Scott Thornbury - Teaching+Listening [PDF]

Citation preview

how toteach …listening



natural English



by Scott Thornbury



teacher development



A heading session overview aim to familiarize trainees with the principles underlying the selection and sequencing of listening tasks to emphasize the importance of teaching listening, as opposed to merely testing it



trainees will …



materials



• discuss statements about the learning and teaching of listening



• natural English intermediate student’s book, p.136



• sequence the stages of a listening lesson



• tapescript 12.4 from natural English intermediate listening booklet, pp.42–43



• plan a lesson based on a listening text



• natural English intermediate teacher’s book, p.150 and pp.152–153 • photocopies of worksheets for stages 2 and 4



outline plan stage



1 warmer – discussion



timing



interaction



10–15 minutes



pairs / small groups; open class discussion



10 minutes



pairs / small groups; open class discussion



2 ordering task 3 comparison task



5 minutes



pairs / small groups; open class check



4 matching task



10 minutes



pairs / small groups; open class check



5 planning task



20–25 minutes



6 extension activity



25 minutes



pairs / small groups; followed by open class report / demonstration individual, or pairs / small groups; open class demonstration



www.oup.com/elt/teacher/naturalenglish



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening session overview



how toteach …listening



natural English



by Scott Thornbury



teacher development



A headingplan detailed stage



procedure



stage 1



Dictate, or write on the board, the following statements (or a selection of them):



warmer



1 Listening is more difficult than reading. Why? 10–15 minutes



2 Listening to cassettes is more difficult than listening to real people. 3 If students don’t understand, play the tape as many times as necessary. 4 To understand a listening text, you need to understand every word. 5 It’s a good idea to give students the tapescript before they listen. 6 It’s a good idea to give students a task before they listen. 7 Listening to the teacher talking is good listening practice. 8 You can’t teach listening, you can only test it. Divide the class into pairs or small groups, and ask them to discuss the statements. Set a time limit of ten minutes. Note that this is a warmer, so it is not necessary to discuss the questions at great length. To save time, you could allocate specific questions to specific groups, or you could ask each group to choose two or three questions that they would like to discuss. Ask individuals from each group to briefly report on their discussion, and (optionally) allow this to develop into an open class discussion. An alternative approach could be to postpone the report and discussion stage until the end of the session, after first allowing groups to amend or expand their opinions in the light of what has happened in the workshop.



stage 2



ordering task 10 minutes



Organize the trainees into pairs or groups of three, and hand out worksheet for stage 2. Explain the task – which is to put the stages of the listening lesson in a logical order. The trainees should be prepared to justify their order. Point out that there may be more than one possible order. Note also that few listening lessons would include all these stages, e.g. it may not be necessary to pre-teach vocabulary if it is assumed the vocabulary will be familiar to the learners.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening detailed plan



1



It will be easier – and more fun – if you cut the worksheet up and paste each stage onto a separate card, making sure that each pair or group has a full set of cards. The trainees can then order the cards by manipulating them physically. When most groups have completed the task, lead an open class discussion, asking individuals to report on the order their group has decided on, noting differences, but at this stage reserving comment until the next activity.



stage 3



comparison task 5 minutes



Ask trainees to look at the activities on p.136 of the natural English intermediate student’s book (unit 12, listening). Working in pairs or small groups, they should note the order of the activities, and match each of them to the stages in worksheet for stage 2. Point out that not all stages in their worksheet are represented in the student’s book material. Check this task in open class.



stage 4



matching task 10 minutes



Hand out worksheet for stage 4, which lists seven principles underlying the teaching of listening. Ask the trainees, in pairs or small groups, to match each principle in worksheet for stage 4 to each stage in worksheet for stage 2. (Again, this will be easier if the principles have been cut and pasted onto individual cards.) Check this task in open class. By this stage, trainees should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the principles behind the choice and sequencing of activities in a coursebook-based listening lesson.



stage 5



planning task



Organize the trainees into pairs or small groups, and ask them to read tapescript 12.4 on p.42 of the natural English intermediate listening booklet.



20-25 minutes



Set them the task of planning the stages of a listening lesson around this text, using the listening lesson sequence from the ordering task in stage 2, above. Note, again, that it is not necessary to include all seven stages. If time allows, ask individuals from different groups to outline their plan – or, better, teach their lesson to the rest of the class. To vary the task, you could set different tapescripts to different groups. Among other tapescripts that would be useful for this exercise are 2.2 (either anecdote), 5.4, 5.5, and 10.3 (Story 1).



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening detailed plan



2



stage 6



extension activity 25 minutes



Ask the trainees to read 5 Teacher talk (including try it out live listening) on p.153 of the natural English intermediate teacher’s book. Ask them to plan – individually or in pairs / small groups – a ‘live listening’ lesson, following the listening lesson sequence discussed earlier in the session. Individuals can then demonstrate their live listening sequence to the rest of the class.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening detailed plan



3



how toteach …listening



natural English



by Scott Thornbury



teacher development



trainer’s notes



stage 1



warmer



Some points that may come up, or that you may like to introduce: 1



‘Listening is more difficult than reading. Why?’



All things being equal, this is generally true, simply because a listening text happens in ‘real time’ and processing has to be rapid and immediate. Readers, on the other hand, can focus on difficulties in their own time, re-reading all or part of the text if necessary. For further discussion of this issue, see the section 1 Why is listening difficult? on p.150 of the natural English intermediate teacher’s book.



2



‘Listening to cassettes is more difficult than listening to real people.’



Again, this is generally true, because the listener lacks important contextual clues, including the expressions and gestures of the speakers. Moreover, the listener cannot interrupt, or ask the speakers for clarification, when listening to a recorded text. Also, technical problems, including classroom acoustics, can make cassettes difficult to process. However, cassettes have the advantage that they permit repeated listenings of the same text.



3



‘If students don’t understand, play the tape as many times as necessary.’



Repetition may help, but there could be other problems: • it may be that they have no understanding of the general situation • they may not be tuned in sufficiently (see the section tune in to the voices and context on p.152 of the natural English intermediate teacher’s book) • there may be key words that need to be pre-taught • there may not be a clear task to help them focus their listening In other words, repetition without a preparatory stage or without making some adjustment to the task, may be a waste of time.



4



‘To understand a listening text, you need to understand every word.’



Understanding is both multi-layered and subjective. In other words, you may understand the thread (or gist) of the text, based on clues from the context and the text, but without being able to recall, or even understand, the details. Often, these details may be irrelevant. In this case, understanding every word is unnecessary. On the other hand, the details may be critical – as in following street directions – where knowing the difference between at, after, before, etc. may be essential if a satisfactory level of understanding is to be achieved. Conversely, even if you understand all the words of a text, but have insufficient background knowledge of the topic, you may feel you still have not fully understood the text.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening trainer’s notes



1



5



‘It’s a good idea to give students the tapescript before they listen.’



The tapescript is certainly useful in helping learners orient themselves to the listening text, and to relate the spoken signal with the written word, but if they always get the tapescript in advance of listening, they will not have had much preparation for real-world listening, where no such support is available. On the other hand, letting the learners see the tapescript towards the end of a sequence of listening tasks helps both to confirm their hypotheses as to what they have heard and to fill in the remaining gaps in their understanding. It is also a useful medium for focusing on features of the language.



6



‘It’s a good idea to give students a task before they listen.’



This is generally true, since a task helps motivate students by providing a reason for listening. Tasks also help focus students’ attention on the general (such as the gist) rather than the specific (such as trying to identify, and hold in short-term memory, the meaning of every word). As a rule, tasks are sequenced from the very extensive (e.g. What is she talking about? Why? And with whom?) to the fairly intensive (e.g. What time did she say she would be free to have a meeting?), and from meaning-focused tasks to form-focused ones (e.g. How exactly does she say she is busy? How many examples of ‘could’ do you hear?).



7



‘Listening to the teacher talking is good listening practice.’



Given the problems of listening to ‘disembodied’ recorded texts (see point 2, above), and given the intrinsic interest created by the presence of a ‘real’ speaker, the teacher is an excellent source of listening texts. Moreover, the teacher is able to monitor the level of understanding, make adjustments, and respond to questions and requests for repetition. The disadvantage is that students may get used to listening to just one voice, one accent, and one speaking style.



8



‘You can’t teach listening, you can only test it.’



Traditional classroom listening activities seem more focused on testing listening – as in dictations, multiple-choice question tasks, etc. – as opposed to developing the skill of listening through teacher mediation. The rest of this session will look at ways the skill of listening can be taught, rather than simply tested.



stage 2



ordering task



A logical order for the stages might be the following: D Generate interest in the topic – by, for example, asking the class about their experience, feelings, or knowledge of the topic. G Pre-teach key vocabulary – for example, by writing each key word on the board and attempting to elicit a definition, example, synonym, or translation. F Set gist task e.g. Who is talking to whom, about what, and why? C Play short section of recorded extract, and check task. A Set intensive listening task – e.g. asking about specific details. Play complete extract and check task, re-playing sections if necessary. Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening trainer’s notes



2



E Students read tapescript and listen at the same time. B Language focus e.g. focus on features of grammar or vocabulary that occur in the recording, by doing gap-fill exercise. Note that the principles underlying this sequence include the following: • Understanding is enhanced if learners are oriented towards the topic and are familiar with key vocabulary. • Understanding is best developed in stages, going from the global to the specific. • Language-focused activities work best when the learners have first encountered the language in a meaningful context.



stage 3



comparison task



The lead-in activity matches stage D above (generating interest). The tune-in activity matches stages F and C above. The listen carefully activity matches stage A above (intensive listening). The reference to the listening booklet matches stage E above. The grammar section matches stage B above. Note that there is no stage G (pre-teaching of vocabulary) in this particular coursebook extract. The authors felt that it wasn’t necessary for the successful completion of the task.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening trainer’s notes



3



stage 4



matching task



The stages and principles are matched as follows: D–4, G–2, F–3, C–7, A–6, E–1, B–5 The following table shows how the stages and principles correspond. It may be useful to photocopy this table to serve as a record for your trainees.



stage



principle



Generate interest in the topic – by, for example, asking the class about their experience, feelings, or knowledge of the topic.



Activating background knowledge about the topic helps make sense of the text.



Pre-teach key vocabulary – for example, by writing each key word on the board and attempting to elicit a definition, example, synonym, or translation.



It helps reduce the difficulty of listening if learners are familiar with the most important words in the text.



Set gist task – e.g. Who is talking to whom, about what, and why?



A very general initial task helps discourage learners from trying to listen to every word.



Play short section of recorded extract, and check task.



It helps if learners can ‘tune in’ to the recorded extract so as to get used to the voice(s), speed, and so on.



Set intensive listening task – e.g. asking about specific details. Play complete extract and check task, replaying sections if necessary.



Listening intensively for detail is best done after learners have gained an overall grasp of the gist.



Students read tapescript and listen at the same time.



It is both satisfying and instructive to match what you have heard to the written word.



Language focus – e.g. focus on features of grammar or vocabulary that occur in the recording, by doing gapfill exercise.



It is useful to exploit the text to teach language features, but this is best done after the learners have gained a good understanding of the text.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening trainer’s notes



4



stage 5



planning task



There is no one way of planning a sequence based on this text (tapescript 12.4), but the following ideas may be worth mentioning: generating interest



Ask learners if they have ever lost their house keys, and / or been locked out. Alternatively, ask if anyone has lost a (mobile) telephone connection at a critical moment.



pre-teaching vocabulary



If key vocabulary (keys, locked out, mobile phone) has come up in the interest-generating task (above), pre-teaching will hardly be necessary. It may be worth teaching the battery went dead and letter box, however, as these are crucial to the understanding of the story.



tuning in



Play the extract as far as the battery went dead, and ask learners to predict what might have happened next.



gist task



An example gist task could be: 1 What was the first problem? (She left her keys at home.) 2 What was the second problem? (The battery went dead.) 3 What was the third problem? (The taxi driver posted the keys through the letter box.)



detailed listening



This could take the form of true / false questions, or (for the resourceful) a sequence of pictures to put in order. The important point to note is that the story is quite condensed and unusual, and learners will have some difficulty ‘unpacking’ exactly what happened. It will be important, therefore, that the detailed listening task helps this unpacking process as much as possible. It may be necessary to ask some why questions, to ensure maximum comprehension. For example, Why did the daughter order a taxi? Why didn’t the woman wait for the taxi to arrive? Why did the taxi driver put the keys in the letter box?



language focus



Possible points to focus on include: • features of spoken narrative, such as the linkers so anyway, and then, all of a sudden, and so (see exercise 12.4 on p.43 of the natural English intermediate listening booklet, as an example of an activity focusing on these points) • ‘back-channel’ devices (yeah, oh no, hmm, oh!, oh dear) • the use of direct speech in narrative • the use of the past perfect with verbs like realized or conjunctions like meanwhile



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening trainer’s notes



5



stage 6



extension activity



Trainees should have some freedom to choose their own text, but it may help to narrow their choice to personal anecdotes, of the type used in tapescript 12.4. It is important to stress that the anecdote should not be scripted and read aloud, but told in as natural a way as possible. A scripted text that is read aloud will inevitably lack features of natural, spoken English, such as certain intonational features, repetitions and false starts, pause-fillers (erm …), and confirmation checks (ok?). The absence of these features can make a text quite dense and difficult to process – compare listening to a news broadcast with listening to an interview. In order to provide both gist and detailed listening tasks, the anecdote could either be re-told, or it could be recorded during the first telling and then played again. For further suggestions, see try it out live listening on p.153 of the natural English intermediate teacher’s book.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening trainer’s notes



6



how toteach …listening



natural English



by Scott Thornbury



teacher development



worksheet for stage 2 Put the following stages of a listening activity into a logical order – there is more than one possibility. Be prepared to justify your choice.



A



Set intensive listening task – e.g. asking about specific details. Play complete extract and check task, re-playing sections if necessary.



B



Language focus e.g. focus on features of grammar or vocabulary that occur in the recording, by doing gap-fill exercise.



C



Play short section of recorded extract, and check task.



D



Generate interest in the topic – by, for example, asking the class about their experience, feelings, or knowledge of the topic.



E



Students read tapescript and listen at the same time.



F



Set gist task – e.g. Who is talking to whom, about what, and why?



G



Pre-teach key vocabulary – for example, by writing each key word on the board and attempting to elicit a definition, example, synonym, or translation.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening worksheet for stage 2



how toteach …listening



natural English



by Scott Thornbury



teacher development



worksheet for stage 4 Here are seven principles underlying the teaching of listening. Can you match each principle to a stage in worksheet for stage 2? 1



It is both satisfying and instructive to match what you have heard to the written word.



2



It helps reduce the difficulty of listening if learners are familiar with the most important words in the text.



3



A very general initial task helps discourage learners from trying to listen to every word.



4



Activating background knowledge about the topic helps make sense of the text.



5



It is useful to exploit the text to teach language features, but this is best done after the learners have gained a good understanding of the text.



6



Listening intensively for detail is best done after learners have gained an overall grasp of the gist.



7



It helps if learners can ‘tune in’ to the recorded extract so as to get used to the voice(s), speed and so on.



Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2003



how to … teach listening worksheet for stage 4