Scribd
Upload
92 views4 pages

Receptive Skills: Listening

The document discusses receptive skills in language learning, specifically listening. It covers several topics: 1) the importance of teaching listening despite past approaches neglecting it, 2) two types of language functions - interactional and transactional - and the need to practice both, 3) two processes involved in listening comprehension - bottom-up processing of decoding meaning and top-down processing using background knowledge, and 4) a basic model for teaching listening and different types of listening activities from no response to short answers to longer responses and extended tasks.

Uploaded by

Máté Németh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
92 views4 pages

Receptive Skills: Listening

The document discusses receptive skills in language learning, specifically listening. It covers several topics: 1) the importance of teaching listening despite past approaches neglecting it, 2) two types of language functions - interactional and transactional - and the need to practice both, 3) two processes involved in listening comprehension - bottom-up processing of decoding meaning and top-down processing using background knowledge, and 4) a basic model for teaching listening and different types of listening activities from no response to short answers to longer responses and extended tasks.

Uploaded by

Máté Németh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

RECEPTIVE SKILLS: LISTENING

LISTENING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

"Speaking does not itself constitute communication unless what is said is comprehended by
another person." ( Rivers ) Teaching listening is therefore of primary importance.

Situational Language Teaching and Audiolingualism accorded little attention to listening beyond
its role in the learner's imitation of dialogues or grammar and pronunciation drills.

Three Instructional Procedures in Listening

1.Listening to repeat

2. Listening to understand

3.Listening as the primary focus in the comprehension approach

Listening is a Dynamic Process, not a Passive State

LISTENING AND LANGUAGE FUNCTION

Brown and Yule (1983) suggest dividing language functions into two major divisions:

1. Language for Interactional Purposes

Here the purpose is to further social relationships and express personal attitudes. It is listener-
oriented more than message-oriented, focuses more on person than on information. The main aim
is to establish and maintain social relationships e.g. talking about safe topics like weather.

2. Language for Transactional Purposes

Here the purpose is to convey factual information. Transactional language is message - oriented,
with a focus on content and a concern for getting things done in the real world. e.g. instructing,
giving directions, explaining, describing, ordering etc.

Implications for teaching: Teachers need to make students aware of these two language functions
and to provide practice experience for both.

1
LISTENING AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING

Two processes are involved in listening comprehension:

1.
...........................processing refers to the use of incoming data as a source of information about
the meaning of a message. From this perspective, the process of comprehension begins with the
message received, which is analysed at succesive levels of organisation - sounds, words, clauses,
and sentences - until the intended meaning is arrived at. Comprehension is thus viewed as a
process of decoding. e.g. scanning to identify familiar lexical items

2.
..................................processing refers to the use of background knowledge in understanding the
meaning of a message. It may take several forms. it maybe previous knowledge about the topic
of discourse or situational or contextual knowledge. e.g. inferring cause and effect relationships,
anticipating outcomes or assigning places, persons.

Which process is dominant is determined by


a/ the purpose of listening
b/ the kind of background knowledge which can be applied to the task
c/ the degree of familiarity listeners have with the topic of discourse

A BASIC METHODOLOGICAL MODEL FOR TEACHING LISTENING (same as for


reading)

Lead-in, Teacher directs comprehension task, Learners listen for task, teacher directs
feedback, Teacher directs text-related task

TYPES OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION ACTIVITIES, according to the level of


difficulty demanded of the learner:
1. No overt response. 'The learners do not have to do anything in response to the   
listening; however, facial expression and body language often show if they are following
or not'

2. Short responses. 'Obeying instructions; learners perform actions, or draw shapes


or pictures, in response to instructions'.

 Ticking off items. Listeners mark or tick off words as they hear them within a
spoken description.

 True/False. Learners write ticks or crosses to indicate whether the statements are
right or wrong or make brief responses (True-False).

 Detecting mistakes. Listeners raise their hands or call out when they hear
something wrong.

2
 Cloze. Learners write down what they think might be the missing word.
 Guessing definitions. The teacher provides brief oral definitions of a person,
place, thing; learners write down what they think it is.
 Skimming and Scanning. Learners are asked to identify some general topic or
information (skimming) or certain limited information (scanning).
3. Longer responses

 Answering questions. They are conveniently given in writing.

 Note-Taking. Learners take brief notes from a short lecture or talk.

 Paraphrasing and translating. Learners rewrite the listening text in


different words.

 Summarizing. Learners write a brief summary of the content of the


listening passage.

 Long gap-filling. Learners guess and write down.


4. Extended responses. "The listening is only a 'jump-off point' for extended
reading, writing or speaking" in other words, these are 'combined skills' activities.'4

 Problem-Solving. Learners discuss how to deal with it.

 Interpretation. The listeners try to guess what is going on from the words,
kinds of voices, tone and any other evidence.

TASK-BASED LISTENING AND SOME TECHNIQUES

The guideline ‘process - rather than product’ means that the going is more important than the
getting there. Right answers are not the only goals. The goal is the listening itself.

To help students listen better in this kind of lesson we may use some of the following
techniqiues:

 Keep the recording short


 Play the tape a sufficient number of times
 Let students discuss their answers together ( perhaps in pairs)
 Don’t be led by one strong student. Have they all got it?
 Give help if they are completely stuck - but still with the aim of getting them to work it out if
at all possible, rather than giving them the answers.
 Don’t let them lose heart. Try to make sure the task is just within their abilities. It should be
difficult, but achievable. The sense of achievement in finishing a task should be great: ‘It was
difficult - but we did it!’
 Grade the task - not the tape!

3
4

You might also like