Ukraine’s move towards Europe and the wider world has brought into

focus the need for higher standards of English among the country’s citizens.
The improvement that is needed can only be achieved if standards of English
teaching are raised at every level of the education system.
Ukraine has begun to set desirable exit levels of English for school
leavers and university graduates. However, there is a gap between what is now
recommended and what is actually happening. Bridging this gap is the primary
objective of the new Pre-Service Teacher Training (PRESETT) curriculum at
Bachelor’s level for trainee teachers of English that appeared as a result of joint
efforts of New Generation School Teacher Project team members representing
eight Ukrainian universities, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and
the British Council.
It is agreed that the new methodology programme should be at the core of
language teacher education, and that it should provide a bridge between
principles and practice. Methodology in this programme is concerned with the
application of knowledge in real situations rather than about knowledge itself.
Future teachers need to be equipped to deal with the changing world. While the
new Curriculum intends to provide students with important professional skills
related to methodology, it also gives scope for developing essential life skills
that transcend subject boundaries: intercultural awareness, communication
skills, teamwork skills, time management skills, critical thinking skills, problem
solving skills, information literacy skills.
It is now widely recognised that lecturing is not an efficient way of
delivering content on a practical course. Accordingly, we recommend a range of
teaching approaches, including task-based learning, the use of case studies,
simulations, group projects and problem solving. All of these approaches are
intended to promote high levels of interaction and student involvement in their
own learning processes.
Students are engaged in active learning by using a range of modes:
• group work – any learning activity which is done by small groups of learners
working together to complete a task
• guided reading – an activity in which students are encouraged to read specific
articles or sections of books with a particular purpose in mind
• jigsaw learning – a method of organising activity in which different students
cover different areas of a topic and later exchange their learning
• microteaching – a practice used in the training of teachers which consists of
trying out short lesson sequences for an audience of peers, some of whom
adopt the roles of learners
• project work – a purposeful, task-based activity through which students
address authentic problems/questions and create some kind of product which
they present at the end of the allocated time; it usually involves an extended
amount of independent work, either by an individual student or by a group of
students in and beyond the classroom
• task-based learning – an approach in which the learners use language to fulfil
a specified task. Their focus is on the task rather than on the language they are
using, e.g. case study
• workshop – a way of organising student-centred learning in which the teacher
plays the role of facilitator. It usually involves hands-on activity by students.
The key principles underlying the Methodology course are
• student-centredness
• integration of theory and practice
• appropriate balance and variety of learning and teaching modes
• dominance of challenging and feasible tasks and activities
• ample use of reflection: in/on action, on learning experience (both at school
and University)
• use of data from school-based practice.
The course reflects the pathway that students embark on from being
language learners to becoming language teachers.
The authors of the booklet are grateful to all the members of the New
Generation School Teacher Project team and the experts from the UK,
particularly Rod Bolitho, for their invaluable contribution in creating and
revising the materials. We are also deeply grateful to all the university and
school teachers and students who have been engaged in piloting the new
methodology course.
MODULE 3 (Term 5)
Aims

• To develop students’ understanding of the central role of skills in CLT

Learning Outcomes

As a result of learning on this module, students should demonstrate:

• a clear understanding of the central role of skills in CLT

and the ability to:

• analyse a skill-oriented piece of material and define its purpose
• select authentic texts for listening and reading and design activities for
different learning purposes
• identify the problems which learners may face in mastering receptive and
productive skills
• design a sequence of activities focusing on developing productive skills
according to learners’ needs and different learning and teaching purposes
• plan a sequence of activities which integrate listening, speaking, reading and
writing skills.

Sample Assessment Specifications

Assessment in this module consists of two assignments:

1. Group poster presentation (oral) of activities targeted at spoken production

or spoken interaction based on observation – 20%.
2. Portfolio containing four items (80% of total for the module). The portfolio
tasks are submitted in an agreed format.

Assignment 1

In groups of 3-4, select 4 activities or a sequence of at least four activities targeted

at spoken production (e.g. storytelling, story completion) or spoken interaction
(e.g. role play, simulation, discussion) from a lesson or lessons you have observed
or taught during your school experience.
Present your activities on a poster in class. Deal with any comments and
questions.

Each group member should play a part in both preparation and presentation. You
will have 5-6 minutes for your presentation and discussion. Include a photocopy
of the poster in your individual portfolio.

Assessment criteria Weighting

Task fulfilment (correct timing, each group member contribution, 5%
poster)
Evidence of the ability to evaluate and select activities for 10%
different speaking purposes
Evidence of the ability to respond thoughtfully to comments and 5%
questions
Total 20%

Assignment 2

Individually, create a portfolio containing the following items:

Portfolio items Weighting

1 a sequence of activities for developing listening skills 10%
2 individual multi-layered portfolio task on reading skills based 20%
on school practice and materials design
3 individual multi-layered portfolio task on writing skills based 20%
on school practice and materials design
4 an observation-based report on the integration of the four skills 30%
in a specific English class including a suggested sequence of
activities for future teaching
Total 80%

Item 1
For this task, your teacher will give you an audio text, and provide you with the
information about the learners’ age group, language proficiency level, and
purpose for listening to address.

Individually, develop a sequence of at least four activities to meet learners’ needs

and learning purpose. Provide rationale for the choice of activities and
instructions for organising them in class.
 Assessment criteria Weighting
Task fulfilment (all items are submitted: group profile, text 5%
transcript, a sequence of activities with instructions)
Evidence of the ability to develop a sequence of activities for the 5%
purpose of teaching listening
Total 10%

Item 2
Your teacher will give you four authentic texts for reading. Refer to a school class
you know and choose one of the texts which would be suitable for them to
develop reading skills. Then follow these steps:

1. Write a short profile of the class you have in mind (age, level, needs in the
development of reading skills and relevance of needs to the school
curriculum).
2. Explain why you have selected this text for your target group. Mention:
• text topic and content area
• level of language in the text
• potential for the development of reading skills
3. Anticipate and list any difficulties in the text for your target learners.
Mention:
• content
• structure
• grammar
• vocabulary
• sentence complexity
• cultural references
4. Develop a sequence of activities sufficient for use in a single lesson to
make the text accessible to your target learners. Include:
• activities to develop reading comprehension
• activities to address some of the difficulties you have identified.
Prepare handouts which can be used in class.
5. Make copies of the text and your handout and try the material out with
your chosen school class. Take feedback from your co-operating teacher and
your learners.
6. Write a reflective account (maximum 150 words) on your learning
through doing this assignment.

Assessment criteria Weighting

Task fulfilment (procedure observed, all items submitted) 5%
 Evidence of the ability to select and analyse texts and design a 10%
sequence of activities for the purpose of teaching reading
Evidence of the ability to reflect on and learn from the experience 5%
of the entire assignment
Total 20%

Item 3
Refer to the same class as in Item 2 and choose a written text type which would
correspond to the curriculum requirements. Then follow these steps:

1. Develop a sequence of activities leading to writing the chosen text type.

Prepare handouts which can be used in class.
2. Invite a group mate to critically review your material. Edit your material if
necessary.
3. Try the material out with your chosen class. Take brief written feedback
from your learners.
4. Write a reflective account (maximum 150 words) of your learning while
doing this assignment.
Submit all elements of your assignment in a folder.

Assessment criteria Weighting

Task fulfilment (procedure observed, all items submitted) 5%
Evidence of the ability to select and sequence writing activities 10%
Evidence of the ability to reflect on and learn from the experience 5%
of the entire assignment
Total 20%

Item 4
A report on the integration of the four skills in English lessons (450-500 words).

Base your report on Observation task Twenty-Four from the Observation task
bank, Modules 3 and 4.

Task Twenty-Four

Task focus: Integrating skills

1. Observe 2 or 3 lessons and note down how language skills are integrated in
an activity or in a sequence of activities.
2. Interview the teacher (if she/he agrees) about the techniques she/he uses to
integrate skills. Take notes.
 3. Examine 2 or 3 units in a course book and decide whether language skills
are integrated or not. Note down how skills are integrated if they are.
Cover the following:
• your attitude to integrating language skills
• summary of lesson observation
• techniques used to integrate skills
• problems teachers may have in integrating skills
• skills integration in coursebooks
• reference to methodology readings.
Invite a groupmate to critically review your report. Edit your report if necessary.

Assessment criteria Weighting

Task fulfilment (all items covered, number of words, deadline 5%
met)
Evidence of understanding how teachers and coursebooks 10%
integrate skills
Evidence of the ability to reflect on and learn from the experience 10%
of the entire assignment
Coherence of writing 5%
Total 30%

Module 3 Preparing to Teach 2

Unit 3.1 Language Skills – Teaching Listening
SESSION 1. Listening as a skill. An overview of different types of listening
materials.

Activity 1. Working in groups, read one of the texts about different types of
listening. Then join another group and tell the students what you have read
about.

Text 1
Discriminative listening is first developed at a very early age – perhaps even
before birth, in the womb. This is the most basic form of listening and does not
involve the understanding of the meaning of words or phrases but merely the
different sounds that are produced. In early childhood, for example, a distinction
is made between the sounds of the voices of the parents – the voice of the father
sounds different to that of the mother.

Discriminative listening develops through childhood and into adulthood. As we

grow older, develop and gain more life experience, our ability to distinguish
between different sounds is improved. Not only can we recognise different
voices, but we also develop the ability to recognise subtle differences in the way
that sounds are made – this is fundamental to understanding what these sounds
mean. Differences include many subtleties like recognising foreign languages,
distinguishing between regional accents and the emotions and feelings of the
speaker.

Being able to distinguish the subtleties of sound made by somebody who is happy
or sad, angry or stressed, for example, ultimately adds value to what is actually
being said and, of course, does aid comprehension. When discriminative
listening skills are combined with visual stimuli, the resulting ability to ‘listen’ to
body-language enables us to begin to understand the speaker more fully – for
example recognising somebody is sad despite what they are saying or how they
are saying it.

TEXT 2
Comprehensive listening involves understanding the message or messages that
are being communicated. Like discriminative listening, comprehensive listening
is fundamental to all listening sub-types.

In order to be able to use comprehensive listening and therefore gain

understanding the listener first needs the appropriate vocabulary and language
skills. Using overly complicated language or technical jargon, therefore, can be a
barrier to comprehensive listening. Comprehensive listening is further
complicated by the fact that two different people listening to the same thing may
understand the message in two different ways. This problem can be multiplied
in a group setting, like a classroom or business meeting where numerous different
meanings can be derived from what has been said.

Comprehensive listening is complemented by sub-messages from non-verbal

communication, such as the tone of voice, gestures and other body language
means. These non-verbal signals can greatly contribute to communication and
comprehension but can also confuse and potentially lead to misunderstanding. In
many listening situations it is vital to seek clarification and use reflective skills.

TEXT 3

Whenever you listen to learn something, you are engaged in informational

listening. This is true in many day-to-day situations, in education and at work,
when you listen to the news, watch a documentary, when a friend tells you a
recipe or when you are talked through a technical problem with a computer –
there are many other examples of informational listening.

Although all types of listening are ‘active’ – they require concentration and a
conscious effort to understand – informational listening is less active than many
other types of listening. When we’re listening to learn, we are taking in new
information and facts, we are not criticising or analysing. Informational listening,
especially in formal settings like in work meetings or while in education, is often
accompanied by note taking – a way of recording key information so that it can
be reviewed later.

TEXT 4
We can be said to be engaged in critical listening when the goal is to evaluate or
scrutinise what is being said. Critical listening is a much more active behaviour
than informational listening and usually involves some sort of problem solving
or decision making. Critical listening is akin to critical reading; both involve
analysis of the information being received and alignment with what we already
know or believe. Whereas informational listening may be mostly concerned with
receiving facts and/or new information – critical listening is about analysing
opinion and making a judgement.

When the word ‘critical’ is used to describe listening, reading or thinking it does
not necessarily mean that you are claiming that the information you are listening
to is somehow faulty or flawed. Rather, critical listening means engaging in
what you are listening to by asking yourself questions such as, ‘what is the
speaker trying to say?’ or ‘what is the main argument being presented?’, ‘how
does what I’m hearing differ from my beliefs, knowledge or opinion?’. Critical
listening is, therefore, fundamental to true learning.

Many day-to-day decisions that we make are based on some form of ‘critical’
analysis, whether it be critical listening, reading or thinking. Our opinions, values
and beliefs are based on our ability to process information and formulate our own
feelings about the world around us as well as weigh up the pros and cons to make
an informed decision.

It is often important, when listening critically, to remain open-minded and not be

biased by stereotypes or preconceived ideas. By doing this you will become a
better listener and broaden your knowledge and perception of other people and
your relationships.
TEXT 5
Empathic listening involves attempting to understand the feelings and emotions
of the speaker, i.e. to put yourself into the speaker’s shoes and share their
thoughts.

Empathy is a way of deeply connecting with another person, therefore therapeutic

or empathic listening can be particularly challenging. Empathy is not the same
as sympathy, it involves more than being compassionate or feeling sorry for
somebody else – it involves a deeper connection – awareness and understanding
of another person’s point of view.

Counsellors, therapists and some other professionals use therapeutic or empathic

listening to understand and ultimately help their clients. This type of listening
does not involve making judgements or offering advice but gently encouraging
the speaker to explain and elaborate on their feelings and emotions. Clarification
and reflection are often used to help avoid misunderstandings.

We are all capable of empathic listening and may practise it with friends, family
and colleagues. Showing empathy is a desirable trait in many interpersonal
relationships – you may feel more comfortable talking about your own feelings
and emotions with a particular person. Anybody with similar perspectives,
experiences, beliefs and values, for example, a good friend, your spouse, a parent
or a sibling, is likely to be better at listening empathetically to you.

SESSION 2. Curriculum requirements for teaching listening to different

age groups. Listening in the CEFR. Difficulties learners may face while
listening.

Activity 1. Working in groups, brainstorm the main purposes a person may

have for listening. Share your ideas with the whole class.

Activity 2. 1) Read the extracts from the curriculum about teaching listening
to primary school children and underline the key words. Trace how the
demands for listening comprehension grow. What purposes for listening are
specified?

На кінець 1-го классу учні:

Розрізняють (на слух) вивчені слова і фрази;
• сприймають на слух і виконують прості інструкції;
• розуміють короткі елементарні повідомлення підтримані невербальними
опорами (малюнками, жестами тощо) в межах тематики спілкування
На кінець 2-го классу учні:
Реагують невербально на запитання, які вимагають простих відповідей;
• демонструють розуміння ключових слів у висловленні, які
проговорюються дуже повільно та з довгими паузами;
• розуміють короткі прості вказівки, сформульовані повільно;
• розуміють основну ідею адаптованого аудіо/відеозапису
На кінець 3-го класу учні:
Реагують на запитання, які вимагають відповідей «так/ні» чи інших
простих відповідей;
• розуміють інструкції, сформульовані ретельно та повільно на
вербальному та невербальному рівні;
• розуміють діалогічне мовлення в достатньо повільному темпі з довгими
паузами та чіткою інтонацією;
• розуміють основний зміст віршованого чи писемного тексту, який
звучить у повільному темпі за підтримкою невербальних засобів. Текст
побудований на засвоєному матеріалі.
На кінець 4-го класу учні:
Розуміють мовлення в дещо уповільненому темпі, ретельно
артикульоване;
• розуміють основний зміст прослуханих текстів різного характеру,
побудованих на засвоєному мовному матеріалі.

2) Compare the requirements. What has changed?

На кінець 5-го класу учні:

• розуміють чіткі вказівки, прохання тощо, щоб задовольнити

конкретні потреби, якщо мовлення достатньо чітке й повільне;
• розуміють основний зміст короткого повідомлення;
• розуміють основний зміст прослуханих текстів різного характеру,
які побудовані на засвоєному матеріалі.
….
На кінець 9-го класу учні:
• розуміють інформацію як під час безпосереднього спілкування зі
співрозмовником, так і опосередкованого (у звукозапису);
 • розуміють основний зміст текстів відповідно до тематики
ситуативного cпілкування, виділяючи головну думку/ідею,
диференціюючи основні факти і другорядну інформацію;
• вибирають необхідну інформацію з прослуханого;
• використовують лінгвістичну і контекстуальнуздогадку, спираючись
на сюжетну лінію чи наочність.

Acttivity 3. 1) Read and explain the phrases in italics in your own words.

COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE

LEVELS OF OVERALL LISTENING COMPREHENSION
C2
Has no difficulty in understanding any kind of spoken language, whether live or
broadcast, delivered at fast native speed.
Can understand enough to follow extended speech on abstract and complex
topics beyond his/her own field, though he/she may need to confirm occasional
details, especially if the accent is unfamiliar.
C1 Can recognise a wide range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms,
appreciating register shifts.
Can follow extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when
relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly.
Can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and
unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or
vocational life. Only extreme background noise, inadequate discourse structure
and/or idiomatic usage influence the ability to understand.
B2 Can understand the main ideas of propositionally and linguistically complex
speech on both concrete and abstract topics delivered in a standard dialect,
including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation.
Can follow extended speech and complex lines of argument provided the topic is
reasonably familiar, and the direction of the talk is sign-posted by explicit
markers.
B1
Can understand straightforward factual information about common everyday or
job related topics, identifying both general messages and specific details,
provided speech is clearly articulated in a generally familiar accent.
Can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters
regularly encountered in work, school, leisure etc., including short narratives.
Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type provided
speech is clearly and slowly articulated.
A2
Can understand phrases and expressions related to areas of most immediate
priority (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local
geography, employment) provided speech is clearly and slowly articulated.
A1
Can follow speech which is very slow and carefully articulated, with long pauses
for him/her to assimilate meaning.

2) Compare the Curriculum requirements and CEFR level descriptions for

overall listening. What level should children achieve by the end of primary
school and by the end of basic school?

Activity 4. 1) Read the CEFR descriptions for understanding conversation

between native speakers and answer the questions:
• Why is no descriptor available for A1 level?
• Why are C1 and C2 levels described in the same way?
• What words and phrases characterize growth in quality and
complexity?
• Are any quantitative qualifiers mentioned?

UNDERSTANDING CONVERSATION BETWEEN NATIVE SPEAKERS

C2 As C1
C1
Can easily follow complex interactions between third parties in group
discussion and debate, even on abstract, complex unfamiliar topics.
Can keep up with an animated conversation between native speakers.
B2
Can with some effort catch much of what is said around him/her, but may find it
difficult to participate effectively in discussion with several native speakers who
do not modify their language in any way.
B1
Can generally follow the main points of extended discussion around him/her,
provided speech is clearly articulated in standard dialect.
A2 Can generally identify the topic of discussion around him/her, when it is
conducted slowly and clearly.
A1 No descriptor available
Activity 5. CLASS SURVEY. Make up a list of 3-5 difficulties you often face
in listening comprehension. Go around the class and find out if anybody else
has mentioned the same difficulties. Make up a list of the most common
difficulties. Was there a person who had no difficulties at all?

Activity 6. Sort out the difficulties in listening into three categories:

• objective linguistic difficulties
• subjective learners’ difficulties
• objective difficulties of the environment

1. ability to focus, to concentrate

2. the number of presentations
3. phonological difficulties
4. type and genre of text
5. live or recorded
6. motivation
7. quality of the soundtrack
8. outside noise
9. speed of reaction
10. lexical difficulties
11. tiredness
12. stuffy room
13. grammatical difficulties
14. auditory memory
15. duration of the recording
16. flexibility of thinking
17. health
18. ability to transfer from one logical operation to another
19. after PT or a test in other subject

Activity 6. Illustrate each objective linguistic difficulty (Activity 5) with at

least 3 examples.

Activity 7. Read some pieces of advice people give on overcoming difficulties

in listening. Reflect on your learning experience and say, which ones work
(worked) for you/ and which ones you would/wouldn’t like to try. Give your
reasons.
1. Listen as often as it’s only possible and , preferably, to something you enjoy.
2. Don't just listen to the same kind of English all the time.
3. Remember that listening is an active process.
4. Prefer English captions to subtitles in your native language.
5. Do not translate into your native tongue.
6. Try listening to English in different ways. Set a goal.
7. Prepare before listening.
8. Remove distractions.
9. If you find listening extremely boring, try to gamify your practice.
10. When you watch materials in the original, observe the mouths of the
speakers.

SESSION 3. Different purposes for listening and the ways in which people
listen. Practice material for different listening purposes.

Activity 1. Reflect on your learning experience and answer the questions

individually. Share your ideas in a plenary mode.
 How much listening takes place in your classroom?
 Is listening considered an opportunity to learn something new and
useful?
 Does the teacher try to really hear what you are saying or just catch
your mistakes?
 Do you listen to your peers? Are you always interested in what they
are saying?

Activity 2. Read through the list of listening sub-skills and say for which
types of listening they are most important.

LISTENING SUB-SKILLS
• Recognising the communicative function (e.g. invitation,
congratulation, persuasion, etc).
• Obtaining the gist (main ideas of a text) – ‘skimming’.
• Identifying specific details (selective listening – ‘scanning’).
• Distinguishing main ideas from supporting details.
• Recognising the speaker’s attitude towards the topic and the listener.
• Inferring the implied information (ideas not explicitly stated).
• Predicting the development of the discourse.
 • Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context.
• Inferring the context (setting, relations between the speakers, their
status etc).

Activity 3. a) Work in pairs and match the activities with the sub-skills that
are practised. Refer to the list of sub-skills.
1. Listen to a man describing his sitting-room. Tick the things you hear.
2. Look at the photograph of George Parrot with his family. Listen to the text.
Write the names of the people in the correct places.
3. Listen to the conversation between Tim and Lilian. What decision are they
making?
4. Listen to Part 1 of the story. Answer the questions: - Do you think Ann loves
her husband? – Is she interested in what he is saying? – What do you think
happens next in the story?
5. Listen to the dialogue between the two friends. Write the numbers you hear.
6. Listen to four conversations George had in the USA. Guess where he is, who
he is with, what part of the day it is. How do you know?
7. You will listen to four opinions about the same film expressed by different
people. Who finds it: a) boring; b) interesting; c) excellent; d) awful?
8. Listen to the series of extracts from public speeches made by different
speakers. Tick the columns with to the functions each extract has.
9. Listen to the story. Put the given pictures in the correct order.
10. Look at the pictures. Decide what the people are talking about. Listen to
their conversation and check.

b) Have all the sub-skills from the list been covered? If not, suggest some
activities to develop them.

Activity 5. Penny Ur distinguishes the features of good listening activities.

Read the list and comment on them.

 provide interesting content

 include listening preparation
 offer visual support
 encourage whole-message listening
 encourage listening for specific details
 communicate real meaning
 require listener’s response
Activity 6. Some other methodologists define two areas that make a
listening text good. They are content and delivery. Refer the attributes to
these two groups and explain what is meant by them.

• quality of recording
• interest
• number of speakers
• cultural accessibility
• speech act/ discourse structure
• length
• density
• accent
• language level
• speed

SESSION 4. Key strategies for developing learners’ listening skills.

Activity 1. Reflect on what you learnt about learning strategies in the

previous year. What types of strategies were identified? Do you remember
the difference between top-down and bottom-up strategies?

Activity 2. Working in 3 groups, read the information about strategies,

underline the key words and make a comprehensive definition of the given
type of strategies. Present your findings to the other groups.

Text 1

COGNITIVE STRATEGIES
• Cognitive strategy is a problem-solving technique that learners use to deal
with the learning task and make the acquisition of knowledge easier.
• This is a strategy that is used to understand linguistic input and obtain data.
Learners sometimes do not know the meaning of the words and they try to
guess the meaning from the context. This is an example of cognitive
strategy.
• The cognitive strategies are connected with comprehending and
accumulating input in short-term memory or long-term memory for later
access. Comprehension starts with the received data that is analyzed as
successive levels of organization – sounds, words, phrases and sentences
in a process of decoding.
 • Examples of cognitive strategies include repeating to memorize,
summarizing, piecing together details, listening for gist, listening for
details, inferring, predicting, elaborating, visualizing, and note-taking.
• There are two kinds of cognitive strategies in listening: bottom- up and top-
down. Bottom-up strategies are word-for-word translation, arranging the
rate of speech, repeating the oral text, and concentrating on prosodic
characteristics of the text. Top-down strategies involve forecasting,
guessing, explaining, and visualization.
• Top-down strategies focus on the ‘big’ picture and general meaning of a
listening text. Often the starting point is to discuss the topic and then to use
a ‘gist’ or ‘extensive’ task to listen for the overall meaning. Top-down
strategies rely on students’ knowing something about the topic, knowing
how particular exchanges in certain social situations work (i.e. the
functional and situational language common to certain exchanges), or
knowing what ‘chunks’ of language (expressions etc.) ‘fit’ a particular
topic or situation.
• Bottom-up strategies, on the other hand, focus on listening for details and
involve tasks that focus on understanding at a sound or word level. Tasks
are ‘intensive’ as they focus on looking for particular details.
• It seems that in many cases students are locked into a bottom-up learning
mode. By this I mean that they are desperately trying to understand every
single word within a listening text. Unfortunately, in many situations this
is just impossible. The main reason for this is the speed of ‘real’ talk. It is
not that English is any faster than other languages, but simply that all
languages are spoken at a speed where it is virtually impossible for the
brain to process every word. Therefore, students often find listening very
difficult. They become frustrated and demoralized and often ‘give up'.
• Expert listeners use both types of strategies: They are able to accurately
make sense of the speech signal (bottom-up information) and integrate this
information with background knowledge (top-down information). By
contrast, non-expert listeners attempt, often unsuccessfully, to use
background knowledge to compensate for failure to understand speech
sounds.

Text 2
METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES
• Those strategies deal with learning how to plan, monitor and assess the
gathered information from the listening part.
• The conscious use of metacognitive strategies helps learners get their
attention back when they lose it.
• Metacognition can be defined as “thinking about one’s own thinking.”
Students can recognize suitable learning methods in the proper situation.
For instance, a student may understand he has difficulty in finding the
connection between important concepts within a story. If he/she is taught
to use a graphic organizer, such as a concept map, to identify the main
concepts and connect them together using lines, similar to a spider web,
then that student uses metacognition to complete the task.
• Students who use metacognitive strategies have the following advantages:
1. Learners use appropriate learning strategies. Their strategy is compatible
with the learning task and adaptation is made to reflect the changing
conditions.
2. They learn faster and integrate the knowledge remarkably.
3. They handle the situation when things go wrong throughout the task.
Listeners can identify failure in understanding and activate their
background knowledge to get better comprehension.
4. They are self-confident to get help from partners, teachers, or family
when needed.
5. They observe and evaluate why they are prosperous learners.

• Examples of metacognitive strategies include self-monitoring, selective

attention, and planning of cognitive strategies.
• In order to make these two terms – cognitive and metacognitive – more
clear, here is an example: skimming a text for key information involves
using a cognitive strategy, while assessing the effectiveness of skimming
for gathering textual information would be a metacognitive strategy.
• Metacognitive strategies are management techniques used by learners to
control their learning through planning, checking, assessing, and changing.
For instance, for metacognitive planning strategies, listeners analyse the
aims of a listening task, anticipate the lingual features of the recorded
material that ultimately make their understanding easier.
• There are two kinds of metacognitive skills: knowledge of cognition and
regulation of cognition. Knowledge of cognition deals with the learners’
consciousness of what is going on, and regulation of cognition deals with
what learners should do to listen effectively.
Text 3
SOCIO-AFFECTIVE STRATEGIES
• This strategy ensures and promotes positive emotional reactions and
perspective of language learning.
• Socio-affective strategies are the techniques listeners employ to
collaborate with others, to verify understanding, or to lower anxiety.
• Socio-affective strategies are concerned with the learners’ interaction with
other speakers and their attitude towards learning. For example, they may
choose to rehearse a telephone conversation in L2 with another student in
order to develop confidence, or reward themselves with a doughnut when
they successfully complete some task in the target language.
• The strategy is nonacademic in nature and includes stimulating learning
through building a degree of relations between a teacher and a student. It
is necessary for a learner to know how to reduce anxiety, feel confident
during listening tasks, and raise personal motivation in enhancing listening
ability.
• Socio-affective strategies are very significant because the learning
situation and learners’ social-psychological factors are closely related to
each other. There is a significant relationship between low anxiety and high
listening performance: that is, the use of affective strategies makes
listening easy and improves comprehension.
• Among the strategies of listening comprehension, social and affective
strategies have the most effect on the learning context. Students should know
how to decrease anxiety, feel confident during listening activities, and raise
motivation in improving listening skill.

Activity 3. Read the following statements and identify the strategies the
students used. Say if the students succeeded. Analyse the difficulties and
suggest what the students could do to overcome them.

1. I tried to be very careful about my ongoing comprehension. If I missed some

small parts, I just let them go, and I would be more attentive to the coming
information to make up the parts I just missed.
2. I cannot form a mental image from words heard. I could recognize some words
while reading, but I couldn’t recognize them while listening, even some very easy
words. Maybe I’m not familiar with the sounds but the spellings.
3. I predicted what was going to be said and inferred the meanings of words from
the context, but when all the parts were put together, I still couldn’t get the overall
meaning.
4. When I heard some words I didn’t know, I didn’t just focus on those words. I
would quickly keep up with speed and continued to listen, and paid more attention
to the overall meaning.
5. I think “listen for gist” was ineffective. If I didn’t understand each detail, I
couldn’t get the meaning. I still want to pay attention to every word.
6. I tried to encourage myself to keep going, although I couldn’t get much of this
message. Maybe I need more practice to figure out the main idea.
7. I listened carefully, and I could understand very well. But I usually forgot what
was said when I listened to the next part. After listening, I almost forgot half part
of the information.
8. I tried to mentally summarize the main points for each small part and
consciously monitor what I’ve understood when I was listening to this passage,
and sometimes I would also quickly jot down some key words to help me to
remember the information.

Activity 4. Teaching using strategies goes through some phases. It provides

the gradual shift from teachers’ scaffolding to learners’ self-directed
learning in selecting and applying appropriate strategies. Read the names
of those phases and guess what happens at each of them.

In class

Strategic-awareness raising phase

Demonstration phase:
Practice phase:
Evaluation phase:
Out of class

Self-directed practice:

Activity 6. Working in groups, brainstorm what benefits students can get as

a result of developing different strategies. Share your ideas in plenary.
SESSION 5. Tasks and activities for teaching listening skills. Sequencing
tasks and activities.

Activity 1. Reflect on your learning experience. What stages are usually used
when working with a text for listening? What are the purposes of each of
them?
Activity 2. Sort out the purposes of the three stages of working with a
listening text.
• keep the students concentrated through the passage
• motivate learners to listen
• provide a focus, showing students what is important about any given
passage
• introduce learners to the topic
• help them to chunk the text into sections or units of information
• make the students show evidence of understanding or non-understanding
• eliminate language or content difficulties
• use listening material as a springboard to develop other skills
• tune the learners in, i.e. help to predict the text content by its headline,
illustrations, key words, etc.

Activity 3. Below there is a text for listening and 10 different pre-listening

activities, A to J. Match the type of activity to the activity itself. Complete
the table. One example has been done for you. Mind that your learners will
do pre-listening activities without seeing or hearing the text.
Well, I’m a keen athlete, so I try to have a healthy diet. I eat a lot of protein,
especially fish and lean meat, and plenty of fruit and veg. That’s no problem,
because I like those things and I love crunchy salads. But I also need quite a lot
of carbohydrate to give me energy, so I tuck into pasta and baked potatoes. I can’t
resist chocolate either. I’ve cut down a bit, but I don’t think I’d want to cut it out
of my diet completely! Anyway, because I do so much exercise I don’t ever put
on weight. I have reduced my salt intake though – I never put it on food and I
normally avoid junk food, which is full of salt and fat. I go to a training session
two evenings a week with my local team. I also belong to a gym and I go there
three times a week. I’ve never smoked and don’t drink much alcohol. What I do
drink is lots of water – you really need it if you do a lot of exercise. And I also
try and get eight hours sleep a night – I find it makes a big difference. I think I’m
fit, and being fit helps me deal with stress, at work and at home.
Thomas, B., & Matthews, L. (2007). Cambridge vocabulary for first certificate
with answers. Cambridge: CUP.
 PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITY
A Using pictures
Predicting vocabulary
Filling in charts and diagrams
Predicting opinions/facts
Defining key-words
Pre-teaching vocabulary
Predicting the contents by key-
words
Giving opinions
Generating questions
Personalizing
A) Work with a partner. Look at the picture of Michelangelo’s David statue and
answer the questions:
1) Does the man in the photo look fit or unfit? What is he keen on?
2) What does the man do to keep fit?
Now listen to the recording and check your answers.

(B) Which of these things are generally good for people, and which are generally
bad?
fruit salad vegetables alcohol
salt smoking chocolate exercise
fish cutting down putting on getting enough
on fatty foods weight sleep
stress junk food sugar water
joining a going on a diet fizzy drinks GM food
gym
Now listen to a sportsman talking about his lifestyle. As you listen, tick the things
he mentions.
(C) You are going to listen to a sportsman talking about his healthy lifestyle.
Work with a partner and try to predict 10 words which you think you will hear
in the recording. Write these words in your notebooks.
Now listen to the recording and check if you were right.

(D) You are going to listen to a man talking about his lifestyle. Read the key-
words below and say if the man leads a healthy or unhealthy life:
 plenty of fruit and veg, much exercise, salt intake, junk food, a gym, eight
hours sleep
Now listen and check your answer.

(E) Will a sportsman agree or disagree with these statements?

1. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables.
2. I never drink alcohol.
3. I drink a lot of water.
4. I’ve cut down on chocolate.
5. I go to the gym regularly.

Listen and check your answers.

(F) What are your preferences in food? Do you consider your meals to be healthy
or unhealthy? Why?
Listen to a man talking about his lifestyle and say if you have anything in
common with the speaker.

(G) Imagine you are going to meet a keen athlete. What questions would you like
to ask him about his lifestyle?
Listen and say if the man answers any of your questions.

(H) Work with a partner. Match the two halves of these phrases:
1. put on a. a big difference
2. reduce b. with stress
3. avoid c. weight
4. make d. salt intake
5. deal e. junk food
6. give f. on chocolate
7. have g. energy
8. cut down h. a healthy diet
Listen to a man talking about his lifestyle. What context does he use these
phrases in?

(I)What is diet? Read the definitions of ‘diet’ below, then listen to a man talking
about his lifestyle and say which of the two meanings the word ‘diet’ is used
in.
 diet /'daıət/ noun
1 [C, U] the food that you eat and drink regularly: to have a healthy, balanced
diet
2 [C] a limited variety or amount of food that you eat for medical reasons or
because you want to lose weight: a low-fat, salt-free diet

(J) Fill in the first two columns of the table. Share your information with a
partner.
What I know about What I want to know What I learnt about the
the lifestyle of an about the lifestyle of an lifestyle of an athlete
athlete athlete

Now listen to an athlete speaking about his lifestyle and fill in the third column.

Activity 4. Read the description of activities and choose those that apply to
the while-listening stage.

1 Reviewing The Transcript

Read the transcript and underline any sections of the transcript that you think you
understand, but have some uncertainty about. Circle any sections which you don’t
understand at all. Work in groups of 4 to discuss the parts you underlined and circled.
Write on the board any phrases or sentences you still can’t understand to go over
them with the class.

2 Quizzing Your Classmate

Make up three quiz questions based on the listening track. Each question should be
of a different type (such as true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and fill-in-the-
blanks). Write one quiz question on a post-it note (without the answer). Write your
names at the bottom of the post-its. Exchange your post-its and try to answer your
classmates’ questions.

3 Choosing the right word

Listen to the audio track and underline the words you hear in the given pairs.
 Well, I’m a keen/eager athlete, so I try to have a healthy/slimming diet. I eat a lot of
protein, especially fish and fat/lean meat, and plenty of fruit and veg. That’s no
problem, because I adore/ like those things and I love crunchy salads/dishes. But I
also need quite a lot of carbohydrate to give me power/energy, so I tuck into/for
pasta and baked potatoes. I can/can’t resist chocolate either. I’ve cut on/down a bit,
but I don’t think I’d want/won’t to cut it out of my diet completely!

4 Quizzing Teams
Work in two teams. Make up 5 questions on your piece of transcript to ask the other
team. Take turns reading out your questions and letting the other team guess the
answers. Each team gets 1 point for each correct answer. Read the entire transcript
to check all the answers if necessary.

5 Listening for details

Listen to the audio track and answer the questions.
1) Why does the man take care of his health?
2) Where does he get the necessary protein and carbohydrate from?
3) What makes his mouth water?
4) How does the man keep fit?
5) What is the role of sleep?

6 Making inferences
Read the questions. Listen to the audio track to find the answers.
1) What makes it easy for the man to keep to a healthy diet?
2) What helps him not to put on weight?
3) Is the man a hearty eater?
4) What is the sportsman’s diet like?

7 Completing the sentences

While listening to the passage complete the sentences:
o Being a keen athlete he has a …………..diet.
o He gets a lot of protein from…………..
o He loves…………..
o He gets energy from…………..
o The athlete tucks into…………..
8 Discussion
Make up 3 discussion questions based on the topic of the listening material. Some
possible questions are:1. Which of the man’s habits would you like to develop? Why?
2. Do you prefer plenty of fruit and veg or junk food? Why? 3. What kind of diet do
you keep to? Is it healthy? Why? 4. Do you do a lot of sport? Why? 5. What habits
do you need to change, if any, in order to eat more healthily and to be healthier?
Write your best questions on the board. Work in groups of 3 or 4 to discuss the
questions.

9 Correcting the errors.

Read the following transcript. There are five errors. Correct them as you listen.
Well, I’m a keen athlete, so I try to have a healthy diet. I eat a lot of food, especially
fish and lean meat, and plenty of fruit and veg…………………..

10 Revising the text

Work in small groups. Change the story in one of the following ways:
1) The man is a couch potato.
2) The man is not satisfied with his lifestyle.
Tell your story to the class.

11 Gap-filling
Fill in the blanks as you listen.
Well, I’m a 1) _______ athlete, so I try to have a healthy diet. I eat a lot of protein,
especially fish and 2) _______ meat, and plenty of fruit and veg. That’s no problem,
because I like those things and I love 3) _______ salads….

12 Ordering the pictures

Listen to the story and put the pictures in a logical order.
13 Ticking the options
Listen to the passage and tick those kinds of
food which are mentioned.

14 Interviewing
A. You are going to have an opportunity to interview the man. You have about 10
minutes to write as many questions as you can think of based on the story. Work in
pairs and act out the interview.
B. Work in pairs. Use your questions to interview each other. Whose diet is healthier:
yours or your partner’s?

15 Looking at language: the present perfect simple

a) Read the transcript and answer the questions: 1. What does the man do to be
healthy? 2. What has the man done to be fit? 3. What has he never done in his
life?
b) Underline three examples of the present perfect simple in the text (have/ has +
past participle).
c) Read the sentences: He tries to have a healthy diet. He has cut down on chocolate
a bit. He bought two bars of chocolate yesterday. Does he eat much chocolate
every day?
Use: we use the present perfect simple when we want to link the past with the present
in some way. Compare it with…

16 Bingo
Create a 4X4 bingo grid on your paper, and choose 16 words from the board to
write in the boxes (one word in each box), in any order. Listen carefully, and put
an X on any word you hear. When you have four words in a row, shout “BINGO”!
Words: avoid, anyway, cut down, put on, exercise, protein, plenty, need, pasta, veg,
 reduce, training, stress, lean, water, make

Activity 5. Analyse the activities that you did not choose and say if it is
worth doing them, why, and when.

Activity 6. Put the stages of a listening task into a logical order. Give your
reasons.

a. The teacher focuses on the features of grammar or vocabulary that occur in

the recording, e.g. by asking students to complete a gapped transcript.
b. The teacher sets a task that requires listening for specific details. She plays
the complete recording, checks the answers, and replays some sections if
necessary.
c. Learners read the transcript of the recording and listen at the same time.
d. The teacher generates interest in the topic by, for example, asking the class
about their experience, feelings about or knowledge about the topic.
e. The teacher introduces some key vocabulary in the listening text – for
example, by giving, or eliciting, a definition or an example.
f. The teacher sets a gist listening task, for example Who is talking to whom,
about what and why? She then plays a piece of the recording and checks
the answers.

Activity 6.Working in groups, analyse an extract from your course book

and identify the purpose of each activity.

Activity 7. Using a suggested text for listening, develop a sequence of

activities for your microteaching.

SESSION 6. Assessing learners’ listening skills

Activity 1. Imagine you are listening to some recording. How can your
teacher find out a) whether you understand the listening input or not? b)
how much information you have inferred? Share your ideas with the class.

Activity 2. Any assessment should start with the consideration of the aims of
instruction. The CEFR singles out three main listening macroskills: listening
to obtain the gist, listening to locate specific data and following directions
and instructions. Working in pairs, make up a list of who mainly needs them
and for what purposes. Think about learners of general English, learners of
ESP (English for Specific Purposes), people in the workplace etc. Share your
ideas and give your reasons.
Activity 3. We should use assessment tasks appropriate for the kinds of texts
the learners will hear in 'the real world'. Analyse the types of texts and
identify the key listening strategies. Complete the table.

Situation Skills needed

ANNOUNCEMENTS Good monitoring skills to decide on relevance (Is
this my flight?) and the ability to extract vital data
(gate numbers, platforms etc.)
LECTURES

RADIO AND TV

INSTRUCTIONS AND
DIRECTIONS

MEETINGS AND
SEMINARS

DIALOGUES

Activity 4. There are certain requirements that good assessment tasks should
satisfy. Match the requirements and the questions about them.

Requirement Question
1 validity a To what degree does it represent real-life
use?
2 reliability b To what degree does it provide useful
feedback to the learner and influence the
teaching process?
3 authenticity c To what degree is it time and resources
consuming?
 4 washback effect d To what degree does it accurately measure
what you want to measure?
5 practicality e To what degree is it dependable?

Activity 5. Working in groups, evaluate how much the tasks satisfy the above
mentioned requirements. They are designed for a 150-hour course of B2 level
students. Think about both positive and negative aspects.

1. Get the learners to watch a 20-minute news broadcast and give them a
worksheet designed to get them to identify, from a set of six or so, two essential
facts about three of the items.

2. Get the students to listen to a range of 4 short texts, each targeting at a different
listening skill:

A Three station announcements, and only one is about a train to a

particular destination stating the platform number and time. The learners'
task is to identify it and record the data.

B An audio text giving directions to a particular place. The listeners have

a map on which to record the destination and route.

C An audio-only recording of a dialogue of a heated disagreement. The

task is simply to identify what the nub of the argument is from a set of 5
alternatives.

D A video recording of the final ten minutes of a lecture in which the

speaker sums up the four key points she has made. The task is to make a
note of each one.

3. Give the learners either:

a. two listening texts on the same subject with speakers giving opposing
points of view
b. two spoken descriptions of a recount of an event with three differences

Ask the students to summarise, in writing, the similarities and differences

between the two texts.

Activity 6. Read a list of task types and illustrate each type with an activity
from your course book or any other book you have learnt by. Mind that the
list is not exhaustive, so you can add any other types of tasks with the
appropriate examples.
• Monitoring for specific information
• Comparing and contrasting
• Matching
• Multiple choice
• Following directions and instructions
• Labelling
• Note-taking
• Partial dictation (gap-filling or completing sentences)