Foreign Language Teaching Methods: Listening. Hello!
My name is Mahmoud Al-Batal and I am an Associate professor of Arabic in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. One of the areas in which I've been interested as a language teacher is listening, and I am happy to be here with you today to engage you in a discussion on listening. As learners of languages, you all realize how important listening is for communication, especially in this modern age of technology in which tremendous amounts of language input come to us through listening. Yet, despite this importance, the listening skill has not received the attention it deserves for a variety of reasons which we will discuss later in this module. Why we have been teaching listening skills wrongly for decades'
Introduction Listening is often described as the ‘cinderella skill’, as it is by far the area of language instruction that language teachers neglect the most.
The reasons for this neglect are manifold. First and foremost, as much research has shown, listening is the skill MFL teachers understand the least and consequently do not feel confident teaching. Add to this the fact that instructional materials are often uninspiring, poorly designed and usually under-exploited by course-books. How to practice English listening skills (without spending extra time) Tuning In: How to Listen Better. Plenty of programs teach people to speak—but few train them to listen.
Even before the age of digital distractions, people could remember only about 10% of what was said in a face-to-face conversation after a brief distraction, according to a 1987 study that remains a key gauge of conversational recall. Researchers believe listening skills have since fallen amid more multitasking and interruptions. Most people can think more than twice as fast as the average person talks, allowing the mind to wander. The failure to listen well not only prolongs meetings and discussions but also can hurt relationships and damage careers. However, it is possible to improve your listening skills—first, by becoming aware of the ways you may tune others out. Some people are busy thinking about what they want to say next. A 2011 study in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that the more powerful the listener, the more likely he is to judge or dismiss advice from others. Ms. Techniques to improve Listening Skills - MFL.
Strategies for Developing Listening Skills. Language learning depends on listening.
Listening provides the aural input that serves as the basis for language acquisition and enables learners to interact in spoken communication. Effective language instructors show students how they can adjust their listening behavior to deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and listening purposes. Hearing vs. Listening: Importance of Listening Skills for Speakers - Video & Lesson Transcript. The Skill of Mindful Listening. Communication in the 21st century has some unique challenges, and some basic etiquette reminders may prove useful to facilitate effective communication.
One may feel invalidated, ignored, or disrespected when attempting to talk with someone and competing for attention with their phone or tablet. Multitasking when seeking authentic and constructive communication is an obstacle, which blocks opportunities for reciprocal flow and quality interaction. How to improve your speaking skills. Listening and the Brain. In his first semester as a student at Hampshire College, Mark Blumberg had an experience that would ultimately shape his academic career.
Suddenly, and without warning, Blumberg lost hearing in his left ear. That would frighten anyone, but was perhaps even more disturbing for Blumberg, a vocalist who had transferred to Hampshire from Westminster Choir College. "All I could hear in my left ear was static and white noise," he recalled. "It was absolutely terrifying. " Diagnosed with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Blumberg took steroids to reduce cochlear inflammation and the condition cleared up. Blumberg had taken a class called Music, Brain, and Development with Neil Stillings, dean of the School of Cognitive Science at Hampshire.
"I was focusing at that point on how music is born in the brain," Blumberg said. He traveled to MIT's Research Lab of Electronics each week for three months, where he taught two CI users how to play piano. Listening Skills - The 10 Principles of Listening. Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process.
Listening is key to all effective communication, without the ability to listen effectively messages are easily misunderstood – communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated.
Rubrics. Assessing Listening. Assessing Listening Proficiency. You can use post-listening activities to check comprehension, evaluate listening skills and use of listening strategies, and extend the knowledge gained to other contexts.
A post-listening activity may relate to a pre-listening activity, such as predicting; may expand on the topic or the language of the listening text; or may transfer what has been learned to reading, speaking, or writing activities. In order to provide authentic assessment of students' listening proficiency, a post-listening activity must reflect the real-life uses to which students might put information they have gained through listening.
It must have a purpose other than assessment It must require students to demonstrate their level of listening comprehension by completing some task. To develop authentic assessment activities, consider the type of response that listening to a particular selection would elicit in a non-classroom situation.
Learn English Online with Podcasts - EnglishClass101. Connect with English. Speech accent archive: browse. 123 English listening exercises and printable listening worksheets for free, ESL listening activities for kids. Listen and Repeat Podcast: Improve Your English Pronunciation. Movie Lessons. Listen A Minute: Easier English Listening and Lesson Plans. Behind the News. Listen to Passages « English Listening. Listening Library.
Poets.org. Giving voice to the poetry of the past. News in Easy English – Easy News for ESL Listening. Intermediate Listening Lessons using Short Passages with Quizzes. Voices. Listening Master - LingualNet. ELT Listening Material.
Here is a regularly updated collection of authentic and adapted listening material that could be used in an English language classroom or my students for extensive listening.
Click on the title of the website to go to that page, or click on the ‘More Information’ link to get a summary of information on length, accents, transcripts, and more. If you find any links that do not work, please let me know. Also, if you have anything to add to this list, please share it with my using the contact page on this website or send me a message on Twitter (@nathanghall) and I will make sure to give you credit. = Adapted for those who speak English as an additional language Conversational The Listening Project: A BBC weekly podcast from the daily radio program of the same name. StoryCorps: A radio program from NPR. ELLLO: Short semi-scripted conversations on various topics. Lessonstream.org by Jamie Keddie Lessons. Voscreen - life itself. Active Listening - Communication Skills Training from MindTools.com.
Listening is one of the most important skills you can have.
How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness, and on the quality of your relationships with others. For instance: We listen to obtain information. We listen to understand. We listen for enjoyment. McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. Strategies for listening & notetaking. VideoNot.es: The easiest way to take notes synchronized with videos!
oTranscribe. Improve your English using Youtube. Speech to Text Online Notepad. The Power of Dictations. Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - For English as a Second Language. Movies Listening Lesson with Audio and Quiz for ESL. Breaking News English. English Lessons On American Presidents - U.S. Presidents. ESL Holiday Lessons: Lesson Plans for ESL / EFL. Famous People English Lessons: Biographies and ESL Lesson Plans.
VOA - Voice of America English News. English Listening - Listening lessons ESL students with audio files and fun questions. PlayPhrase.me: Endless stream of movie clips of specific phrases () Tubequizard. Free online Dictionary of English Pronunciation - How to Pronounce English words. ELLLO- English Listening Lesson Library Online. Latest World Headline News, Breaking News - Newsy®
The ESL Commando. Radio Diaries: Stories for Listening Comprehension. Good Old Blues. I-pods and other MP3 media players are becoming popular to play music on the go. Try and name at least 7 different types of music. Which are most popular in your country? Do you download music files from the Internet? If so, do you download them to a portable MP3 player or other device? First, listen to the conversation by pressing the "Play Audio" button, and answer the questions. . [ Other Audio Option: Play Window Media ] Listen to the conversation again as you read the Quiz Script. Check the Explanation of Answers. Discuss the following topics with a partner. the most popular types of music in your country among different age groups the influence of music on your culture, for example, fashion, hairstyles, behavior, ways of thinking, etc.
Want to Tell People About This Listening Activity? Now, write your ideas on a similar topic at Randall's ESL Blog HERE. Listening Skills Unit: Activities, Worksheets, Printables, and Puzzles. Reading Comprehensions Lester Learns to Listen (Grades 2-5) Riddles Students listen to the clues in the riddle and write (or say) what you are describing. Riddles (grades 3-4) Riddles (grades 5-6) Answering Easy Questions These are questions such as "How many days are there in a week? " Listen A Minute: Easier English Listening and Activities. Listening. Listening Lessons Dogs, Dogs, Dogs - Idioms and phrases using the word 'Dog'. Get the phone! Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices. Free ESL Video Quizzes for Students. Free Quiz Builder for Teachers. Lyrics and Music.
Songs,Toons, Games and Rhymes for Kids. ESL - Listening and Speaking. Top Sites Classroom English Classroom English Common phrases used by ESL teachers in an ESL class Classroom Questions Listen and repeat questions and answers that occur in ESL classrooms. Easy Conversations For ESL Students. Twominute English. Episode Transcripts — Brain Science Podcast. English-learning resources by type - dialogues. Subject & title: Practical English: Air TravelReservations (airline) / Do you have any flights to Sydney next Tuesday afternoon? Resource type: Dialogue, with audio Level: Pre-intermediate Practical English: Air TravelConfirmation of flight reservation / I´d like to reconfirm my flight Resource type: Dialogue, with audio Level: Pre-intermediate Practical English: Air TravelAt passport control / Do you have a return ticket? Resource type: Dialogue, with audio Level: Pre-intermediate Practical English: Railway TravelRailway travel / A ticket to London, please.
Listening. Tolearnenglish. Special English from VOA's "Learning English" (Text & Audio) Listen and Read Along. ESL Listening Comprehension Exercises: Movie clips to practice English. SECTION 1: Movie Clips Learning through media (movies, music, etc.) is one of the best ways to learn a new language. The exercises below use movie clips to help you to better understand spoken English.
Here's what you do: Click on the video you want to watch below.Watch the video, and pay attention to it! Listening Comprehension, Listening that sparks learning. TOEFL Listening Preparation I: Overview and Conversations. Learn English Listening Skills. Effective Listening Skills. Self-Awareness 101 Episode 27: Improving Your Active Listening Skills. How to practice English listening skills (without spending extra time)