Teaching listening and speaking is neglected in the ESL classroom

Language skills can be divided into two categories namely receptive and productive. Reading
and writing are productive meanwhile listening and speaking are receptive skills which means
requires a person to receive and understand incoming information. According to elgesen !"##$%
states that listening is an active& purposeful process of making sense of what we hear. 'oal of
teaching listening is learners listen to spoken te(ts and they need to interpret and respond to the
language they hear in ways that develop listening skills and strategies. )n the other hand The
goal of teaching speaking in the ESL classroom is to improve students* communicative skills in
the other words students are able to e(press themselves and learn how to follow the social and
cultural rules appropriate in each communicative perspective.
Listening plays a significant role in daily communication and educational process. +n spite of its
importance& listening has long been the neglected skill in second language acquisition& research&
teaching& and assessment. ,urdy !-../% defined listening as 0the active and dynamic process of
attending& perceiving& interpreting& remembering& and responding to the e(pressed !verbal and
nonverbal%& needs& concerns& and information offered by other human beings0 .To listen well&
listeners must have the ability to decode the message& the ability to apply a variety of strategies
and interactive processes to make meaning& and the ability to respond to what is said in a variety
of ways& depending on the purpose of the communication. 1esides listening& speaking is a crucial
part of second language learning and teaching. According to 2haney! -..3% the process of
building and sharing meaning through verbal and non4 verbal symbols in a variety of conte(ts.
The huge number of conversation and other speaking course books in the market showed that the
oral skills have been neglected in ESL classroom.
The national e(aminations might be the biggest issue in ESL classroom which is focus mainly on
two language skills namely writing and reading. Another ma5or focus was on grammar. This
might be the ma5or factor that teaching listening and speaking is neglected. Teachers found to be
teaching mainly for the national e(aminations. 6ot much emphasis was given to listening and
speaking in both classroom teaching and national e(aminations. )ne of the main reasons given is
that at the end of the day& the school& parents and learners want good grades. Everybody and all
schools competes for better grades each year. 7or e(ample& According to Lewey !-.//%& the
8alaysian education system is very e(amination4oriented. Even if there is a change in teachers9
attitude and they accept any changes in the curriculum employed& they are still compelled by the
e(amination and will teach according to what will be tested.
Second factor is te(tbook and e(amination syllabus leaving dilemma over what to teach. The
te(tbooks syllabus stress on topic or themes whereas& the e(amination focuses on skills and
grammar. Teachers felt that the syllabus would enable the learners to achieve a minimum
competency in English. They felt that the syllabus would enable the learners to achieve a
minimum competency in English. The conflict between syllabus and the skills that the students
should achieved by the end of the year resulted teachers taught accordingly to the syllabus& in
simpler still to get better result in the e(am and still relate to e(am4oriented. +n order to achieved
the skills that are being tested in the e(am& these two skills are always be left behind since they
are less important than the other two skills.
Another ma5or factor is the practices in classes whether the students or even the teachers.
,ractises which mean the use of mother tongue in peer interaction and the motor4perceptive
nature of speaking activities like reading aloud and drilling. +n addition some teachers use
mother tongue in teaching in order to get them to talk or to get respond so the learning come
alive. The way the method of teaching in the ESL classroom also infected that teaching listening
and speaking is neglected in the classroom. )ther than these ma5or e(ternal factors can affect
learning of a second language& internal factors also play some of the role in ESL classroom. 7or
e(ample& a learner who has low self4confidence may refuse to use the language outside the
classroom. The use of language in the real world is crucial as it creates interest in learning the
language& helps learners to identify themselves with the target language and builds their
confidence. Lack of motivation and confidence use of English language with negative attitude
towards learning English bring the contribution to the neglected skills.
+n conclusion& teacher should change the way of teaching in the classroom in order to get
students to develop in listening and speaking skills. This can occur when students collaborate in
groups to achieve a goal or to complete a task. 1ackground schemata is an important factor in
listening& teachers should take into full account of the e(periences& goals and abilities before
designing the lesson. Authentic language enable students to see the relevance to their
communicative goals and encourage the development of listening strategies such as looking for
the key words& activate one*s background knowledge& guessing at meanings& seek for clarification
or listening for general gist. These are the elements that teachers should take account when
teaching. 1y providing appropriate input& integrate skills& use a variety of aids& create a purpose
of listening and speaking& base the lesson on real life situation and do tailor to the need when
conducting the teaching should promote the teaching listening and speaking in the classroom.
Teacher also should provide ma(imum opportunity to students to speak the target language&
involve all the students in every listening and speaking activity& reduce teacher speaking time& do
observe students more& indicate positive signs when commenting students* response& develop
speaking strategies and techniques& create a purpose for class communication& allow enough time
for students to think& give enough input before students speak& select topic suitable for the
learners * proficiency& avoid over correction and optimi:e the natural link between listening and
speaking. ;hen all the strategies and elements are all together& a great classroom environment
where students have real life communication& authentic activities and meaningful tasks will
automatically promote oral language.
E(ternal factor should be in a variety of order to achieve the main purpose in teaching without
leaving the internal factors. A variety of activities can be used in the ESL classroom for teaching
listening and speaking The variety of activities that can be carried out in teaching listening and
speaking in the ESL classroom could motivate the students to positive attitude towards English
and bring the confident in learning English as a second language even though they are low in
proficiency. Teachers should encourage students to e(amine how and why their responses were
incorrect and give immediate feedback whenever possible to and e(pand the opportunities to use
English outside the classroom.
The results of the study suggest that teachers perceive the <1S8 syllabus as effective in
developing reading and writing skills compared to listening and speaking skills. ;riting and
reading also are reported to be given more emphasis in both the school and the national
e(aminations. These perceptions have an effect on their teaching approaches in the ESL
classroom. 8ost sub5ects reported that they laid more emphasis on reading skills& writing skills
and also grammar in their lessons. This is also seen in their materials used and the activities
carried out in the classroom. )n top of that they believed that they orientated their lessons
towards the e(amination too. The factors& which were thought to be contributing to the low
proficiency of English among learners were limited opportunity to use the English language and
lack of confidence. 7urther research on this issue is required to match teachers9 perceptions with
actual practice.