Presentation for my ESL methodology course.

1. TeachingListening 1

2. Sources Berne, J. (1995). How Does Varying Pre-listening Activities Affect Second Language Listening Comprehension? Hispania, Vol. 78, No. 2 Popieszynska, M. (2000). Listening in FL Classrooms: A few recipes. International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language . Saricoban, A. (1999). The teaching of listening. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. V, No. 12 Thanajaro, M. (2000). Using authentic materials to develop listening comprehension in the ESL classroom. Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Vandergrift, L. (2006). Second language listening: Listening ability or language proficiency? The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 90, No. 1 2

3. Definition Listeningisanactive and interactionalprocessin which a listenerreceivesspeechsounds and tries toattachmeaningtothespokenwords. Thelistenerattemptstounderstandtheintendedmessage of the oral text so that he/she can respondeffectivelyto oral communication. 3

4. Background Listening has been the forgotten language skill for generations It has received little attention in language teaching and learning Listening comprehension was usually characterized as a passive activity 4

5. Theorists realized that listening is not a passive but an active process of constructing meaning from a stream of sounds Listeners actively attempt to grasp the facts and feelings in what they hear by attending to: what the speaker says how the speaker says it the context 5

6. Knowledge required for listening process Listening requires comprehension of the speaker's intended message. Command over major components of the language: phonology, lexicon, syntax, semantics, and text structure Socio-cultural competence Strategic competence Discourse competence 6

7. Study: Listening comprehension ability Both L2 proficiency and LI listening ability contribute substantially to L2 listening comprehension ability L2 proficiency appears to be a much better predictor than LI listening comprehension ability 7

8. Study: Listening comprehension ability Limitation: Most of the questions on the tests required students to read and choose from a list of potential choices. Because of this test structure, the students' ability to read and understand was tested along with their ability to listen and understand. 8

9. Study: Listening comprehension ability Implications for Pedagogy: Vocabulary development Match aural form of a word with that of mental lexicon Top-down skills/bottom-up skills 9

10. Top-down vs. Bottom-up listening Imagine the following situations: Over lunch, your friend tells you a story about a recent holiday, which was a disaster. You listen with interest and interject at appropriate moments, maybe to express surprise or sympathy. That evening, another friend calls to invite you to a party at her house the following Saturday. As you’ve never been to her house before, she gives you directions. You listen carefully and make notes. How do you listen in each case? Are there any differences? 10

11. Top-down vs. Bottom-up listening 11 Directions to a party Holiday anecdote http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/listening-top-down-bottom

12. Study: Listening comprehension ability Implications for Pedagogy: 2. Reduce the gap in transfer of L1 inferencing skills to L2 inferencing tasks how to use world knowledge in L2 listening how to use context to infer logical outcome nonthreatening environment 12

13. Listening Process - Stages Pre - listening While – listening Post - listening 13

14. Pre - Listening Purpose of listening Necessary background information Activities: 14

15. Pre - Listening Studying a vocabulary list may not be an effective way of improving listening comprehension Suggestion: provide learners with some type of brief summary before listening 15

16. While - Listening The aim is to help learners listen for meaning Attention on listening itself Marking/checking the items in pictures 16

17. Post - Listening Allow learners to reflect on the language from the passage 17

18. Performingtoindicateunderstanding More effective if they are constructed around a task Dependent upon students' skills in listening Drawing a picture Matchingexercises Physicalmovement 18

19. Teachingratherthantesting The emphasis should be more on functional listening toward the development of listening process, and less on memory and recall of details heard 19

20. Real-life situations Use materials cast in real-life situations for listening comprehension exercises As close as possible to a "slice of life" 20

21. Aural authenticmaterials Definition: Unaltered texts that are generated by native speakers and for native speakers Positive results when given opportunities to interact with authentic oral texts Listening-comprehension improves with increased exposure to authentic speech 21

22. Aural authenticmaterials Blend with instructional materials Importance of authentic oral texts very early in the language experience. 22

23. Aural authenticmaterials Proper instructional planning by the teacher Students experience the rewards of learning a language Positive effect on both comprehension and motivation 23

24. Aural authenticmaterials Challenge for the second-language teacher: To identify authentic materials of potential interest to students To prepare the students for dealing with these texts in a meaningful way 24

25. Thank you! 25