Developing listening skills

Listen up!
Why is it important?
Agh! It’s so difficult!
Main issues ● Clustering
● Redundancy
● Reduced forms
● Performance variables
● Colloquial language
● Rate of delivery
Some of the issues a learner can ● Stress, Rhythm, and
encounter are:
Intonation.
● Interaction
As always, planning is
key.
Pre-listening: ● Contextualising
Setting the stage. ● Building prior linguistic
knowledge.
● Introducing key words.
● Brainstorming.
Set it up.
Listening: TOP-DOWN
Interpreting speech Extensive. Listening for gist.

and constructing
meaning.
BOTTOM-UP
Intensive. Listening for detail.
What are you listening for?
Detail or Gist?
Select your ● Length.
material ● Lexicon.
appropriately. ● Level.
● Authentic or Scripted
material.
Keep in mind:
Post-listening: Post-listening activities allow
students to be aware of the
Responding, Reflecting
applicability and usefulness of the
and Reconstructing acquired information.
understanding
They also allow the teacher assess
students’ comprehension, check
their perceptions, and clarify their
Now what? understandings.
What you can do ● Using TPR.
● Asking questions.
● Drawing.
● Summarizing.
● Repeating the message.
You can check your students’
● Interacting in a
comprehension by: conversation.