Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Importance of the Listening Skill
“Speaking does not of itself constitute
communication unless what is said is
comprehended by another person.
Teaching the comprehension of spoken
speech is therefore a primary importance
of the communication aim is to be
reached”
Rivers (1966: 196)
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Basic stages of listening process
(Nunan, 2001: 24)
Hearing,
Attending,
Understanding,
Remembering,
Evaluating &
Responding
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What makes listening difficult?
Clustering
Redundancy
Reduced forms
Performance variables
Colloquial language
Rate of delivery
Stress, rhythm, and intonation
Interaction
Processes Involved in Listening
Top-down processing
When a listener can relate what he is able
to hear with what he already knows - helps
him understand what he hears.
Bottom-up processing
If whatever a listener hears does not trigger
anything in his previous knowledge, he
resorts to contextual clues(linguistic data).
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Processes
Involved in
Listening
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What types of listening skills are
developed?
Microskills
- attending to smaller bits of language; involving
bottom-up approach to listening comprehension
Macroskills
- focusing on larger elements; involving
top-down approach to listening (listening
for general idea; use of background
knowledge)
What kinds of listening skills are
taught?
Reactive (listen and repeat)
Intensive (listen on a focused sound)
Responsive (listen and respond – briefly)
Selective (listen for particular items in a
longer passage)
Extensive (listen for interactive/responsive
purposes)
Interactive (listen to discuss, respond,
debate)
Principles for teaching listening
Integrate listening into the course
Appeal to students’ personal goals
Use authentic language and contexts
Consider how students will respond
Teach listening strategies
Include both bottom-up & top-down
listening
Common listening strategies
Looking for key words
Looking for nonverbal cues to meaning
Predicting a speaker’s purpose by the context
Activating background knowledge
Guessing at meanings
Seeking clarification
Listening for the gist
Developing test-taking strategies for listening
Guidelines in Teaching Speaking:
Taking short turns (responding
to an invitation/question) is
usually easier than telling a
story or making a speech.
Talking informally to a friend is
less stressful than to the rest
of the class.
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Guidelines for Teaching Listening
N.Chitravelu, S.Sithamparam & Teh S.S. (2000)
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Guidelines in Teaching Speaking:
4. Maintain a balance between
accuracy (production of correct &
appropriate words/structures as
well as correct use of phonological
features like pronunciation, stress,
intonation and rhythm, etc.) and
fluency (ability to speak without
unnecessary pauses) 16
Guidelines in Teaching Speaking:
5. Be a good model for the
pupils to imitate
6. Provide appropriate stimuli
for eliciting speech
7. Vary interaction models
8. Give clear instructions
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Guidelines in Teaching Speaking:
9. Monitor pupils’ responses –
note common & recurring
errors/ suitability of tasks
/encourage those who
perform well or try hard.
10. Handle errors sensitively
and effectively .
Source: N.Chitravelu, S.Sithamparam & Teh S.S. (2000) 18
Techniques for Teaching Listening
and Speaking
•Integrate listening practice into
the class.
- Allow more listening time.
•Include both global (gist of
message) and focused listening
(form and accuracy).
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Techniques for Teaching Listening
and Speaking
•Appeal to students’ intrinsic
motivation.
- Include students’ interests, goals and
abilities.
•Use authentic language in
meaningful contexts.
- Highlight relevance to real-life needs.
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Techniques for Teaching Listening
and Speaking
• Consider how students will respond.
Listening cannot be seen; we must infer
students’ comprehension from their responses
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Activities for Listening:
1. Listening for Perception
2. Listening for Comprehension
Listening & making no response
- Aided by visuals/informal talk/
- entertainment
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Activities for Listening:
Listening & making short
responses
- Obeying instructions, ticking off
items, detecting mistakes, maps
Listening & making longer
responses
- Repetition & dictation, paraphase,
- filling gaps, predictions…
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Activities for Listening:
Listening as a basis for study &
discussion
- Problem-solving, jigsaw
listening, cloze listening
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Activities for Speaking:
1. Drilling & chants
2. Dialogues
3. Communicative tasks
4. Drama, role-play & simulation
5. Discussions & debates
6. Conversation and chat
7. Presentations & talks
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Tutorial:
Review your notes and explain what
you understand from this lesson on
techniques on developing listening &
speaking skills.
What new techniques can you
suggest to help develop listening/
speaking skills in the primary
classroom?
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References:
1. Celce-Murcia, M. & Hilles, S. (1988). Techniques
and Resources in Teaching Grammar.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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