Language Skills: Listening

Language Skills: Listening Students: Jasmine Pai & Candace Liu Nov.2007

Introduction 1969,AILA (International Association of Applied Linguistics) have been prophetic in pointing the way toward trends in S/FL (second/foreign language) education during the last middle of 20th. century.

Four New Important of Views 1.Self learner and the individuality of learning; 2.Both listening and reading as active and mixed receptive processes; 3.Listening comprehension’s (LC) being recognized as a basic skill; 4.True language used for real communication as a achievable classroom model.

Listening & Language Learning • Multiple benefits accrue to the learner over the apparent improvements in listening skills. • LC lessons are a vehicle for teaching elements of grammatical structure and allow new vocabulary items to be contextualized within a body of communicative discourse (essay; speech or conversation).

4 Perspectives of Listening and Language Instruction Nowadays, the role of and the purpose Of LC instruction in S/FL curriculum, can be one of four different erspectives. Each instructional model for each perspective reflex basic view about language learning theory and education.

Model 1：Listening ＆Repeating ◎Learner Goals To pattern-match; listen and imitate and memorize • Instructional material - base on a listening-and question-answering model • Procedure - listen>repeat>memorize • Value - enables Ss to do pattern drills; repeat dialogues ; memorize prefabricated patterns in conversation; imitate pronunciation patterns.

Model 2：Listening ＆Answering Comprehension Questions ◎Learner Goals To process discrete point information; listen＆answer comprehension Qs. • Instructional material - base on a hearing-and pattern matching model • Procedure - listen>answer (quiz-show) • Value - enables Ss to handle disjunctive pieces of information, also with increasing speed and accuracy of recall.

Model 3：Task Listening ◎Learner Goals To process spoken discourse for functional purposes; carry out real tasks using the information received. • Instructional material - base on a listening-and-using model • Procedure - listen>use (the orally transmitted language input to complete a task) • Value - enables Ss to engage learners in using the inforamitnal content presented in the spoken discourse. 2 types of task:1. language use tasks; 2. language analysis tasks

Model 4：Interactive Listening ◎Learner Goals To develop aural/oral skills in semiformal interactive academic communication; develop critical thinking and listening; then effective speaking abilities • Instructional material - base on a real-time/ real-life give –and take of academic communication • Procedure - decoding>simultaneous＞instant response • Value - communicative/ competence-oriented as well as task oriented. 4 communicative competences: linguistic; discourse; sociolinguistic and strategic.

The Dynamic Process of Communicative Listening 1988, Anderson and Lynch specified the listening as a “listener-as-tape-recorder explanation. The interpretations listeners make as they hear the spoken text according to their own purposes for listening and their own store of background knowledge.

3 Communicative Listening Modes • Mode 1 Bidirectional Listening Mode - 2 way communicative listening (2 or more participants take turns exchanging speaker role and listener role as they engage in face-to-face or telephone verbal interaction).

Mode 2 Unidirectional Listening Mode - 1 way communicative listening (A variety of auditory input sources surrounds us as we through the day. We hear speakers but unable to interact; we may do self-dialogue manner as we analyze what we hear.

Mode 3 Autodirectional Listening Mode - Self-dialogue communicative listening (Both speaker and listener/reactor in our own thought process. All by talking and listening to ourselves.

Brief of 3 Modes Listening is not a passive experience. Each listening mode is a highly active, clearly participatory, verbal experience.

2 Psychosocial Functions of Listening 1983, Brown and Yule suggested to divide language function into 2 major divisions. They found the transactional language matches to Halliday’s idea of ideational, while interactional language matches to his term interpersonal (Halliday 1970, p.143).

1. Transactional Language Function - It is message oriented and view as “business-type” talk. It focus on content and conveying factual or propositional information. - Speakers often use confirmation checks to make sure what they are saying is clear; even contradict the listener if they appear to have misunderstood.

2. Interactional Language Function - It is person oriented and view as “social-type” talk. Its objective is the establishment and maintenance of cordial social relationships. - Important features identify with other person’s concerns, being nice, maintaining and respecting “face”.

2 Psychosocial Processes of Listening In accounting for the complex nature of listening to understand spoken language, it is hypothesized that 2 different modes work together in a cooperative process.

1. Bottom-Up Processing - External process - Make sure the listener totally understand the “heard” language is worked (input=output) - Sounds＞Words＞Grammatical relationship＞Lexical meanings

2. Top-Down Processing - Internal process - The listener’s ability to bring prior information to bear on the task of understanding the “heard” language. - The internal resource include previous knowledge and global expectations about language and the world. - Facts; propositions; expectations＞Inference＆Prediction

Implications for Instruction Richards(1990) observes that the content to which one or the other process controlled is determined by : a.) whether the purpose for listening is transactional or interactional; b.) what kind of background knowledge can be applied to the task; c.) what degree of familiarity listeners have with the topic.

Conclusive Opinion of Richards Ss should not be required to respond to interactional discourse as if it were being used for a transactional purpose, nor should they be expected to use a bottom-up approach to an aural (listen) text if a top-down one is more appropriate(p.83).

INTERACTIONAL 1 2 BOTTOM-UP TOP-DOWN 3 4 TRANSACTIONAL Richards’s Functions/Processes Chart

Affect and Attitudes - In developing activities and materials for listening instruction, we consider the affective domain (include attitudes; emotions; and feelings). • Later more consider and focus on： 1.) the ways attitudinal and emotional information may be cover both linguistically and nonlinguistically, 2.) some of the attitudinal language functions that second language learners need to experience via instructional listening materials.

Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Cues to Affect 1. Linguistic Messages (the words) - Affective interpretation must be a part of listening comprehension activities. - The instruction experiences must be contextualized and must reflect real-world situations and feelings.

2. Paralinguistic Messages (vocally transmitted meaning) - The speaker’s attitude toward what he or she is saying is transmitted by vocal features. - The vocal elements shows affective information onto the linguistic message are those beyond the neutral patterns of basic stress, rhythm, and intonation

3. Extralingustic Messages (meaning transmitted through body language) - The simultaneous physical messages are being transmitted with the words and vocal information and must be interpreted by the listener. - Ss could learn the meanings of specific features of body language in the second language; also to recognize the body language differs between language and between cultures.

Developing Listening Comprehension Activities and Materials ◎ 3 important points about listening as a language act: • Information Processing • Linguistic Functions • Dimensions of Cognitive Processing

◎ 3 important principles in making choices about both language content and language outcomes: • Relevance • Transferability/Applicability • Task Orientation

Communicative Outcomes: An Organizing Framework • It is by the Listen-and-Do format＞ Information gathering and information using＞recommended for listening instructional activities in the ESL or EFL curriculum.

□ Outcome 1: Listening and Performing Actions and Operations - This category includes responses to things such as directions, instruction, and descriptions in a variety of contexts. □ Outcome 2: Listening and Transferring Information - 2 kinds of information transfer are featured: spoken-to-written (hearing information and writing it) and spoken- to-spoken (hearing information and transmitting it in speech)

□ Outcome 3: Listening and Solving Problems - Many kind of activities for either groups or individuals can be developed in this category (game and puzzle). □ Outcome 4: Listening, Evaluating, and Manipulating Information - This is intellectually challenging ones in which the listener evaluates and/or manipulates the information received in some manner..

□ Outcome 5: Interactive Listening-and-Speaking: Negotiating Meaing through Questioning/Answering Routines - Repetition - Paraphrase - Verification - Clarification - Elaboration - Extension - Challenge

□ Outcome 6: Listening for Enjoyment, Pleasure, and Sociability - General interesting chat improvised by the T. - By using “teacher-talk” on personal topics and naturally lead to “student – talk” on similar subjects for loosely structured and comfortable communicative interludes. - Afford Ss “practice” chances in both listening and speaking.

Self-Access/Self-Study Listening ＆Language Learning - The purpose is to provide an inviting listening center within a conventional language laboratory or a broader language resource center. - Facility needs to offer a wide choice of appealing audio ＆video materials on a variety of topics and at a range of proficiency levels.

Conclusion - Listening, the language skill used most in life. - Listening instruction include both 2-way interactive listening activities and 1-way reactive listen-and-do activities and tasks. Discussing - Discuss why listening has been called the neglected skill of language teaching?

Introduction: The Importance of Listening in Language Learning • Proficiency Levels: beginning, intermediate, and, advanced (Peterson) • Listening Skills: 2 how (1) How do people learn to listen? (2) How does listening promote learning?

Theories of Language Comprehension • The Primary Channel for Language Input and Acquisition • Listening before speaking • Two Approaches: Total Physical Response (Asher 1969), Natural Approach (Krashen and Terrel 1983)

Listening Comprehension Is a Multilevel, Interactive Process of Meaning Creation • Two Processes: (1) Higher Level Process  Top-Down (2) Lower Level Process  Bottom – Up • Phases: (1) Perceptual processing (Anderson 1985) (2) Parsing phase (3) Utilization stage

Both top-down and bottom-up are used in different proficiency levels. • Schemata (Rumelhart 1980): “ a data structure for representing generic concepts store in memory” (p.34) • Schemata: background information (Carrell and Elisterhold 1983)  Content and Formal Schemata

Models of the Comprehension Process • 2 processes of listening comprehension  information receiving  constructing • Nagle and Sander (1986): Listening comprehension isn’t exactly learned.

Principles for Listening Comprehension in ESL Classroom • The time increasing of listening • Listening before other three skills (Speaking, Reading, and Writing) • Global & Selective Listening • Top- down • Bottom- up • Interactive (bottom-up & top- down)

Skills & Strategies • Process • Skills • Strategies: can be controlled  Metacognitive  Cognitive  Socioaffective

A Developmental View of Listening Skills On All Proficiency Levels • Proficiency Levels • Profile • Bottom- Up Processing Goals & Exercise Types • Top – Down Processing Goals & Exercise Types • Interactive Processing Goals & Exercise Types

Beginning-Level Listeners 1. Profile: lack of phonological rules, uncomplicated structural competence 2. Listening Techniques: • Global: introduction of new material &short texts • Selective: Bottom-Up Exercise: form & structural systems Top-down Exercise: meaning & global listening strategies

Bottom-Up Processing Exercises • Intonation contours in sentences • Phonemes • Morphological endings • Stressed syllable • Sentence fillers • Details from the text

Top-Down Exercises • Emotional reactions • The main idea of a passage • The topic

Interactive Exercises 1.Formal or informal statement 2.Recognize a familiar word and relate it to a category 3.Compare information in memory with incoming information 4.Compare information with experience

Intermediate-Level Learner • Profile: • Internalize the phonemics but understand the phonological rules less • Listen to longer dialogue & get the gist • Predict what will happen next & explain relationship between events and ideas 2. Global Listening: Authentic texts 3. Selective Listening: Systematic feature

Bottom-Up Exercises • Content & Function words • Stressed syllable • Reduced vowels or dropped syllables • Words linked • Appreciate details

Language Skills: Listening