teaching listening matefl seminar, november, 2013

Teaching ListeningMATEFL Seminar, November, 2013

• How much listening do you do in class on an average week?

• Are these generally successful? Why or why not?

• What do you listen to?(Course book CDs, resource book CDs, tapes,

authentic radio shows, podcasts, DVDs, songs, etc...)

Listen to this...

Listen to this...

Listen to this...

What did I do wrong?

• Not a universally revelvant topic• Gave questions out after listening• Answered questions from reading text• Played clip only once• Listened cold• Tasks either too easy or too difficult• Possibly no familiarity with topic

Really?

Really?

Problems with listening?

Problems with listening?

Problems with listening?

Processing

• McDonough and Shaw (193) claim that listening should be discussed under 2 related headings:

1) Processing SoundTo segment the stream and recognise wordsTo recognise sentences and boundaries To recognise the significance of language related features –

mainly intonationTo recognise changes in pitch, tone and speed of delivery

Processing

2) Processing meaningTo organise the incoming speech into meaningful sectionsTo identify redundant materialTo use language data to anticipate what a speaker is going to sayTo store information and know how to retrieve it later, by

organising meaning as efficiently as possible and avoiding too much attention to immediate detail.

motivation to listen

Before you listen.

Listen to this...

• Where are they?• How do you know?• What is she reading?

Listen to this...

Special Requests

1st Violin

2nd Violin

Harpist

Tubist

Conductor

Bassoonist

Listen to this...

• How many people are there?• What is their relationship to each other?• What else do you know about them?

Who’s Who?

Format for classic listening lesson

Listen beyond the words

Add questions about the speakers to your classic listening format, such as:

• Where are they?• What are they doing?• How many people are there?• How are they connected to each other?• What can we tell about their attitudes and opinions? What

type of people are they?

Engage your learners in discussions about these features.

Thank you for listening!

• twitter: @jean_theuma• email: jeantheuma@hotmail.com• web: jeantheuma.weebly.com