Teaching Listening

Listening, like reading, is a receptive skill and is one of the four language skills. It is a basic skill for different learning processes and it involves comprehending language rather than creating it and interpreting the sounds of the language. 

There are three basic steps listening involves: hearing, understanding and judging. Listening needs to be taught with interest, variation and motivation.

Importance of Listening Skill

Listening is an essential skill for effective communication and understanding in both personal and professional settings. It allows individuals to gather information, understand others' perspectives, and respond appropriately.

In the English language teaching (ELT) context, listening skills are particularly important for non-native speakers to improve their overall language proficiency and ability to communicate effectively with native English speakers.

Also, strong listening skills can help students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, as well as cultural awareness and empathy.

listening is a two-way process that involves not only hearing but also paying attention, understanding, and responding. It is an active process that requires effort, focus, and engagement from both the listener and the speaker.

Developing good listening skills can help individuals become better communicators, improve their relationships with others, and be more successful in both personal and professional settings.

Why do Moroccan Students Find Listening difficult?

Most of my students admit that their inability to understand what they are listening to make them give up quickly on putting more efforts into developing this skill. This is not the only reason; but there are many other reasons that make them lose interest in improving and developing the listening skill.

  1. Language Barrier: English may not be their first language, and they might struggle with understanding the vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation of English speakers.
  2. Lack of Exposure: If learners do not have many opportunities to hear English spoken in their daily lives, they may not be used to the sounds, rhythms, and intonation of the language, making it harder for them to understand.
  3. Interference from their first language: Learners may transfer their first language patterns and habits to English, which can make it difficult for them to comprehend the language.
  4. Listening Fatigue: Listening requires effort and focus, and students may get tired from trying to concentrate for long periods of time, particularly in a foreign language.
  5. Reduced Attention Span: In the modern world, many students are exposed to a constant stream of stimuli, making it more challenging for them to stay focused for extended periods of time.
  6. Cultural differences: Students from Morocco may not be familiar with the cultural context and background knowledge that is often assumed in English-language materials, making it harder for them to understand what they are hearing.

Of course, addressing these challenges and developing effective listening skills takes time and practice, but with appropriate support and resources, learners can improve their listening skills and become more confident and effective communicators. 

Listening Sub-skills

The teaching of listening should help learners become effective listeners. Learners need to be made aware that although words carry meanings, it is unnecessary to dwell long on them once the message has been captured. 

Being able to listen effectively also lessens pressure that the speaker may have with regard to speaking speed adjustment and language tuning. While teaching listening as a skill in its own right, it is essential that we take account of the fact that it involves the following basic sub-skills:

  1. Discriminating sounds, recognizing stress patterns, intonation, etc. (phonology and phonetics);
  2. Processing sentences: analyzing their elements, building a structure frame ( syntax).
  3. Recognizing and understanding of words/ lexical chunks or formulas ( semantics).
  4. Recognizing how texts are rhetorically structured( genres).
  5. Recognizing cohesive devices in discourse.
  6. Constructing the literal meaning.
  7. Storing the information in short-term memory.
  8. Identifying speaker’s intent and text tone (active listening).
  9. Puzzling out paralinguistic aspects (body language).
  10. Predicting what is to be said.
  11. Deciding on what to say or do to react.

These various sub-skills show that listening is not a passive process. It rather involves an ongoing interaction between both bottom-up and top-down strategies. Effective listening also makes use of linguistic as well as non-linguistic knowledge. These abilities are partly built in what constitutes the core of the standards put forward for the teaching of listening.

How to Teach Listening Using PWP Framework?

There are three different stages of teaching listening: pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening.

Pre-Listening:

This stage is all about the teacher preparing his students for the listening task. This could include providing background information, activating prior knowledge, and setting expectations for what they will hear. There are many activities that a teacher can include in this stage, for example:

  • Providing background information or context
  • Activating prior knowledge
  • Setting expectations for what they will hear
  • Previewing vocabulary and language structures
  • Encouraging prediction and discussion

The aim of this stage is to help students understand what they will be listening to and what they should be listening for. This can increase their motivation and engagement, as well as their comprehension and recall of the information.

While-Listening:

 This stage is where the actual listening takes place. During this stage, students listen for specific information or to complete a task. This stage may also involve activities such as note-taking, summarizing, and discussing the listening material with peers. In this stage the teacher should make his students actively listen to the material through:

  • Listening for specific information
  • Completing a task or answering questions
  • Note-taking
  • Summarizing
  • Discussing the material with peers

This stage is about getting students to focus on the information being presented and helping them understand and retain what they hear. The goal is for students to become active listeners, using various strategies to make sense of the information and remember it later.

Post-Listening:

This stage focuses on reviewing and reinforcing what was learned in the listening task. This could include activities such as:

  • Summarizing key information
  • Practicing language structures and vocabulary
  • Reflecting on the listening experience
  • Engaging in follow-up activities

The purpose of this stage is to help students consolidate what they have learned and to ensure that they understand the information well enough to use it later. 

By reviewing and practicing the information, students can build their listening skills and improve their overall English proficiency.

If teachers follow these stages, they can provide students with a comprehensive and structured approach to improving their listening skills, allowing them to become more effective and confident listeners in the English language.

References:
  1. English Language Guidelines for Secondary Schools: Common Core, First Year, and Second Year Baccalaureate (November 2007).
  2. Spratt M. Pulverness A. & Williams M. (2005). The tkt course : teaching knowledge test. Cambridge University Press.
  3. SUSANNE FLOHR. (2006). Seminar Paper: Teaching Listening and Speaking.