lecture 5 how to teach listening

1、Lecture FiveHow to teach listening?I. What is listening?vReceptive skills: reading & listeningvProductive skills: speaking & writingvInput vPassive or active?II. Background to the teaching of listening vSince the late 1800s: the direct method and the teaching of oral EnglishvAfter World War

2、II: the audio-lingual method and the emphasis on oral EnglishvI n t h e 1 9 7 0 s a n d e a r l y 1 9 8 0 s : communicative language teaching and Stephen Krashens input hypothesis: the comprehensible input.III. Why teach listening?vTo hear different varieties and accents.qThe differences are not onl

3、y in the pronunciation of sound but also in grammar.qThe main method of exposing students to spoken English is through the use of taped material which can exemplify a wide range of topics.vTo help students to acquire language subconsciouslyvListening is a skill and can help listeners communicate mor

4、e effectively. IV. What kind of listening should students do?vAuthentic listening material and realistic tapevGood listening materials should help students to gain confidence at the beginning.vListening demands listener engagement. Long tapes are not recommended.vEverything depends on the level and

5、the kind of tasks that go with a tape. V. Whats special about listening? vTapes go at the same speed for everybody. vStudents have to be encouraged to listen for general understanding first rather than trying to pick out details immediately. vSpoken language has a number of unique features. VI. Prin

6、ciples for teaching listeningvStudents should be exposed to different ways of processing information: bottom-up vs. top-downqBottom-up: to start with the component parts such as words, grammar, and the like. qTop-down: to start from the background knowledge such as content schema (general informatio

7、n based on previous learning and life experience) or text schema (awareness of the kinds of information used in a given situation). qThe brick wall J The bottom-up example you as, time a at word one, slowly English process you Whenindividual each of meaning the catch to easy is it, now doing arethe

8、of meaning overall the understand to difficult very is it, However. word. passageJ The top-down example I speak no German, but walked up to the counter after having calculated that the postcards would cost sixteen schillings. I gave the clerk a twenty-schilling note, she opened the till, looked in i

9、t, and said something in German. As a reflex, I dug in my pocket and produced a one-schilling coin and gave it to her. She smiled and handed me “a five”. I managed the transaction based on my prior knowledge of how one deals with change at a store. In some sense, I didnt need German. I just needed m

10、y life experience. J Integration of the two processes: interactive processingVisiting Rome, I was in the courtyard in front of St. Peters Basilica. A woman came up and asked me something in Italian, a language I dont know. I looked at her with a puzzled expression. She asked a question again, this t

11、ime simplifying it to one word: “Cappella?” I didnt know what it meant but repeated, “Cappella?” she asked again, “Sistine Cappella?” Then I understood that she wanted to know if the big church in front of us was the Sistine Chapel. I replied, “No, San Pietro.” (I did know the Italian name of St. Pe

12、ters) I pointed to a building on the right side of the courtyard and said, “Sistine.” She said, “Grazie,” and walked off toward the Sistine Chapel. Pre-listening: brainstorming and background knowledgeBottom up: less reliant on the context“Fire men had to work very fast”J What saved the estate from

13、burning down?L Firefighters put out fires. incorrect identificationvStudents should be exposed to different types of listening.qListening for specific information. qGlobal/gist listening. qInference: listening between the lines. vDifferent listening stages demand different listening tasks. qThe firs

14、t listening may focus on general comprehension.qLater listening may focus on details. qThe task should not demand too much production. qAttention span and memory.qDifferent types of texts and different responses.vConsider text, difficulty, and authenticity.q Dont give students unnaturally slow, clea

15、r recordings, but simply put pauses between phrases or sentences. The number of individuals or objects in a text How clearly the individuals or objects are distinct from one another Simple, specific spatial relationship is easier to understand than complex ones The order of event The number of infer

16、ence needed The information is consistent with what the listener already knowsqAuthenticity: the listening materials should be created or modeled after real-life or only for real life purposes without academic task such as filling in a form or making choices.vPreparation is vital.qTeachers need to l

17、isten to the tape all the way through before they take it into class. qStudents need to be made ready to listen. They will need to look at pictures, discuss the topic, or read the questions first, to be in a position to predict what is coming. To get themselves engaged with the topic and the task so

18、 that they really want to listen.vOnce will not be enough. vStudents should be encouraged to respond to the content of a listening, not just to the language. vThe tape recorder is just as important as the tape.qBe sure that the tape recorder can be heard all round the classroom.qBe sure that a tape

19、counter is easy to see. qNote down the counter number for each part. qYou may need a better machine for music as well as speech.vGood teachers exploit listening texts to the full.VII. Teaching listening strategiesvPredicting: Effective listeners think about what they will hear. vInferring: It is use

20、ful for learners to “listen between the lines.”vMonitoring: Good listeners notice what they do and dont understand.vClarifying: Efficient learners ask questions and give feedback to the speaker.vResponding: Learners react to what they hear.vEvaluating: They check on how well they have understood.VII

21、I. What do listening sequences look like?Example 1 (beginners)vStudents are introduced to “what do you have for breakfast?”vStudents are given three photographs and are told to describe them.vStudents listen to three conversations and match the conversations to the pictures.Conversation 1Waiter:Good

22、 morning, madam.Woman:Good morning. An English breakfast, please.Waiter: Tea or coffee?Woman:Tea, please. Conversation 2Woman:Cup of coffee?Client:Oh yes, please. Thatd be lovely.Woman:Sugar?Client:Just one, please. Conversation 3Customer:A tea, 2 black coffees and an orange juice, please.Waiter:Any

23、thing else?Customer:No, thank you.vListen in more detail:Listen again. Tick the drinks they have.Conversation123CoffeeTea Hot chocolateOrange juicevA further listening asks the students to say how many drinks the people had. vThe students may role-play offering and accepting various kinds of drink.v

24、Preparation general language practice detail a follow-up task students learning new words and speculating about the content of pictures first listening greater focus on detail and study taking over a final activate role-playExample 2 (elementary) vThe students read the paragraphs about the people in

25、 the photographs. Then they do exercise 1 and answer question about the people in the pictures. vStudents look at the questions in exercise 2 and try to predict the answers.vThen they listen to the tape. Basil:Well? Do you? Do you love him?Juliet:I dont want to talk about him.Basil:But I want to tal

26、k about him. Now answer my question, Julia.Juliet:Why do you want to know?Basil:Because Im your father, thats why. Do you love him?Juliet:I like him very much.Basil:That isnt an answer to my question.Juliet:No.Basil:No? What does that mean?Juliet:No, I dont love him, Daddy. But he loves me.Basil:Do

27、you see him very often?Juliet:No, not very often. He works in the evening.Basil:He works in the evening? What does he do?Juliet:Hes a waiter, Daddy.Basil:A waiter!Juliet:Yes, Daddy. Hes a waiter in a restaurant. Hes a very nice boy. But I dont love him!vThe teacher asks students to check their answe

28、rs together to give them confidence before going through the answers. vThe teacher goes on to study the language. vThe teacher can also get students to look at the tape script and act out the dialogue as an activate stage. Example 3 (intermediate) vThe sequence starts by getting students to try and

29、match cultural practices with various countries. vThey look at the following task. qYou will hear someone talking about something that happened to him in the Sudan. The story is in three parts. Part 1What was he doing?How many people were there?What did they start doing?What do you think the speaker

30、 did next? Part 2What did everyone eat?Why do you think they didnt eat the tomatoes? Part 3Why didnt they eat the tomatoes?vThe teacher gets the students to speculate about what theyre going to hear. vThey are now ready to listen. The teacher stops the tape after each part to allow students to compa

31、re answers with each other. This is especially important after the second part to allow them time to predict what the tomato problem was. I was traveling in the Sudan by train and the journey I had to make was going to last about 48 hours and about an hour into the journey someone in my compartment,

32、 I think there were another seven people in the compartment, someone spread a large cloth on the floor and people began to bring food. No one had a knife, so people were breaking up the food and placing it on the cloth I realized that this was the thing to do so all I had was three or four tomatoes.

33、 So I broke up my tomatoes and put them on the cloth and then we all started to eat the food. And there was bread and beans and lamb and many different things and people were eating and I noticed that no one was eating my tomatoes. So I encouraged them to eat and everyone smiled very politely but wo

34、uldnt actually take any. And slowly the food disappeared and disappeared and my tomatoes were left. So at the end of the meal there was nothing left except my tomatoes. And I felt slightly uneasy about this. I didnt know why I thought probably it was because I was a foreigner and perhaps the Sudanes

35、e people didnt want to take a foreigners food from them. So in fact I ate the tomatoes myself. It was only some time later that I realized that in fact the reason why people hadnt eaten my tomatoes was that I had broken up the tomatoes with both hands. vThe teacher gets students to listen again to i

36、dentify examples of different past tenses. vStudents can talk about times when they have misunderstood cultural symbols. Or they can talk about the advice they would give a foreigner coming to visit their country.vEngage-activate pattern study session discussion activate stage. Example 4 (upper inte

37、rmediate) vThe teacher starts by asking the students to put the following sports in order from 1 (= most frightening/challenging) to 9 (least frightening) boxing ski-divingparachuting downhill-racingmotor-racing mountaineering ski-jumpinghorse-ridingmotorcycle-racingvThe whole class can discuss whic

38、h are the frightening sports and why.vStudents are told to read three summaries of a ski-jumping story.a)Eddie Edwards was working for a school group in Italy. An Italian skier raced him downhill. The prize was to take a girl out to dinner. At the bottom of the mountain the Italian took a corner sha

39、rply and crashed into Eddie, who was hurt badly. Later, Eddie married the girl and now they have two children. b)Eddie Edwards was in a downhill race in Italy. The prize was the job of ski technician for a school group. He was racing an Italian skier downhill. At the bottom of the mountain he took a

40、 corner sharply, flew into the air and crashed into a girl spectator. He was hurt badly, but later asked the girl out to dinner. c)Eddie Edwards was working as a ski technician with a school group in Italy. An Italian skier raced him downhill. The prize was to invite a girl out to dinner. At the bot

41、tom of the mountain Eddie took a corner sharply, flew into the air, crashed into the Italian and then fell against rocks, hurting himself badly. vThe teacher tells students only one of the three is correct. They have to decide which one it is after their listening.Interviewer: In your skiing and in

42、the jumping youve injured yourself a number of times, havent you? Eddie: Oh gosh, yes. Interviewer: What sort of things have you done to yourself? Eddie: In Italy, when I I raced a guy he was the local champion and he was ranked sixth in Italy for downhill at the time, and I just went out to work fo

43、r a company called “Schools Abroad”, a travel company that dealt specifically with schools, colleges, um, all youth groups of all ages I think um, and I worked for them as a ski technician and that allowed me to work for about two hours a week and Id ski eight hours a day seven days a week, you see;

44、 and after about a month I was getting pretty good, cos I was a good skier anyway but after spending about two months out on the snow I was getting really hot and er, so everybody started to hear about this Englishman who was getting on really well at the skiing and getting really fast and things, a

45、nd then this local guy came up to me he was getting on for about twenty-six I think but he was really Interviewer: Very old. Eddie: Very old, year, I mean ancient! But he was the super-hot skier of the whole sort of country and er he came up to me and offered me a race, you see, and we said that cos

46、 he was having a bit of a, lets say a flirt with the rep of Schools Abroad who was there with me. And she was a nice-looking girl, a blonde and all this sort of thing, so I said OK, but Ill race you and the winner can take the girl out June, her name was so the winner wed go from the op of the mount

47、ain to the bottom and the winner could take out to dinner, you see; and so we went up to the mountain one day, up to the top. We went straight away first thing in the morning so that we knew there was nobody down the slope because that was the most important we didnt want to, we didnt mind killing o

48、urselves, but we didnt want to kill anybody else and so we got to the top. All the er lift guys were at the bottom watching and all the ski school; and for a few days beforehand they were saying, “Dont race him, dont race him hell hammer you, you know, youll get hurt,” all this sort of thing. So we

49、took off together at the top of the mountain and we were going down, and he was just in front of me by about ten metres but it wasnt it wasnt a great deal, and I knew I could catch it up any time so I just sort of stuck behind him(to be continued on the next page) And we were doing about seventy, se

50、venty-five miles an hour and we were coming towards the bottom and on the at the bottom there was a left-hand bend going into the finish but on this bend there was a ridge, you see. Now if you took this bend nice and long on the outside it was only a slight ridge and you wouldnt take off but the sha

51、rper you took the bend the bigger the ridge so the further you would fly in the air, you see. And I was catching my this guy up; we were about two metres, within two metres two metres of each other so I decided Id take the bend a little bit sharper than him; so I took off, was going towards the fini

52、sh but er going in the air and I was going across the slope and so er you know although I was in control I couldnt do anything until I landed obviously; and we were doing about seventy miles an hour and I landed right on top of him and er as soon as I hit him my skis released. l I didnt have a helme

53、t on, and I hit him, skis released, and I went over and I was rotating sideways but still traveling about seventy miles an hour. I didnt know where I was and then all of a sudden I had a great thump on the back of my head and er I hit rocks and went into trees and all sorts of things, and er they ru

54、shed me off to hospital with a suspected broken neck, broken back, and I paralyzed my shoulder and arm, and er he didnt finish either so nobody won Interviewer: So she didnt get to have any dinner. Eddie: No. in fact now theyre married and theyve got two kids!vThe students compare their answers and

55、decide the correct summary. vThe teacher asks them to listen again to find out details.vWhen this listening is over, the teacher asks the students to complete one of the following tasks: qEddie rings his dad to ask for some money for his hospital bill. qEddie is asked to make the speech at the Itali

56、ans wedding reception. qYou are a reporter who is asked to interview Eddie Edwards. qYou have read about Eddie and the Italians race in the newspaper. You object strongly.IX. Where does video fit in? vWe have to choose video material according to the level and interests of our students. vVideo is ri

57、cher than audiotape. Background information can be filled in visually.vStudents may pay less attention to what they are actually hearing. vStudents might treat it uncritically rather as they treat watching television. Special techniques vPlay the tape without sound and predict the conversation.vPlay

58、 the tape but cover the picture.vFreeze the picture and predict whats going to happen next. vDivide the class in half and the screen half describe the visual images to the wall half. X. Suggested classroom activities and techniquesvDictation with a difference Bottom-up, unnatural overall meaningStep

59、 1: Listen to the following and, in your mind, imagine the story. A road went through a forest. A woman was walking down the road. Suddenly she saw a man. He was wearing a shirt, pants, and a hat. He smiled and said something. Listen again. Write the missing words in the lines. When you hear the bel

60、l, write any word in the box that makes sense. A long road went through a _ . A _ was _ down the_. Suddenly she _ a _ . He was wearing a _, _, and a _. He and _ Step 2 A J road went through a J forest. A J woman was walking down the road. Suddenly she saw a J man. He was wearing a J shirt, J pants and a J h