Great speakers need great listeners

GREAT SPEAKERS NEED GREAT LISTENERS By J.J Wilson co-author of the Speak Out series (Longman) Good listeners – Own the conversation and they take part in it – Provide constant feedback through words – What you mean? - or body language – Are wordly listeneres, they bring their knowledge of the world into their listening – Use visual cues, the context of interaction, the speaker's hands' movements and eyecontact – Are experts at self-monitoring – Tolerate ambiguity and persevere – Question the completeness of their understanding For example, they question the understanding of an idiom or their recognition of one as such They can identify when to take the words literally or not – Identify specific problem areas – Listen between the words They listen critically, without taking everything at face value as in the case of politicians, where you have to think beyond the words – Think ahead, they use everything they know about the world of conversation, for example, they respect the conventions of turn-taking and the use of discourse markers – Focus on what's valuable and important – Listen to different things in different ways TWO QUESTIONS THAT ARISE FROM THIS: WHY TEACH LISTENING STRATEGIES? DON'T THESE CARRY OVER FROM L1? HOW CAN WE TEACH LISTENING STRATEGIES? Through questioning: If I want the sts to listen effectively, I ask them: Do you believe the speaker? Eventually they start asking themselves that question whenever they take part in a listening activity or in real conversation and become critical listeneres Incorporate activities that bring their knowledge of the world in contrast with their knowledge of the text (strategy) For example, the teacher tells the sts that they are going to listen a text about 'The Real Rain Man' The sts draw the following chart including three columns with the headings: What I know – What I want to know and What I learnt.First the sts fill in the first two columns and then they listen to the text, and try to fill in the third column I KNOW WANT TO KNOW He's autistic Did he ever fell in love? He's a genious He can count things in a group very quickly LEARNT He died in 2009 His name was Kim Peak The teacher reads the story again stopping at certain points for the sts to complete the rest of the phrase Strategy: sts predict words using their linguistic knowledge Then, the sts a kinesthetic activity in which they have to listen to the story again and then, as quickly as they can, grab words from the wall as they hear them The sts who gets more words wins They are all words from the Rain Man story After that, they try to put the words in order and retell the story in their own words Strategy: listening for detail Hear the word and hit the partner in the hand Sts sit facing each other with their hands up Each st is assigned a name For example one is books and the other one is boxs When they hear their partner's name they hit his hand This strategy works good with minimal pairs and helps them to identify potential problem areas Make a story from a set of words Then, listen to the real story and check Then write the true story in your own words and from what you remember Sts write the stories in a big poster and the teacher sticks them around the room for everybody to analyse and complete This is a kind of collaborative learning and helps sts to develop a listening strategy to get the gist of the text Look at the picture (a cat looking out the window) Make a story Then, hear the true story and compare it with yours Hear the story again and say STOP when there's a mistake Strategy: listen for detail Ghost writers: st tells a story twice St listens St writes the story in a 1st person narrative St reads the written version and gives further detail for st to add Sts change roles 9 Oral history: sts write the following prompts: - where your family lived - how your family made a living - any interesting ancestors? - family stories: eg How ancestors met, a life-changing event, etc - list things, people, places objects, etc, that were important to you growing up - add details and colour - write a poem and start every line with “I am from” TEACHING LISTENING STRATEGIES Discuss listening, share strategies Vary the tasks Sts use the information they hear Ask for a personal response Use physical activities Use scripts and subtitles Use the four skills Be a great listener wilsonj11@wnmu.edu