to do before they start on any
activity. ou should provide a context for listening. Tell them what
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ind of text they are going to listen to/ either a tal or a story and
where it taes place/ for example/ in a small town in 1abah. our
pupils can listen to the same listening input many times/ each time
for a different purpose. ?ae sure that pupils now what they are
listening each time. >hen pupils listen to the input for the first
time/set them some straightforward questions which will help them
get a grasp of the overall text. ou can as questions about the
main information content/ for example/ who the speaers are/ what
they are taling about and so on.
'repare your pupils for the main listening tas by doing
plenty of pre-listening tass which will help them succeed in
whatever ind of listening tas they are required to do. As
questions or set tass that are appropriate for the level of
proficiency of the student and type of test. ,istening and writing at
the same time is difficult. Use formats that require minimun writing/
for example/ filling in gaps/ completing statements/ ?
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phrase begins and where it ends. They have no idea of the rules of
0nglish pronunciation or grammar.
Intermediate learners have a fairly good grasp of the
phonemic system of 0nglish but as most of the listening they did
at the beginners level comprised fully scripted texts/ they would
still have difficulty with authentic texts. They would not be able to
handle well such features as hesitations/ false starts/ bacground
noise/ and so on. ut they would be able to remember longer
phrases and sentences.
Gn the other hand/ advanced pupils are very proficient in the
language. The pupil can process the language almost
automatically without paying conscious attention to it. 2is attention
can almost entirely be on the message content/ the interpersonal
relations between the speaers/his own emotional and intellectual
response to what he hears and so on. >hen the text is incomplete
or there is a lot of bacground noise/ the advanced learner is not
frustrated. 2e learns to use compensatory strategies. If he fails to
hear something/ he tries to infer what it could have been/ using
information in the rest of the tal that he manage to hear.
The following are aspects of listening which you can teach and
some suggested activities8
8
2#/#1 8n)erstan)ing or)s an) concepts
". #ames of ob$ects J As far as possible/ use actual ob$ects
to teach the names.
. %erb meanings J perform the actions
!. 'ictures J mae use of pictures
&.
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help pupils understand that there could be many different
types of chair.
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teacher could also as the learner to choose the main idea
from three choices.
(. ?aing inferences and drawing conclusions J Fead part of
a story that the learner does not now. 1top at an exciting
point and as the pupil to guess what will happen next. The
teacher could also read a story and as the learner to provide
different endings to the story.
2#/#/ Critica" "istening
". Fecogni9ing absurdities J Tell a short story using a word
or phrase that does not fit the story. As the pupil to find out
what is funny or absurd about the story. An example of such
a sentence is/ = I could not lift the toy car because it was too
heavy.=
. ,istening to advertisements J As the pupil to listen to
advertisements and determine how the advertiser is trying to
persuade people to buy the products.
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d. should reread favourite stories
e. should provide follow-up activities
E:ercise 2#
1# Pro)uce some tapes to teac& "istening (or un)erstan)ing or)s
an) concepts;un)erstan)ing sentences; "istening compre&ension;
critica" "istening an) story rea)ing#
2#