搜索
IdentifyingNumbersNumbersappearveryoftenineverykindoflisteningmaterial.TheabilitytocatchtheexactnumbersspokeninEnglishisanimportantbutdifficultskillforaChineselearner.Agoodwayistopracticeoverandoveragainthepronunciationofthenumbers,particularlythedifferentwaystosaythirteenandthirty,fourteenandforty,etc.Italsohelpstopracticewritingdownthenumbersyouhearquicklyinnumericalforms,withouttranslatingthemintoChinese.Listening“BetweentheLines”Peopledonotalwayssaydirectlywhattheymean.Veryoften,wehavetolisten“betweenthelines”.TheEnglishlanguageoffersmanywaysforpeopletoimply,ratherthandirectlystate,theirmeaning.Tofindoutwhataspeakerreallymeans,wecanrelyonsuchthingsasthecontext,themeaningofanidiom,andtheintonationused.Forexample,ifsomeonesays“Ihaveanessaytowrite”inanswertoaninvitationtogosomewhere,wecaninferfromthecontextthathecannotaccepttheinvitation.Andifsomeonesays“Andrewpassedwithflyingcolors”inreplytoaninquiryabouthowAndrewdidonatest,wecaninferfromthemeaningoftheidiom“topasswithflyingcolors”thatAndrewdidverywellonthetest.Often,intonationalsohelpstorevealtherealmeaningofamessage.Forexample,“Heisveryclever”saidwithanironictonemeansjusttheopposite.ListeningforImportantDetailsBesidesunderstandingthemainideaofalisteningtext,weoftenfinditnecessarytograsptheimportantdetailsaswell.Whatcountsasimportantdetailsdependsonthekindofinformationwewant.Generallyspeaking,ifwearelisteningtothenarrationofanevent,weneedtosharpenourearsnotonlyforwhathappened,butalsowhenandwhere,howandwhyithappened.Inlisteningtoaweatherreport,ontheotherhand,theimportantdetailsweshouldwatchoutforarethecurrentweatherconditions,temperature,andweatheroutlook.ListeningforSignalWordsTheabilitytoidentifysignalwordscanhelpusfollowthethreadofthespeaker’sthought.Peopleoftenusesignalwordsorphraseslike“but”,“yet”,“onthecontrary”,“however”,“because”,“therefore”and“asaresult”toaddacommentthatcontrastswithwhathasjustbeensaidortosignalwhattheyareabouttosayistheresultorcauseoftheirpreviousremarks.Similarly,wordsandphraseslike“forexample”,“mostimportantly”,“first”,“second”,“finally”and“then”usuallysignalthatthespeakerisgoingtoprovideanillustrationoremphasizeacertainpointordiscussseveralaspectsofacertaintopic.Soweshouldpayattentiontosignalwordsinlisteningastheywillprepareusforwhatisgoingtobesaid.IdentifyingtheRelationshipBetweentheSpeakersinaConversationIdentifyingtherelationshipbetweenthespeakersinaconversationisanimportantskillinlisteningcomprehension.Althoughsometimestheconversationitselfdoesnotcontainwordsthatsayexactlywhattherelationshipis,wecanrelyoncontextualcluestofinditout.Suchcluesincludethedegreeofintimacy(e.g.,howintimatelythespeakersaddresseachother,whatendearmentsareused),thedegreeofpoliteness(strangerstendtobemorepolitetowardseachotherthanfriendsorfamilymembers),andtheparticularsituation(atadoctor’sconsultingroom,atashop,etc.).IdentifyingtheMajorEventsinaConversationTheabilitytoidentifythemajoreventofaconversationisanimportantaspectoftraininginlisteningcomprehension.Hereweareconcernedwithwhatthespeakersaredoing.Aretheyengagedinsmalltalktopromotefriendship,ordiscussingsomethingserioustobringaboutanaction?Questionslikethefollowingcangiveusaclueastowhatisactuallyhappeninginaconversation:Whoarethespeakers?Whatistherelationshipbetweenthem?Whataretheytalkingabout?Summarizing(1)Inlisteningtoaconversation,atalkoralecture,itisnotnecessarytoremembereveryword.Theimportantthingistobeabletograspthemainpoints.Summarizing,astheskillisknown,isusefulinhelpingustogettothecoreofwhatisbeingsaid.Summarizing(2)Goodlisteners,afterlisteningtoatext,willformintheirmindsashortreportofitsmainpoints.Thisreportisasummary,whichcoversthemainidea,majorevents,andimportantdetailssuchasnumbers,names,andplaces.Toworkoutthemainpointsofatext,oneoftheimportantthingstonoticeisthechangeofthesubtopic(atextusuallyhasonetopicandseveralsubtopics).Inotherwords,duringthelistening,listenersneedtopayattentiontowhenthespeakermovesfromonesubtopictoanother.Andthentheyshouldgoontocatchthoserelatedimportantdetailsundereachsubtopic.Thusasummaryofthelisteningtextcaneasilybeformed.DrawingInferencesTheabilitytodrawcorrectinferencesfromwhatwehaveheardisanimportantskillinlisteningcomprehensionbecausesometimesaspeakerdoesnotstatedirectlywhathe/sheintendstosaybutimpliesitinstead.Aspeaker’sattitudetowardswhathe/shediscusses,inparticular,oftenhastobeinferredfromthehintshe/shehasdropped.Sowemustlearntosynthesizeallthesehintssoastogetacompletepictureaboutwhatisbeingdiscussed.Inaddition,wecanrelyonthespeaker’schoiceofwordstohelpus:theuseofwordsofpositive,negativeorneutralmeaningcanindicateapositive,negativeorneutralattituderespectively.ListeningforMajorElementsinaDisasterReportTounderstandareportaboutadisaster,youneedtopayspecialattentiontowhenandwhereitoccurred,thepossibledamageandloss,andthenumberofpeopleinjuredorkilledsincetheseelementsaretheessentialpartsofthistypeofreport.IdentifyingtheSpeaker’sAttitudeAswassaidinthepreviouslesson,aspeaker’sattitudeoropiniontowardswhathe/sheisdiscussingoftenhastobeinferred.Weneedtorelyo