Potential Problems in

Learning to Listen to
English

Introduction

Different students encounter different

problems
It is important to recognize the features of the
spoken language and understand how they
affect language learners
What do you think are the problems that a
student might face in listening?

Lack of control over the speed at

which speakers speak

Students feel that the utterances disappear

before they could figure out the meaning
They are busy working out the meaning of one
part of what they hear that they miss the next
part
Or, they simply ignore the whole chunk

Not being able to get things repeated

Listener is not always in a position to get the

speaker to repeat an utterance
Especially when they listen to the radio or
television
Recorded materials in the classroom are often
not controlled by the learner
Ideally, students should have the control over
their listening materials and proceed in
whatever way they wish.

The listeners limited vocabulary

Choice of vocabulary are in the hands of the

speaker
An unknown word can be a barrier causing
listeners to stop and think about the meaning,
thus making them miss the next part of the
speech
Why does this happen? Accuracy vs. fluency
Leads students to focus on the language word by
word
Students need to develop the skill of keeping up
with the speaker even this means letting parts
which they have failed to sort out pass.

Failure to recognize the signals

In a formal situations, usually the speakers will

show clearly that they are about to begin a
new point. (e.g. use of expressions, pause,
gestures etc.)
Use of intonation in live conversations
Students need to learn to listen/watch the
signals in order to be able to connect the
various utterances

Problems of interpretation

Students are not familiar of the listening

context
The snows very bad so theres nobody in the
office
The meaning of non-verbal clues-facial
expressions etc can be easily misunderstood
by listeners from other cultures
Ill be a bit late

Inability to concentrate

The shortest break in attention can seriously

impair comprehension
Listening work is tiring, therefore, sometimes,
even when the topic is interesting, students
dont listen
Other factors-poor recording, classrooms
arent conducive for listening activities

Established learning habits

Teachers have aimed to ensure that the

students understand everything by repeating
and pronouncing words carefully.
This has trained the students to take into
account every word that they hear.

Discussion

1)
2)
3)

Think of at least three meanings which each

of the following might have depending on its
context, the manner in which it is spoken,
etc:
What time will you be home?
Its hot in here.
Have you been to the new Chinese
restaurant?