because of earlier problems.
9.1.2 Reasons for difficulty in listening
Listening is often neglected in language teaching due to lack of equipment in some schools, and lack of real-life situations where learners need to understand spoken English.
1. Spontaneity Most of the time we listen to people speaking spontaneously and informally without rehearsing.
2. Context Is usu known to both L and S, which helps predict what we are going to hear.
message. 4. Neglect the next part when thinking about
meaning. 5. Unable to form a mental representation from
words heard. 6. Do not understand subsequent parts of input
Telephone conversations
Interview Shopping Story-telling Meetings Negotiations Theater show …
9.3 Characteristics of the listening process (Ur, 1996)
The listener has little or no control over the speed of the input of spoken material;
Speech is likely to be distorted with background noise; … (pp. 136-137)
4. Listener’s response Most of the listening in daily life allows L to respond to S (interruption, repetition or clarification).
5. Speaker’s adjustment S can adjust the way of speaking according to L’s reactions.
Even if listening were not neglected,
Different speakers produce the same sounds in different ways (dialects, accents, stresses, rhythms, intonations…);
Importance of listening
Of the total time an individual is engaged in communication, approximately 9% is devoted to writing, 16% to reading, 30% to speaking, and 45% to listening (Rivers & Temperley, 1978) ==>Listening should be given more attention in language teaching.
listening process? 4. What are the principles and models
of teaching listening? 5. What are the common activities in
teaching listening?
9.1 Why does listening seem so difficult?
3. Visual clues The visual clues such as facial expressions, gestures and other body language as well as the surrounding environment help us understand and predict what we hear.
9.1.1 Problems in listening
Goh (2000) listed some problems reported by learners when listening to an English text.
1. Quickly forget what is heard. 2. Do not recognize words they know. 3. Understand the words but not the intended
Unit 9 Teaching Listening
1. Why does listening seem so difficult for students?
2. What do we listen to in everyday life? 3. What are the characteristics of the
9.2 What do we listen to in everyday life? (Ur, 1996)
Loudspeaker announcements
Radio news Lesson, lecture Conversation,
gossip Instructions Watching television Watching movies