1. Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
English Pedagogy
Methodology I
Comparative essay
between
J. Harmer and H. D. Brown
Name: Gerardo Valdivia
Teacher: Roxana Correa
Subject: Methodology

2. Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
English Pedagogy
Methodology I
As teachers we must based our work on the four skills in the classroom, these four
skills need to be perfected, so that students could get a good level of English and also be
able to comprehend the language easily. The skills will be explain in this essay is Listening,
through comparing the points of views of two authors, H. Douglas Brown and Jeremy
Harmer. Six points will be developed in the essay: first, reasons why listening should be
taught; second, why teachers should use techniques that are motivational for students; third,
why teachers should utilize authentic language and contexts when teaching listening;
fourth, why teachers should encourage the development of listening strategies on their
students; fifth, why teachers should consider the form of listeners’ responses and sixth why
teachers should include both bottom-up and top-down listening techniques on their
listening activities.
According to Harmer (1998) listening should be taught because it lets students to
listen to spoken language, that allows them to hear deferent languages and accents of
English and also because “it helps students to acquire a language subconsciously even if
teachers do not draw attention to its special features” (Harmer, 1998, p.109). Harmer argues
that English should be internalized subconsciously and that students should be exposed to
the language as much as they can. Similarly, Brown (1994) argues that through listening we
internalize linguistic information without which we could not produce any kind language.
Brown explains that through listening we receive information with which we understand a
message and then we answer to that message giving an important role to the listening skill.

3. Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
English Pedagogy
Methodology I
Brown (1994) explains that teachers should use techniques that are motivating,
since they should connect listening with the background information that their students
have, with their personal experiences, with their objectives in life and also with the abilities
that their student have when designing a listening lesson, is not just prepare a lesson, it has
to have relation with the students. It is really important to know the context where the
listening lesson will take place. In the same topic, Harmer (1998) adds that listening
sometimes are too difficult, long and not interesting and all that would be demotivating for
students. He appends that the comprehension gets lost and the listening becomes valueless.
So also it might be believed that Harmer remarks that if the listening lesson is not
motivating and interesting, it would not be affective. The listening activity should be
pleasant rather than an exercise.
Teachers should utilize authentic language and contexts, as Harmer (1998) implies
everything depends on level of the students and the kind of task they face. These levels
should be stated, he argues that there may be some authentic material which is usable by
beginners such as pre-recorded announcements, telephone messages etc. More difficult
material may be appropriate for elementary students provided them the questions they are
asked and we should not demand them for detailed understanding. Advance students may
benefit from scripted material provided that it is interesting and subtle enough and provide
the task that goes with it appropriate for their level. Different kind of tapes should be
played to them. Harmer argues that the main method of exposing students to spoken
English is through the use of taped material which can come from a wide range of topics
such as advertisements, new broadcasts, poetry readings, plays, songs with lyrics, speeches,

4. Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
English Pedagogy
Methodology I
telephone conversation. Needs, level and interests of students will determine the kind of
listening that teachers use. Although it should always be realistic, it may not always be
absolutely “authentic”. Likewise, Brown (1994) indicates that if teachers use authentic
language and context will enable students to see the relevance of the activities in the class,
if teacher use natural material students will appreciate the activity and do it properly. That
is to say the more the activity is authentic the more the students will be engage with it.
Teacher should encourage the development of listening strategies, Harmer (1998)
proposes that first students hear the recording to get a general understanding of it and then
try to get some more details from it. This will help students to understand first the meaning
or topic and then grab the key information that they are asked to answer. On the same way,
Brown(1994) insists that teachers should equip their students with some listening strategies
that will permit them to perform better in a listening activity, test, etc., for instance, some
strategies that could be useful are: looking for a key word, listening to the general gist, and
activates background information.
Teachers should consider the form of listeners’ responses, as stated by Brown
(1994) comprehension is not observable. We cannot see it, but it is important that teachers
design techniques to verify if students comprehended what they hear. Lund (1990) offered
some options to do that such as: choosing, answering, condensing, modeling, etc. Harmer
(1998) also considers the form of the listeners’ responses in the fact that speech goes at the
speaker’s, not the listener’s speed. Moreover, Harmer estimates that different tasks should
be set for different stages of listening, so teachers could check the understanding of the
listening text.

5. Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
English Pedagogy
Methodology I
Teachers should include both bottom-up and top-down listening techniques,
Because bottom-up techniques typically focus on sounds, words, intonation, grammatical
structures, and other components of the spoken language. Top-down techniques are more
concerned with the activation of schemata, with deriving meaning, with global
understanding, and with interpretation of a text. According to Brown (1994) it is important
for learners to operate from both directions since both can offer keys to determining the
meaning of spoken discourse. Equally, Harmer (2007) agrees that a key to determining the
meaning of a listening is using both, on one hand; he explains that in a bottom-up the
listener gets a more detailed insight. He goes in depth. On the other hand, in a top-down
activity the student listener gets an overall view of the text, the hearer gets a general idea
which is important because he will be able to activate previous knowledge that might be
useful in the listening activity.
To conclude, to teach listening is a good way to expose students to a foreign
language, that will allow them to perform better in this tasks. Additionally, listening
activities must be motivating, in order to grab the complete attention of the students. Also,
teachers through listening should reflect in a way the context of the students, their goals in
life, abilities and authentic language so students could relate the study of English with their
real lives. Furthermore, Teachers should encourage their students to develop some
strategies to perform better in listening activities, which is a good way to improve this skill.
Teachers should check the responses of their students to check if they are learning or not.
Finally, the important part of listening practice is to draw attention on the meaning and on
details, using both bottom-up and top-down exercises. Students get better at listening the

6. Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
English Pedagogy
Methodology I
more they do it. Listening is a skill and any help we can give students in performing that
skill will help them to be better listeners.

7. Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
English Pedagogy
Methodology I
References
Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by Principles: An interactive approach to
language Pedagogy. (2nd ed.). Engle Wood Cliffs, NS. Prentice Hall Regents.
Harmer, J. (1998). How to teach English. Harlow, England. Longman.
Harmer, J.(2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching: With DVD.
Longman.
Lund, R. J. (1990). A taxonomy for teaching second language listening. Foreign
language annals, 23(2), 105-115.