Elizabeth Apostolou, PhD Candidate

Research Assistant, RCeL University of Athens

Listening comprehension is an extremely complex activity (Buck, 2001) that requires much more than simple perception of the acoustic signal. Bottom-up processing: listeners use of phonological, lexical & grammatical knowledge to make sense of the incoming message Top-down processing: listeners use of world knowledge to make interpretations of the aural message

Listening comprehension procedure

is

an

active

meaning is created only by active listening in which the linguistic form triggers interpretation within the listeners background and in relation to the listeners purpose (Rost, 1990: 62) understanding is not something that happens because of what the speaker says, but the listener has a crucial part to play in the process, by activating various types of knowledge and by applying what he knows to what he hears and trying to understand what the speaker means (Anderson & Lynch, 1988: 6)

For many years listening was neglected or poorly taught in the EFL classroom

WHY? Passive: students exposure to spoken language provides adequate instruction. Easy in comparison to speaking and writing, causing less anxiety to Ss. Practical complexities in bringing spoken texts appropriate for listen to the classroom.

It is vital for language learning as it provides input for the learner. It is necessary for communication since we cannot communicate face-to-face unless speaking and listening are developed in tandem (Anderson & Lynch, 1988: 3). It is significantly different from the other three language abilities in view of characteristics that are unique to listening (i.e., speech rate, accent, elision, the placement of stress and intonation, redundancy and hesitation).

It tests rather than teaches listening comprehension. purposeless listening to audio texts responding to a series of course book activities without preparation feedback is given in the form of the right answer It does not prepare Ls for real-life listening Scripted texts written and recorded especially for teaching purposes

Authentic listening input

Contextualization of instructional tasks and language

Authentic speech encountered in real life

Genuineness vs. Authenticity (Widdowson, 1978)

a characteristic of the text a characteristic of the relationship between the text and the listener having to do with appropriate response

Simulated (semi-scripted) texts: produced through improvisation on the basis of scenarios, exhibiting features which have a high probability of occurrence in genuine acts of communication (Geddes and White, 1985: 137).

Rewards for the learner: exposed to discourse incorporating features of authentic speech, but in a controlled manner. presented with learning and practice tasks designed with their level and abilities in mind. prepared for exposure to language in uncontrolled situations outside the classroom.

Incorporating authentic oral texts in L2 teaching has been associated with the notion of difficulty. Why is listening to authentic texts so hard? o knowledge of the language is limited o not used to everyday language being spoken naturally o have little or no control over the speed of speech delivery o cannot refer back to the text so that all that remains is a memory of what was said o have very little time for working out meaning

Audio text repetition rate simplification of context the role of prelistening activities (i.e., preview key lexis, help Ss tune in) Length of input: The shortness of a text simplifies the task of comprehension chunking the input into manageable segments (one to three-minute segments) For each segment of input responses are required while the Ls listen memory load is kept to a minimum (Anderson & Lynch, 1988)

Provide support: use of visual stimuli (i.e., picture, map, diagram) Topic familiarity: choose passages that address your Ls needs and experiences and lie within their field of interest. Type of language: lexical difficulty & grammatical complexity Text type: transactional vs. interactional speech (Brown & Yule 1983) Paralinguistic features: accent, rate of speech, number of speakers, background noise

The main challenge in listening instruction is the design of realistic and pedagogically effective listening tasks that will prepare Ls to listen in the real world Skills-oriented listening tasks (Richards, 1983,1990; Brown, 1986; Ur, 1984; Lund, 1990) emphasis on the process (i.e., how we listen) rather than the product of listening (i.e., responding to questions)

Lunds (1990) taxonomy of listening skills & tasks: Aim: provide teachers with a sense of clarity and direction in listening activities Listener function: the aspects of the message the listener attempts to process. chosen before listening determine the objectives of the lesson

Listener response: what the listener does to demonstrate successful listening (types of listening activities). occur while or after listening directly linked to functions

Listener Functions o Identification (recognition & discrimination) Ex.: recognising familiar words, looking for categories of words, discriminating between phonemic pairs o Orientation (tuning in; getting ready to process the message) Ex.: determining facts about the text, i.e., participants, their role, attitude, the genre, the context o Main idea comprehension (understanding main ideas in the message) o Detail comprehension (getting specific information from the text)

Listener responses o Doing (the listener responds physically rather than linguistically) Ex.: movement directions, build sth, pantomine a product) o Choosing (activities that involve selection) Ex.: matching with pictures, placing pictures in order, selecting titles for a story o Transferring (receiving information in
one form and transferring it into another)

Ex.: drawing a sketch, trace a route on a map, fill in a table or chart) o Answering (answering questions about the text)

Listener Functions
o Full comprehension (understanding main ideas plus details in a text) Ex.: understand a story to select an ending, understand a lecture and take notes) o Replication (reproduce the message either in the same or a different modality) Ex.: dictation, transcription, oral repetition)

Listener Responses
o Condensing (reducing the message) Ex.: note taking, outlines, summarizing o Extending (the listener goes beyond what is provided) Ex.: suggesting an ending to a story, predicting o Duplicating (the message is reproduced)

o Modeling (text used as a model) Ex.: role playing after listening to a model)
o Conversing (text used as a stimulus for conversation in the classroom)

Listen to the audio

Oral text: instructions for an electronic scale Listener function: Detail information Listener response: Choosing Task type: Matching instructions with photos

Listen to the audio

 Listener Listener Task

response: Transferring function: Orientation/Inference

type: Short Answers

helps teachers plan their listening lessons guides teachers in structuring effective tasks at any level of language proficiency & any stage of the listening lesson allows for wide variation in task difficulty for any given text enables the use of authentic texts even at novice levels focuses on Ss development of listening skills

Reduce processing / memory load: use short messages or break longer texts into parts allow Ls to preview questions/activity familiarize Ls with content (pre-listening exercises) Listening tasks completed as Ls listen Grade tasks in terms of listener function
Global listening intensive listening selective listening (Anderson & Lynch, 1988)

Grade tasks in terms of listener response (type of activity)

Type of language used in the task use words Ls are expected to be familiar with use simple grammar & syntax Determine length of response (in tasks requesting production) Adjust distractor performance in M/C questions

Task types

Example

Multiple matching

Matching descriptions with pictures Matching stories with titles / endings Matching speakers with professions Matching speakers with feelings 1. What do you suppose the relationship between the two speakers is? A. Boss and employee B. Brother and sister C. Doctor and patient

Multiple choice (A, B, C or D)

2. We are listening to a man A. explaining the values of exercising B. giving advice on healthy lifestyle C. giving tips on healthy eating habits Ordering/ Ticking pictures

Task types

Example This part of England is historically more important than any other True False Not stated

True/ False / Not stated Fill in

The story is about two vices: ______ and envy. The first man in the story wanted to become _____.

Short answers
Listening close

Whats the speakers profession? Whats the speaker looking for?

Make sure that youve made sufficient time for this meditation and that you will not be (21) . .During this exercise you will observe and (22) different parts of yourself.

Note-taking Summarizing

Three main listening stages:

Pre-listening

preparation stage While -listening stage: actual listening & task response Post-listening stage: feedback & remedial work

Ls profile
age level of proficiency interests background knowledge

Lesson objectives

Learners profile

Age: 14-16 years old Level of proficiency: Upper-intermediate

Listening input: an interview about cyber bullying in school (listen to the audio )
Lesson main objectives:

a)

Lesson secondary objectives:

to develop Ls ability to make inferences about the text (orientation) and understand specific information (detail information)

b)

to familiarize Ls with the notion of cyber bullying & raise their awareness of the internet use dangers.

familiarize Ls with the context of situation (speaker-listener, place, situation, topic, type of language) activate Ls background knowledge give Ls a purpose to listen for, so they feel motivated pre-teach unfamiliar lexis

Quiz on internet safety rules organization: groups of 3-4 people)

(Class

A speaking task 1. Do you use the internet? If yes, for what reason? 2. Are there any dangers in using the internet? 3. Do you know what cyber bullying is?

Choose authentic listening material that would raise interest consider your students age, interests, experiences and background knowledge Multiple choice task adjusted to the objectives of your lesson. Adjust the level of difficulty of the text (apply the criteria for grading authentic input) Determine the level of difficulty of your tasks (apply the criteria for grading tasks)

Listen to the audio

Always save time for feedback & remedial work

Do not provide the right answers immediately after listening Encourage peer-discussion students can review difficulties justify their choices speculate on their failures

Self-correction: allow Ss to read the script to check whether they heard correctly Allow Ss to listen again for a question they have missed, but which their peers seem to have picked up

Learners metacognitive knowledge (learn to listen) and use of strategies is enhanced

Always linked the listening lesson to a followup activity otherwise listening would seem purposeless.

Example - Writing task on the topic of cyber bullying

Listening is as an important skill as reading, writing and speaking and must have its own position inside the classroom.

Anderson, A. and Lynch, T. (1988) Listening. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brown, G. and Yule, G. (1983) Teaching the spoken language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lund, R. J. (1990) A taxonomy for teaching second language listening. Foreign Language Annals 23(2): 105-115. Richards, J. C. (1983) Listening comprehension: approach, design, procedure. TESOL Quarterly 17(2): 219-40. Richards, J. C. (1990) The Language Teaching Matrix. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rost, M. (1990) Listening in Language Learning. London and New York: Longman. Ur, P. (1984) Teaching Listening Comprehension. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Widdowson, H. G. (1978) Teaching Language as Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.