Chapter 10: How to teach listening

Chapter 10: How to teach listeningI. Reasons for teaching listeningLetting Ss hear different varieties & accents e.g. American English, British English dialects, accents, pronunciation &grammar Helping Ss to acquire language subconsciouslyListening: a language skill II. Kinds of listening authentic ~ non-authentic materialDifferent kinds of tapes/ CDs e.g. announcements, conversations, telephone exchanges, lectures, plays, news broadcasts, interviews, radio programs  Learners’ needs, levels & interests determine kinds of listening materials & tasksIII. Special characteristics of listeningSpeed of speaker the same for everybodyInformal spoken language has unique features such as incomplete utterances (Dinner?), hesitations (well, ummm, er)Other spoken factors: tone of voice, intonations, rhythm & background noisebecause of these special characteristics, Ss must be well-prepared for listening IV. PrinciplesTape recorder as important as tapePreparation: vital (teacher & Ss)Once  not enoughSs: responding to content & languageDifferent stages different tasksGood teachers exploiting listening texts to the full V. Listening sequencesExample 1 (beginners)Example 2 (elementary learners)Example 3 (intermediate)Example 4(upper intermediate)(Read these examples in the textbook –page 99-108)VI. Using video Kinds of video learners’ levels & interestsAdvantages: richer; speakers can be seen; their clothes, their body movements, location & background informationProblems: Ss’ less attention to what they are hearing, uncritically & lazily Techniques for videosPlaying the tape/VCD/DVD w/o soundPlaying but covering the pictureFreezing the pictureDividing the class half (half the class face the screen; the other half sit with the backs to it; the ‘screen’ half describe the visual images to the ‘wall’ half