Teaching-listening

中学英语教学法Unit8TeachingListeningUnit8TeachingListeningIssuesfordiscussion:1.Whyislisteningsodifficultforstudents?2.Whatdowelistentoineverydaylife?3.Whatarethecharacteristicsofthelisteningprocess?4.Whataretheprinciplesofteachinglistening?5.Whatarethecommonactivitiesinteachinglistening?8.1Whydoeslisteningseemsodifficult?•ItisbecomingmoreandmorenecessarytounderstandspokenEnglishinmanysituations,e.g.face-to-faceconversations,telephonecalls,businessmeetings,lectures,speeches,television,etc.•Amongthefourskills,foreignlanguagelearnersoftencomplainthatlisteningisthemostdifficulttoacquire.Reasonswhylisteningisoftenneglectedinlanguageteaching•Lackofteachingmaterials;•Lackofequipment;•Lackoftraininginhowtousetheequipment;•Listeningisnotincludedonmanyimportanttests;•Lackofreal-lifesituationswherelanguagelearnersneedtounderstandspokenEnglish;•Lessonstendtotestratherthantotrainstudent’listeningskills.Bothlisteningandreadingarereceptiveskills,butlisteningcanbemoredifficultthanreadingbecause:•Differentspeakersproducethesamesoundsindifferentways,e.g.dialectsandaccents,stress,rhythms,intonations,mispronunciations,etc.;•Thelistenerhaslittle/nocontroloverthespeedoftheinputofthespokenmaterial;•Thespokenmaterialisoftenheardonlyonce(unlikethereadingmaterial);•-•Thelistenercannotpausetoworkoutthemeaning;•Speechismorelikelytobedistortedbybackgroundnoise(e.g.roundtheclassroom)orthemediathattransmitsounds;•Thelistenersometimeshastodealsimultaneouslywithanothertaskwhilelistening,e.g.note-taking,etc.8.2Whatdowelistentoineverydaylife?•SinceweareteachingourstudentsEnglishnotonlytohelpthempassexams,butalsotopreparethemtouseEnglishinreallife,itisimportanttothinkaboutthesituationstheywilllistentoEnglishinreallifeandthenthinkaboutthelisteningexerciseswedoinclass.•Evenatthebeginningstage,weneedtogiveourstudentsavarietyoflisteningexercisestopreparethemforreallifeuseoflanguage.•Inmostcases,thelisteningmaterialsintheclassroomaredailyconversationsorstories,butinrealitywelistentofarmorethings.•e.g.•Telephoneconversationsaboutbusiness;•LessonsorlecturesgiveninEnglish;•InstructionsinEnglish;•WatchingmoviesinEnglish;•Dealingwithtourists;•Interviewswithforeign-enterprises;•Socializingwithforeigners;•ListeningtoEnglishsongs;•-•RadionewsinEnglish;•Conversationswithforeigners;•WatchingtelevisionprogrammesinEnglish;•Shopassistantswhosellgoodstoforeigners;•Internationaltradefairs;•Negotiationswithforeignbusinessmen;•Hotelandrestaurantservices.8.3Characteristicsofthelisteningprocess•Itisimportanttounderstandthecharacteristicsorprocessbehindtheselisteningsituationssothatweasteacherscandesignappropriateactivitiestohelpourstudentstodevelopeffectivelisteninghabitsandstrategies.1.Formalorinformal?2.Rehearsedornon-rehearsed?3.Canthelistenerinteractwiththespeakernornot?–ListeningtoEnglishsongs–Socializingwithforeigners–RadionewsinEnglish–WatchingtelevisionprogrammesinEnglish–Negotiationswithforeignbusinessmen–HotelandrestaurantservicesCharacteristicsofthelistening:(Ur1996:106-7)•Spontaneity.Welistentopeoplepeakingspontaneouslyandinformallywithoutrehearsingwhatwheyaregoingtosayaheadoftime.•Context.Whilelistening,weknowtherelationshipbetweenthelistenerandthespeaker.Thesituationhelpstopredictwhatwearegoingtohear.•Visualclues.Facialexpression,gestures,andotherbodylanguage,andthesurroundingenvironment,thesevisualclueshelpuspredictandunderstandwhatwehear.•-•Listener’sresponse.Inaconversation,wecaninterruptthespeakerandaskforrepetitionorclarification.•Speaker’sadjustment.Thespeakercanadjustthewayofspeakingaccordingtothelistener’sreaction,e.g.he/shemayrephraseorelaborate(toputitinmoredetails).8.4Principlesofteachinglistening•Focusonprocess.•Combinelisteningandspeaking.•Focusoncomprehendingmeaning.•Gradedifficultylevelappropriately.Focusonprocess•Listeningisnotapassiveactivity.Wemustdomanythingstoprocessinformationthatwearereceiving.–Payingattention.–Constructingmeaningfulmessagesinthemindbyrelatingwhatweheartowhatwealreadyknow(previousknowledge).Soitisveryimportanttodesigntaskstheperformanceofwhichshowhowwellthestudentshavecomprehendedthelisteningmaterial.CombinelisteningandspeakingTwoproblemswiththetraditionallisteningclassroom:•Noopportunitiestopractiselisteningandspeakingskillstogether;•Thequestionsonlytestthestudents,ratherthantrainthestudentshowtolistenorhowtodeveloplisteningstrategies.Focusoncomprehendingmeaning•Inthetraditionaltextbooks,thelisteningexercisesaretotestthestudents’memory,nottheirlisteningcomprehension.•Psycholinguisticstudieshaveshownthatpeopledonotremembertheexactformofthemessagetheyhear,i.e.,theydon’trememberwhattheyhearwordforword,rather,theyrememberthemeaning.GradedifficultylevelappropriatelyThreefactorsthatmayaffectthedifficultyleveloflisteningtasks:•Typeoflanguageused;•Taskorpurposeinlistening;•Contextinwhichthelisteningoccurs.Whichofthefollowingwouldyouuseforintermediatemiddleschoolstudents?Inwhatorder?•AvideotapeofatalkbyanativespeakerabouttheschoollifeofmiddleschoolstudentsintheUnitedStates;•AlivetalkbyacompetentEnglish-speakingChinesepsychologi