MODULE 8 TEACHING LISTENING

MODULE 8: TEACHING LISTENING 1. What is listening? Listening is a language skill which involves a wide range ofsubskills. It is more than simply hearing; it is decoding sounds and understanding the meaning behind those sounds

MODULE 8: TEACHING LISTENING 1. What is listening? Listening is a language skill which involves a wide range of'sub-skills'. It is more than simply hearing; it is 'decoding' sounds and understanding the meaning behind those sounds Some of the sub-skills involved in listening are: 1. Recognizing differences between phonological sounds. For examples, we must be able to notice a difference between/g/ and /k/ in the word 'pig' and 'pick'. 2. Comprehension of structures (parts of speech, sentence patterns ) e.g.: In the sentence, Would you please pick the phone up? the listener must notice that 'pick' is the verb and ’phone' is a noun. Besides, the listener must recognize from the word order and intonation pattern that the sentence is a question. 1 1 3. Guessing at unknown words or recognizing words that arc unnecessary . for understanding. Guessing is done by noticing the context or looking at the grammar of the sentence. e.g.: In the sentence, "The police hit I he man with a billy club the listener can guess at the meaning of the word 'billy' or ignore it. 4. Recognizing discourse markers and cohesive words which help hold the discourse together. These discourse words include nouns which are later referred to by pronouns, articles, determiners, connectors like first, second, next, finally, therefore, e.g.: Last week my sister Jane sent me a letter. She had good news A spaceship landed on our apartment building last night. The ship was huge with bright lights all over it This flying object was 5. Ability to infer information that is not directly stated, e.g.: Woman: I want to complain about a man abusing me. 2 2 Policeman : Did the man hit you? Woman : lie was screaming at me and threatening me. 6. Skimming The skill of understanding the main idea 7. Summarizing: The listener will try to repeat or reduce the main points into fewer words 8. Scanning The skill of looking for specific information 9. Critical listening The skill of understanding 10. Recognizing different styles, emotional tones and varieties of language The skill of understanding 10. Recognizing different styles, emotional tones and varieties of language - Styles: Formal / Informal 3 3 - Tones: Angry / Excited / Quiet - Varieties: American / Brish / Indian – English 11. Predicting what a speaker will say next In order to listen to more carefully 12. Listening for total comprehension The listener has to understand everything the speakers says 2. The Importance of Listening:  We cannot develop speaking skills unless we also develop listening skills; the ability to understand spoken English may become very important (for listening to the radio, understanding foreign visitors, studying…  Listening to spoken English is an important way of acquiring the language of I 'picking up' structures and vocabulary. We need to give students as much opportunity to listen to spoken English as possible because they do not have the language environment outside the classroom. 4 4 3. Learners problems - Trouble with sounds - Having to understand every word - Can’t understand fast, natural native speech - Need to hear things more than once - Find it difficult to keep up - Get tired 4. Types of listening activities - No overt response - Short responses - Longer responses - Extended responses 5. Principles for teaching listening 1. Use authentic texts and present them as naturally and realistically as possible. 2. Include various types of texts 5 5 3. Use primarily meaning – based tasks 4. State a specific purpose for listening task 5. Introduce a listening task 6. Generally, it is best to avoid pre – teaching vocabulary unless necessary 7. Let students listen to the text more than once 6 6 . MODULE 8: TEACHING LISTENING 1. What is listening? Listening is a language skill which involves a wide. idea 7. Summarizing: The listener will try to repeat or reduce the main points into fewer words 8. Scanning The skill of looking for specific information 9. Critical listening The skill of understanding 10.