1. Activities for Teaching Listening Strategies
Marijke Wertheim
Woodsworth College & SCS,
University of Toronto
M. Wertheim

2. Listening Strategies
Copyright
Copyright Marijke Wertheim, This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.
M. Wertheim

3. The listening process The “Cinderella skill” (Nunan, 2002)
Listening Strategies
The listening process
The “Cinderella skill” (Nunan, 2002)
“An interactive, multi-level process of meaning creation” (Peterson, 2001)
“…vital that students be given practice in dealing with texts where they understand only part of what is said.” (Field, 2002)
10/25/10
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M. Wertheim

4. Listening Strategies
Using prior knowledge
Activate schemata: a. content & formal b. before & during
Make predictions: a. before (type of information & register) b. during (linguistic cues)
Recognize expected information
blahblah
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M. Wertheim

5. Listening Strategies
Example 1
Work with a partner to predict the kind of information you think will be included in each topic. Consider the way the information might be presented, including register and focus. 1. Radio interview: The Way We Eat 2. Lecture: Women and work 3. Nature documentary: Tidal waves
Listen to a short talk on tidal waves. Were your predictions about content, focus & register correct?
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M. Wertheim

6. Listening Strategies
Example 2
Titanic & Andrea Doria: what do you know? (make list; ask Qs for unknown info)
History channel documentary vs. interview with James Cameron
How will it be organized? (sequential vs. aspects of film)
What was expected (check) vs. what was new/unexpected/contradictory (add).
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M. Wertheim

7. Activity 1 Refer to Unit 15: Dreams & Unit 4: Apartment Problems
Listening Strategies
Activity 1
Refer to Unit 15: Dreams & Unit 4: Apartment Problems
How would you activate student schemata (content and formal)?
How would you get students to predict and check predictions?
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

8. Purposes for listening
Listening Strategies
Purposes for listening
Different purposes require different processes and strategies
Counter negative expectations: provide purpose, make tasks achievable
Don’t confirm inability to understand
Full comprehension not always necessary
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M. Wertheim

9. Non-verbal & linguistic cues
Listening Strategies
Non-verbal & linguistic cues
Recognizing non-verbal cues: a. gesture, expression & posture b. intonation & stress
What language do the signals introduce?
What can you deduce about the speaker’s attitude or opinion?
Recognizing linguistic cues: patterns of organization
What type of information will follow?
Connection to writing
Used in predicting during listening
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

10. Listening Strategies
Example
1. Look at the tapescript for the interview on Mail-order Brides. Where do you think the speaker's intonation may change? Why?
2. Listen to a short talk on why dinosaurs disappeared. Write down the linguistic cues you hear. What type of information do they signal? What is the overall organization pattern?
10/25/10
Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

11. Listening Strategies
Activity 2
Which of the sample listening texts could best be used to practice:
a. recognizing special emphasis (intonation & stress, attitude)
b. recognizing linguistic cues?
What would you ask students to do?
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M. Wertheim

12. Listening Strategies
Keywords & detail
Listening for key words: a. hearing stressed words b. content words
Recreate talk from key words (paper)
Long listening to note key words, then recreate talk from notes
Tolerate ambiguity
Listening for detail: a. focus on specific information b. know what you need to hear
Specific questions that focus on key points and help filter inessential information
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

13. Listening Strategies
Example
1. Can you recreate the talk from these notes? won't believe... friends... last night... new car... excited ... dinner to celebrate... finish...note from woman...apology... scratched car...look for damage...friends laughing...joke...dumb
2. You will hear a discussion between 3 people on the subject of parental involvement in homework. Note the following details: a. What do children learn by doing homework? b. Why does the mother help her son?
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

14. Listening Strategies
Activity 3
1.Which listening text would best lend itself to listening for & noting content words, then recreating the text from those words?
2.How would you use Gestures or How Children Acquire Language to practice listening for detail? What questions would you ask?
10/25/10
Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

15. Listening Strategies
Real-life listening
performance variables: time-creating (stallers, fillers), facilitation (simplify, ellipsis, stock phrases), compensation (redundancy, reformulation, rephrasing) devices, & false starts/ backtracking
also: reductions & linking
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

16. Listening Strategies
Example
Recognizing reductions & linking: a. start on paper with standard forms b. listen & note full forms
Listening for fillers: use checklist, then listen again & filter out for main ideas
Listening for false starts: use tapescript to id, then listen to note how they are marked
Listening for rephrase/repetition: note signals, then re-listen for new wording
Paraphrasing: a. start on paper b. pairwork jigsaw
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

17. Listening Strategies
Activity 4
How could you use the Vacations text to introduce or practice real-life listening strategies?
Which text(s) would be best for paraphrase practice?
10/25/10
Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

18. Pulling it together Present in “natural” groupings Recycle & repeat
Listening Strategies
Pulling it together
Present in “natural” groupings
Recycle & repeat
Consolidate at regular intervals
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

19. Conclusions Give lots of practice time Use varied texts
Listening Strategies
Conclusions
Give lots of practice time
Use varied texts
Combine strategies in different ways
Encourage use of listening logs
Start with listening strategy questionnaire
Use meta-language; be explicit
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim

20. References 10/25/10 Developed by M.Wertheim
Listening Strategies
References
Brown, H.Douglas (2001). Teaching by principles, An interactive approach to language pedagogy. NY: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Field, J. (2002). The changing face of listening. In Jack C. Richards & W.A. Renandya (eds.). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lam, Wendy Y.K. (2002). Raising students’ awareness of the features of real- world listening. In Jack C. Richards & W.A. Renandya (eds.). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nunan, D. (2002). Listening in language learning. In Jack C. Richards & W.A. Renandya (eds.). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Peterson, P.W. (2001). Skills and strategies for proficient listening. In Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed.), M. Celce-Murcia (ed.). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
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Developed by M.Wertheim
M. Wertheim