J. Field(2008) Listening in the Language Classroom Chapter 12. Amplifying what the speaker says presentation

1. Amplifying
what the speaker says
172ege23 Hyomin Yoo

2. 1 Background
• Three levels of meaning
• Knowledge and inference
• Meaning building
and the L2 listener
2 Contextual information
• Types of outside knowledge
• Schema activation
• The discourse representation
3 Words in context
• The fuzziness of word meaning
• Word ambiguity
• Unknown words
Amplifying
what the speaker says
4 Speaker’s intentions
• Inference
• Reference
• Interpretation
5 Conclusion

3. Amplifying what the speaker says1
• Listening is a “passive” skill.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TEACHING LISTENING (Brown&Lee(2015), p.318)
1
• The listener has to remake the message.
• The end product may be something that reflects the goals of the listener
rather than those of the speaker.

4. Cognitive Model of L2 Listening(Anderson, 1995; Levelt, 1995; Vandergrift & Goh, 2012)
Acoustic-Phon
etic Processor
Parser
Conceptualizer
Phonological
Lexical/Semantic
Grammatical
Prosodic
Discourse
Processing
Monitoring
Inferred
Intention
“That cost me an arm and a leg”
/ðæt/ /kɒst/ /miː/
“cost” noun vs. verb
Present vs. past tense
Decoding
processes
Meaning-building
processes

5. Amplifying what the speaker says1
Conceptualizer
Discourse
Processing
Inferred
Intention
Meaning-building
processes
Monitoring
Two functions
1
2
to amplify what the speaker says by adding information
to organize the information that has been received

6. Meaning building as operating three different levels
11
Amplifying what the speaker says
Background
happen at the end of each clause or intonation unit
the literal meaning of the clause without its context
world
knowledge
topic
knowledge
speaker
knowledge
the listener’s memory of everything
that has been said so far
‘co-text’ or ‘text-so-far’
an abstract representation of a single idea

7. Meaning building as operating three different levels
11
Amplifying what the speaker says
Background
a range of possibilities
use of the co-text
“ TOMATO ”
softness / redness / roundness
1. It looked like a squashed tomato.
2. His face was like a tomato.
3. The tomato rolled across the plate. use of the co-text
a range of possibilities

8. Meaning building as operating three different levels
11
Amplifying what the speaker says
Background
“ links ”
I’m sorry I’m late.
The traffic was awful.
????
“ pronoun ”
her????
One of the difficulties of meaning building
The listener has to keep tract of current topic
She has to carry forward a discourse representation

9. Meaning building as operating three different levels
11
Amplifying what the speaker says
Background
So.. should meaning building be a concern
of the listening instructor at all?
Difference in the ways to organize and present ideas
Cultural difference

10. 11
Amplifying what the speaker says
Background
Decoding is not automatic
L2
gaps
less reliable

11. 12
Amplifying what the speaker says
Contextual Information

12. 1Q
Amplifying what the speaker says
Discussion Question 1.
How can the process of meaning building in L2 become possible
if limitations in the listener’s L2 listening
result in less reliable decoded input?
How can we compensate for the lack of reliability
other than contextual information?

13. 11
Amplifying what the speaker says
Background
“ an effort after meaning ”
• a universal human attribute – the attempt to
connect something that is given with
something other than itself (Bartlett, F. C. (1932))
• effort after meaning deals with making unfamiliar
ideas more familiar.
• Systematic training in meaning building is useful to L2 listeners
• Suggestions for types of meaning building exercises

14. Types of outside knowledge
12
Amplifying what the speaker says
Contextual Information
• World knowledge
• Topic knowledge
• Speaker knowledge
• Knowledge of the situation
• Knowledge of the setting
- background information (operates at word level)
- part of world knowledge, more specific framework
Should you let your guide dog on to an escalator in the Underground?
BUTTERFLY → caterpillar, chrysalis, antennae, nectar
- voice, background, role, shared experience
That place I went to on holiday last year.
- prior knowledge of the situation type
- visual cues, paralinguistic cues
(facial expression or gesture)
At the airport : “Could I have your passport please?”, “Do you have any luggage?”

15. Schema activation
12
Amplifying what the speaker says
Contextual Information
First language processing
‘schema’ : a complex knowledge structure
Second language practice
World knowledge
Schematic information used in 2 ways:
1. To predict what might be said
2. Assists the listener in filling in info
‘script’ : a sequence of activities
associated with a stereotypical situation
Problems of understanding:
1. a lack of fit between the schemas of 2 Lgs
2. the possibility of a cultural mismatch
Schematic knowledge – considerable assistance:
1. Embellishing the speaker’s message
2. Filling in gaps where decoding has failed
Shared certain pieces of stored knowledge
Word categories(DOG)
Large abstract concepts(JUSTICE)
Classroom practice – external knowledge
1. Before listening
2. During listening

16. 12
Amplifying what the speaker says
Contextual Information
“He had cheeks like an apple.”
“I was working on my Apple.”
TABLE CHAIR

17. 12
Amplifying what the speaker says
Contextual Information
Fruit – not familiar
Western cuisine
Western cuisine
Religious traditions
Idioms

18. Classroom practice – activating external knowledge
12
Amplifying what the speaker says
Contextual Information
The value of activating external knowledge
Before listening
The purposes of activating external knowledge
During listening
• draws upon the listener’s schematic
knowledge of the topic
• raises questions in the listener’s mind which
the speaker may answer
• identifies possible scripts
• starts a spreading activation process for words
associated with the topic
• identifies areas where concepts differ between
languages
• enriching the bare meaning contained in the
propositions
• supplying information that the speaker has
taken as understood

19. 1Q
Amplifying what the speaker says
Discussion Question 2.
Look at the activity A and B.
Which one do you think is helping students
to activate external knowledge?
(Both Before and During listening)
If something is lacking, what can we add to the activity
to match the value and purpose of Before and During listening?

20. The discourse representation
12
Amplifying what the speaker says
Contextual Information
The discourse representation v.s. Schema
• Recall of what has been said ‘so far’ • Long-term knowledge
• Two functions:
1. A record of what has been heard, a
kind of ‘work-in-progress’ until the
listening encounter finishes
• It may or may not be stored in memory
2. Provides a background for new ideas
like world knowledge
• self-monitor

21. 13
Amplifying what the speaker says
Words In Context
1. The fuzziness of word meaning
‘Knowing the word’
Associating a single meaning
Knowing how the meaning is shaped by the many co-texts
For L2 learners – it is difficult to raise awareness of the effects of context.
2. Word ambiguity
L1 listeners use co-text to deal with ambiguity
Not available to L2 listeners; practice needed
3. Unknown words
L1 listeners ignore it / accept an indeterminate sense / work out a precise meaning from co-text
L2 listeners use strategies / stick to a precise meaning (limitations)

22. 14
Amplifying what the speaker says
Speaker’s Intentions
1. Inference
When the listener has to form connections between sentences or to supply missing background.
For L2 learners – since attention is limited, they might fail to make inference
2. Reference
Attention is limited - pronouns
3. Interpretation
Recognizing the speaker’s intentions and ultimate goal, allowing for understatement and vague
language, coping with metaphor, looking beyond what is said to its implications
- deep processing
It is a question of tracking back to find out what words like they, there or this refer to
L2 learners – paraphrase

23. 15
Amplifying what the speaker says
Conclusion

24. 1`5
Amplifying what the speaker says
Conclusion
Inexperienced L2 listener might experience…
a) A degree of uncertainty about the accuracy of decoding
b) The need to focus much more attention on low-level decoding operations
than a native listener would, thus limiting the mental resources available for
meaning building

25. 1Q
Amplifying what the speaker says
Discussion Question 3.
Practicing decoding process is crucial for L2 listener to work less
to build meaning in limited working memory.
As an English teacher,
which process would you place emphasis on the class?
If you prepare for Before and During listening class,
which activities would you employ to lead students to successful L2 listening? c
Also, successful decoding does not result in successful meaning building in L2;
Practicing applying well-established meaning-building operations to the unfamiliar
circumstances of listening to L2.

26. Q & A
Thank You