Unit 7 Listening

 Unit 7 

Listening 

(Taken from: https://pixabay.com/photos/headphones-headset-audio-technology-690685/)

Listening forms part of the four language skills. It is about responding to language rather than producing it.

Listening is in charge of making sense of what we hear.

To do this the student has to use the context, language, and knowledge of the world.

According to Spratt, Pulverness, & Williams (2011), there are some key concepts that a teacher must know to teach.

In spoken language, people are unconscious of what they are saying and the message disappears as fast as it is spoken. When we speak, we do not have a script of what we are going to say. Rather than we write, we can use complex grammar and it is on paper. Therefore, the process of understanding is available at that time. Spoken and written language have different features because they are developed in different circumstances.

A conversation can have many incomplete sentences, hesitations, simple words, and utterances.

There are different text types in spoken language for example stories, songs, conversations, lectures, etc. They can vary depending on the interaction, range of vocabulary, number of participants, and language organization.

Connected speech is also involved in listening to understanding; some futures are speeds of speech, stress, linked sounds, and the use of contracted words.

Listening subskills are required depending on the reason for listening.

Listening for gist or global understanding is about getting keywords to get the general meaning. Specific information as its name is to focus on the needs for example in an exercise requiring a phone number. Detail or infer attitude is to see the speaker’s attitude. Intensively it focuses on language use. Extensively is focused on listening for pleasure.

To understand listening a person has to go further than grammar, vocabulary, and functions. To do that is important to know from where the people are speaking because there are many accents from different countries.

(Video taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gYxrRQffLE)

From this Unit, I learned everything about listening. Listening has too many concepts in which every listener is involved to understand and to be able to communicate.  Learning inside the classroom is different in real-world environments. Some factors can be a challenge like accents, speed, some sounds that are connected, and the use of contractions. Another thing that I learned is that we have to know which sub skill is required to comprehend what is said.

These problems can be solved, future teachers, in the classroom; I can use many resources such as music, movies, conversations, or foreign people with a range of accents to develop listening skills in a kind of controlled environment.

Examples of listening in the classroom according to Doyle, A. (2014).

1. In conversations with a native speaker in class, paraphrasing can help to develop listening and speaking skills because teachers are going to ask about the answers that students will hear.
2. To increase confidence in listening, teachers can use simplified texts that are easier to comprehend and a filling-gap activity. Students are going to feel excited because they can do the task correctly.

Bibliography

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2011). The Tkt, Teaching Knowledge Test, course: modules 1, 2 and 3. Cambridge University Press.

Doyle, A. (2014) Important Active Listening Skills and Techniques. The Balance Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/active-listening-skills-with-examples-2059684.

Extra material

Lim, K. Writing@CSU. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/listening.cfm.

Saricoban, A. (1999). The Teaching of Listening. http://iteslj.org/Articles/Saricoban-Listening.html.