Skills and strategies for proficient listening

Skills and Strategies for
Proficient Listening
By Pat Wilcox Peterson
JOVENEL B. DADULLA
MAED ENGLISH
Teaching English as a Second Language

How important is listening
in language learning?

“No other type of language input is
as easy to process as spoken
language, received through
listening.”

LEVELS OF LISTENING
Advanced
Intermediate
Beginning
Uses listening to improve language learning,
e.g. vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation
Uses listening to improve the understanding
of the language
Uses listening to see the complexity of the
language

THEORIES OF LANGUAGE
COMPREHENSION

THEORIES OF LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION
Listening is the Primary Channel for
Language Input and Acquisition
LISTENING
Comprehension
Information
Retention
L2 Acquisition
Learning to speak a language is very largely a
task of hearing it (Nida, 1957).

Some strategies and approaches in TESL focus on giving more
listening inputs to promote L2 acquisition and production.
Total Physical Response
(Asher, 1969)
Natural Approach
(Krashen & Terrell, 1983)

Reception Production
Reception should precede production because
reception enables production(Nord, 1981).

Listening Comprehension is Multilevel,
Interactive Process of Meaning Creation

The Listening Process
Perceptual
Processing
Parsing Utilization

Higher level language proficiency allows the listener to
have more time to process information received through
listening as they give little attention to specific sounds
and patterns in the L2.
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Rumenlhart (1980) defines schema as “a data structure
for representing generic concepts stored in memory.”
THE SCHEMATA

Models of Listening
Comprehension

Models of Listening Comprehension
There is an internal
reproduction of the message
from the speaker and so the
intended meaning is
achieved (Clark & Clark,
1977)

The meaning is constructed
by the listener which leads
to a quite different meaning
from the intended one.
(Rost, 1990)

There is a processing
of meaning and a
continuous monitoring
of comprehension.
(Nagle & Sanders)

Principles for Listening
in the Classroom

1. Increase the amount of listening time in language class.
2. Use listening before other activities.
3. Include both global and selective listening.

4. Activate top-level skills.
5. Work towards automaticity in processing.
6. Develop conscious listening strategies.

Comprehension Process,
Skills, and Strategies

Process
These are the skills that the
listener does consciously to aid
in the processing of information.
These are uncontrolled
operations that help the listener
understand the information.
Operations that are undergone
to create and interpret meaning
from input.
include
Become (if practiced)

Teachers must be careful in teaching students in using
strategies. Untutored students tend to use wrong
strategies in decoding meaning from listened texts.

METACOGNITIVE
These are the
strategies that involves
planning, monitoring,
and evaluating
comprehension.
Types of Strategies
COGNITIVE
These are the
strategies used to
manipulate information.
SOCIOAFFECTIVE
These are particularly
used in conversations
where listening is two-
way or feedback is
needed.

Example of strategies used by
effective listeners
Focused, selective
attention
Top-down
strategies
Relates to personal
experience and
world knowledge.
Perceptual Phase Parsing Phase Utilization Phase

A DEVELOPMENTAL VIEW
OF LISTENING SKILLS

A DEVELOPMENTAL VIEW OF LISTENING
True beginners in a second language lack adequate
bottom-up processing skills because they have not yet
developed the linguistic categories against which the
language must be heard.
Profile of Beginning-level Student in Listening

At this stage, the students tend to discover the ambiguity of
sounds and meaning and thus make guesses of meaning and
make use of real-world knowledge and analytical thinking.
Profile of Beginning-level Student in Listening A DEVELOPMENTAL VIEW OF LISTENING
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NOVICE STAGE

Do you
speak
English?
Do you
understand
English?

1. Global listening selections should be short.
2. Teachers must go down the level of students.
3. Add new material gradually.
4. Students should be kept active in the task to perform.
5. Selective listening exercises are easy to prepare.
Some suggestions for giving an effective input

1. Global listening selections should be short and preceded by a pre-
listening activity which includes the presentation of the theme of
the story through a picture.
Global Listening Techniques

2. The pre-listening stage should develop the students’ curiosity.
3. The new text must be read in a normal pace and must have short
pauses.
4. The teacher may also demonstrate or show the message of the text.

1. The focus is on form, sound, and grammatical structures.
Selective Listening Techniques

Intermediate-level learners have a fair understanding of the
phonemic system in L2 but still find it difficult to understand the
complexities of such. Still, they can now listen to short
conversations compared to only words for beginners.
Profile of Intermediate-level Student in Listening
Profile of Intermediate-level Learner A DEVELOPMENTAL VIEW OF LISTENING SKILLS

The teacher can introduce “authentic” text to the learners; those
that are not intended for non-native speakers.

1. Focus on developing their accuracy in identifying
grammatical features.
2. Pronunciation training can be used in this stage.
3. Teach strategies for interactive listening.
Selective Listening Techniques

Cummins (1981) notes that in proficient bilinguals, the second
language skills is used for acquiring knowledge. Advanced
learners listen to acquire knowledge from other areas.
Profile of Advanced Learner
Profile of Advanced Learner A DEVELOPMENTAL VIEW OF LISTENING

• They listen to longer texts such as those in television and
radio.
• Their vocabulary includes a broader sense.
• They begin to fill gaps and make inferences.

It is also important to note that their understanding of the L2
remains literal. They usually miss jokes, idioms, slang, and
cultural references.

• More study on the link between proficiency and strategy.
• Investigate on other variables that may affect the strategy-
use.
• Study the effects of social, cultural, and affective factors
that affect listening.
Directions for Future Research

Students listen to learn. As teachers, let us not
neglect the importance of such a vital skill in
language learning.
THANK YOU! 

Skills and strategies for proficient listening

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