Listening

The Greek philosopher Epictetus is claimed to have said, "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." Whilst our wise, stoic friend from ancient times may not have been referencing the TEFL world specifically, his comments definitely hold true when it comes to the world of language learning.

Even though speaking is incredibly important and offers a huge amount of practical applicability in both the classroom and the real world, without well-developed listening skills, language learners would miss on out the ability to build relationships and understand different perspectives, identify important information, resolve conflict, enjoy radio, podcasts, and music, and generally understand and appreciate the richness and depth of the spoken world around us.

Despite its importance, listening can be a particularly challenging skill to master due to factors such as fast speech, diverse accents, and variations in intonation, as well as the need to recognise and process vocabulary, grammar structures, non-verbal cues, idiomatic expressions, and a whole lot more in real-time and in potentially unfamiliar contexts.

Just as we saw with speaking and will later see with the other two macro language skills, reading and writing, listening is made up of a number of sub-skills that facilitate overall comprehension. Depending on the situation, some may be employed more or less constantly, whilst in other contexts, they may only be used to help us with certain tasks before fading into the background. Either way, to assist your students in developing their overall listening comprehension, it's essential that you have a firm understanding of each individual sub-skill and how you can help students improve them through targeted practice and dynamic exercises that activities that reinforce a number of them in tandem.

So, without further delay, let's look at some of the things you're going to be looking at in this listening-centric section of Module 8:

Listening sub-skills
Active listening
How to structure an effective listening lesson
Difficulties that students may encounter + practical solutions
Effective listening strategies, exercises, and activities that you can use in the classroom

Before we move on to look at listening sub-skills, to give you some additional context in terms of teaching listening, let's wrap up this class by taking a look at some of the unique features that may pop up when teaching listening.

Teaching L2 Listening: Surprising Elements

The Impact of Accents

Accents add to the musicality of language, serve as markers of identity and heritage, and represent the cultural diversity and linguistic richness of different regions and communities around the world; however, rather than being a decorative feature that adds to the experience of learning a language, instead, they can be a real pain in the backside of language learners.

In our native language or L1, unless the accent is particularly thick or unfamiliar, we can typically understand everything that's said, or at least the vast majority. That's thanks to a lifetime of being exposed to different accents through personal interactions, as well as the consumption of different media, backed up by strong pattern recognition skills that are developed from a young age. In other words, even with an unfamiliar accent, in our L1, we can generally recognise familiar speech patterns, grammatical structures, and syntactic cues without too much difficulty.

Unfortunately, individuals learning an L2 don't have all of this to assist them, making the issue of accents a very challenging aspect of learning a language, especially one as widely spoken as English.

For that reason, when it comes to teaching listening, particularly when working with beginner levels students, the introduction of an unfamiliar accent, even one that's just slightly different from the accents that students have grown accustomed to during their time learning English, can be the difference between your students understanding and feeling completely lost. The impact is actually quite remarkable, so it's certainly something you'll need to be prepared for.

Later in this module, we're going to take a look at exactly how you can help students become more confident with different accents, but for now, it's just something to keep on your radar as an interesting feature you're sure to encounter once you've entered the world of TEFL.

The Source Of The Spoken Word

Just as we mentioned with the impact that different accents can have on language learners' ability to understand speech or spoken information, the source of the words being spoken can also dramatically affect the degree to which an individual understands what's being said in an L2.

Language learners who are perfectly capable of listening to and understanding teachers, classmates, and native speakers when interacting with them in person can suddenly hit a brick wall when faced with listening to a person speak with them on a phone, attempting to identify information on a louder speaker, or when trying to extract information from a news report or podcast.

This unexpected drop in listening ability can be attributed to a range of different factors, such as the removal of visual cues, background noise, or a lack of contextual references. It can be a real challenge for language learners to overcome, so it's important that when integrating the learning strategies and activities that we outline later in this module, it's worth keeping in mind that you should try to ensure that listening conditions aren't always perfect and that it's a good idea to vary the source of the audio (i.e. a phone or a crackly speaker) to replicate the conditions they are likely to encounter in the real world.

Nerves and Anxiety

In the first part of this module, we looked briefly at how speaking in an L2 can cause even the most confident and self-assured individuals to feel a heightened sense of nervousness and anxiety, typically due to fear of making mistakes or being misunderstood.

When it comes to listening, the very same nervousness and anxiety can rear their ugly heads; however, rather than from the fear of making mistakes or being misunderstood, it comes about due to the perceived pressure of being expected to understand and subsequently respond accurately, follow instructions or act accordingly can cause language learners of all ages and background to freeze, resulting in the spoken words being misunderstood or even missed entirely.

What's more, listening in an L2 often requires greater cognitive effort, as learners may need to simultaneously process unfamiliar sounds, vocabulary, and grammar. As a result, this can reduce working memory capacity, making it harder to retain and comprehend spoken information. If an individual is feeling nervous due to the pressure of having to understand when being spoken to, memory retention can suffer even more.

Addressing language anxiety is a crucial element in cultivating proficient listening skills; therefore, it is essential to be attentive and observant, identifying students who might be struggling due to nervousness and taking the necessary steps to help them overcome this unwanted feature of language learning. Later in this module, we'll be looking at exactly how you should approach this.

Listening Sub-Skills

When We Listen We

This image is copied from another website - we need to make our own with the logo etc;

Listening comprehension is a multifaceted cognitive process composed of various sub-skills that collectively contribute to the overall understanding of spoken language. These sub-skills operate in harmony, each playing a distinct role in processing and interpreting the spoken word, allowing us to apply just the right type of focus and cognitive processing to navigate the complexities of spoken discourse, from recognising simple vocabulary to comprehending and extracting nuanced meanings with accuracy and depth

The dynamic nature of listening comprehension underscores the importance of helping our students hone these vital sub-skills, as they collectively form the foundation for effective communication and meaningful interaction in diverse linguistic contexts. Without them, all of us would be well and truly lost.

So, to get you up to speed in all things listening sub-skills, in this class, we're going to take a look at six listening sub-skills:

Identifying Language Items

Predicting

Listening for Gist

Inference

Listening for Specific Information

Listening in Detail

In the interactive E-Learning component below, we'll explore what they are and why they're important, as well as outline how you should go about training them individually. But that's not all, as later in this module, we'll also be outlining a range of effective, engaging, and dynamic activities that can be integrated into your lesson plans to ensure that these sub-skills are developed in combination to meet the demands of real-world situations.

The Combination Of Sub-Skills

Now that we've looked at sub-skills in isolation, it's important that we analyse how these are employed in the real-world, as this will impact your lesson planing and choice of activities.

Whilst certain situations may call for the isolated used on a particular sub-skill, if we consider all of the actions that a person takes part in during a single day and how they may related to our listening sub-skills, we can very quickly realise that there is a great of deal of ebbing and flowing.

To understand this better, let's look at an common action, travelling to work by local train.

In this brief real world scenario, an individual arrives to a train station in London, buys a train ticket, listens to a train announcement that states the train is delayed, speaks with train station staff, and then speaks with a fellow passenger whilst they wait for the delayed train.

5 Minutes at Victoria Station

Identifying Language Items

This sub-skill is utilised when individuals need to recognise and understand the specific vocabulary and grammar that is associated with travelling by train. For example, if a language learner is unable to recognise the word "platform", or the future simple grammar structure "will depart from", it is will be impossible to understand announcements from the platform loudspeakers or even basic information from train station staff.

Predicting

During a train journey, individuals can predict that they are likely to hear common travel-related vocabulary, and when buying their ticket from the ticket office, they're able to predict in which order they will be asked questions, such as their intended destination, number of people travelling, and which class ticket they'd like to purchase. Predicting the type of vocabulary as well as the questions they are likely to be asked allows them to focus their listening, improving the efficiency of the interaction.

Listening for Gist

Listening for gist is employed to understand the main idea or purpose of train announcements, helping decide whether they need to intensify their focus to extract important information, such as delays or platform changes, or to ignore announcements relating to other trains or services.

Listening for Specific Information

This sub-skill is crucial when individuals need to gather specific details, such as platform numbers, departure times, or any service updates. Listening for specific information ensures that individuals have the accurate details they need for a smooth journey and spot potential problems.

Inference

Inference comes into play when changes or disruptions to the usual routine occur. For example, when discussing the delayed train, train station staff may say things such as, "We appreciate your cooperation as we address some unforeseen issues. We are working to get things back on schedule as soon as possible. Please be advised to check for real-time updates on our information boards."

Despite not being explicitly stated, the use of the phrase unforeseen issues allows individuals to infer

that whatever it is that is causing the delay isn't a typical problem. On top of this, due to the lack of a specific time frame in conjunction with the instruction to check for information elsewhere, indicating a general lack of information regarding the problem, it can be reasonably inferred that delays won't be solved quickly.

Listening for Details

When waiting for delayed trains, it's quite common to speak with fellow passengers to help pass the time. In this case, individuals would pay full attention to the person they are speaking with, listening for details that help them build a picture of the person's personality and background, as well as form insightful questions to help the conversation flow.

Scenario Review

As we can see from this very simple scenario, a range of sub-skills are employed in a very short space of time. Although, if we're being brutally honest, this example is potentially guilty of being oversimplified, as in reality, it's likely that the sub-skills would overlap constantly.

For example, when speaking with a fellow passenger to pass the time, it's likely that our unlucky language learner turned delayed train passenger would keep an ear out for train announcements, so whilst they listen to the details of the person they speak with, they would split their focus to simultaneously listen for gist to any announcements that are played out over the loud speakers to make sure they don't miss any important information regarding the delayed train.

Preparing Learners for the real-world

When it comes to developing sub-skills and overall listening comprehension, it's important to strike a balance between targeted improvement of the individual sub-skills alongside learning strategies and activities that promote the fluid transition and simultaneous use of sub-skills to ensure that your students are prepared for the real world. That might sound like a big task, but worry not! In the final class of this module's section dedicated to listening, we'll be looking at a range of exercises and activities that you can use in the classroom to do just that.

How To Structure An Effective Listening Lesson

Whenever training a particular listening sub-skill, or aiming to develop listening comprehension as a whole, it's vital that your listening-centric classes are structured and follow a logical pattern.

An effective listening class can be broken down into three phases:

The Pre-Listening Phase

The Listening Phase

The Post Listening Phase

In this class, we'll take a look at each phase individually to understand its role and importance when of planning and executing effective and engaging classes dedicated to listening. In this example, the authentic material being used is a clip of two people talking about fitness and health. The level of the students in the classroom is B1, and the aim of the listening activity is for students to infer how the two people feel about the idea of getting fit and healthy.

The students have experience with listening comprehension activities that relate to inference and listening for gist. Students are familiar with the vocabulary a familiar with common vocabulary associated with exercise and heath.

During the listening activity, students must complete a worksheet to demonstrate their understanding. The section will be broken into two sections,

The Audio Script

Healthy Chatter

Alex

Hey, Jordan. How it's going?

Jordan

Oh, Alex. Yeah, good, thanks. Just grabbing a quick soda before heading back to class. I've got lectures all afternoon. How about you?

Alex

You know, I've been thinking about making a few changes lately.

Jordan

More blue-sky thinking?

Alex

Yeah, like incorporating some exercise into our routine. Maybe try something new together. That way we'll keep each other motivated.

Jordan

Why do I always get roped in when you have a new idea?!

Alex

Ha! It'd be a shame to go it alone. Anyways, I was thinking of trying out this dance class. It's not just about fitness; it's about having a good time. What do you think?

Jordan

You know me. I'm famous for getting my groove on...

Alex

I also found this app with quick, easy workouts. We can do them at home, no equipment needed, so they won't get in the way of university.

Jordan

Is no place safe from you and your funky ideas?!

Alex

Don't be silly. It's all about finding what suits us. And I've been experimenting with healthier meals. You'd be surprised how tasty nutritious food can be.

Jordan

Yes, I've heard that lettuce and tap water really are the height of pleasure...

Alex

Fair enough. But imagine the energy we'd have if we make these small changes. I also heard about this hiking group run by the third year students. Fresh air, nature – it could be a nice change.

Jordan

Walking for the sake of walk. How revolutionary.

Alex

Lastly, I was thinking of trying meditation. A bit of relaxation for the mind.

Jordan

Now, that sounds like a plan! Anything for a bit of peace and quiet!

Alex

Well, just throwing ideas out there. You never know until you try, right?

Jordan

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I guess..... Anyways, Alex. I''d better better be getting to my lecture. Take it easy.

Don't Worry, It's Just A Phase

The Pre-Listening Phase

The Pre-Listening Phase in a TEFL listening class serves as the crucial foundation for effective comprehension and engagement. This phase is made up of:

Introduction

Warm-up Activity

Setting Objectives

Pre-teach Vocabulary

Prediction Activity

Instructions and Overview

Let's look at each stage individually:

Introduction

Begin with a brief discussion or introduction related to the topic of the listening material. This can be as simple as asking students that relate to the topic of fitness and health, such as "How often do you do exercise?", "Why types of foods do you eat?", "How do you feel after playing sport or doing exercise?".

Warm-up Activity

It's time to raise engagement levels with a quick game or brainstorming session that provides students with the opportunity to activate prior knowledge of the target language that's going to feature in the listening material. For example, if the audio features two people discussing their plans to get fit and healthy, students could play a quick word association game related to the topic, or brainstorm words they'd expect to hear in a conversation about fitness and health. The latter ties in nicely to the sub-skill of Predicting that we looked at earlier.

Setting Objectives

Once the warm-up activity is complete, it's time to set the objectives for the listening activity. In this case, for learners to try and infer how the two people that feature in the audio feel about the prospect of making a change to their current lifestyle. Discuss the purpose of the listening task and how it connects to real-world situations.

Pre-teach Vocabulary

After doing this, it's time to teach key vocabulary or phrases that may pose a challenge during the listening task. Even though students are already familiar with common vocabulary related to fitness and health, expressions such as "blue-sky thinking" and "in for a penny, in for a pound," as well as the phrasal verb "to be roped in" will be unfamiliar to them. Once you've outlined their meaning, you can reinforce their understanding with a quick activity. This can be done by students working individually or in pairs to match the new words or phrases with the meanings on a worksheet. (The definitions will be mixed up). Once this is complete, discuss it as a class to make sure that everyone understands.

Prediction Activity

Engage students in making predictions about the words they are likely to hear based on the title of the audio clip. On top of this, to elicit additional predictions, you could also reveal the first line of the conversation by playing a few seconds of the audio - "You know, I've been thinking about making a few changes lately." Doing so will give students extra context to help them make predictions. Be sure to discuss ideas and predictions as a class.

Instructions and Overview

Clearly explain the listening task instructions and provide an overview of what students can expect during the listening phase. For example, you could explain that they will hear the clip three times, so during the first listen, they should listen for the gist to capture an overview of the conversation and answer section 1 on the worksheet.

The second and third times around, they should pay closer attention and attempt to infer meaning.

At this stage, you may also want to remind students that a person's tone of voice contributes to how we perceive their opinions and feelings. Students are encouraged to note down phrases that support their conclusions.

The Listening Phase

This phase of the listening class is made up of.......yep, you guessed it, listening!

First Listen

Second Listen

Group Discussion

Let's examine each stage individually:

First Listen

Play the entire listening material without interruptions. During the first listen, students should focus on getting a general understanding of the content and completing section 1 of the worksheet.

Section 1 questions: Example questions

- How many people are talking?

- Are they meeting for the first time?

- Where are they talking?

- What are they talking about?

Second Listen

Play the listening material again. This time students should pay closer attention and attempt to infer the feelings and opinions of the two people talking, and answer section two of their worksheets.

Section 2 questions: Example questions

True or False

- Jordan is enthusiastic about exercise

- Alex doesn't feel confident trying to get fit and healthy on his own.

- Jordan is prepared to try Alex's ideas

Group Discussion

Break students down into small groups and have them discuss what they heard. This should be a very short discussion to enable students to share their findings and outline any differences in opinion.

The Post Listening Phase

The Post Listening Phase is the final component that solidifies understanding, offers the opportunity for clarity, and provides students with the chance to participate in additional activities that develop other skills alongside listening comprehension.

Whole-Class Discussion

Review Challenging Aspects

Follow-up Activities

Feedback and Closing

Whole-Class Discussion

Facilitate a whole-class discussion on the listening material and encourage students to express opinions, share thoughts, and ask questions.

Review Challenging Aspects

Depending on the nature of the uncertainties that students present, you may want to consider playing the listening material for a third time, but this time, in segments, pausing regularly to highlight particular moments during the conversation and writing keywords or phrases on the board.

Follow-up Activities

This is where you can be creative and include post-listening activities that reinforce comprehension and other skills beyond the realms of listening. For example, students could write a summary of the conversation they heard or arrange cutouts of the transcript to put the conversation in the correct order. Alternatively, students could complete a gap-fill exercise based on the new words and phrases they heard in the audio or, in small groups, discuss their own opinions about the ideas proposed in the audio. Ultimately, how you decide to manage this section of the class should come down to meeting the needs of your students and giving them the opportunity to improve additional skills that require practice.

Feedback and Closing

Before wrapping up the class, provide constructive feedback on the student's listening skills and overall participation. Depending on how well things went, you can provide students with some final takeaway points or listening tips and summarise independent study resources or activities that they can use to continue developing their listening comprehension.

Review

Before we move on to the next class, let's take a moment to review the class above.

The simple but effective structure of the class allows students to prepare themselves for the listening material that they are going to encounter in the Listening Phases. This is important as without clarification with regard to unfamiliar words and phrases, inferring the feelings and opinions of the two speakers would have been considerably harder.

Playing the audio twice enables students to capture the gist of the conversation before paying closer attention to infer meaning. Although in the real world, language learners may only get a bite of the cherry when it comes to listening and understanding a conversation when working at the B1 (intermediate) level, it's important to develop listening sub-skills with increasing complexity rather than throwing them in at the deep end.

The post-listening discussion is vital with regard to clearing up any doubts. Even after listening twice and discussing with their peers, some students may still be uncertain about specific details, so by taking the time to review and discuss as a class, individuals will have a better chance of eliminating misunderstanding, which will naturally benefit them the next time they take part in a listening comprehension activity.

Listening

Teaching L2 Listening: Surprising Elements

The Impact of Accents

The Source Of The Spoken Word

Nerves and Anxiety

Listening Sub-Skills

When We Listen We

The Combination Of Sub-Skills

5 Minutes at Victoria Station

Scenario Review

Preparing Learners for the real-world

Active Listening

PODCAST ONLY

How To Structure An Effective Listening Lesson

The Audio Script

Healthy Chatter

Don't Worry, It's Just A Phase

The Pre-Listening Phase

The Listening Phase

The Post Listening Phase

Review

Listening

Teaching L2 Listening: Surprising Elements

The Impact of Accents

The Source Of The Spoken Word

Nerves and Anxiety

Listening Sub-Skills

When We Listen We

The Combination Of Sub-Skills

5 Minutes at Victoria Station

Scenario Review

Preparing Learners for the real-world

Active Listening

PODCAST ONLY

How To Structure An Effective Listening Lesson

The Audio Script

Healthy Chatter

Don't Worry, It's Just A Phase

The Pre-Listening Phase

The Listening Phase

The Post Listening Phase

Review

This website uses cookies.