UNIT 7 LISTENING

What is Listening?

Listening is a receptive skill by which we understand spoken language through the use of context, language and our knowledge of the world. To understand this spoken language we need to consider some important features. For example: the use of gestures and hesitations, the use of incomplete sentences , simple grammar and general vocabulary. It is clear that there is a big difference between writing and spoken language, I consider most complex the second one. Therefore, spoken language requires more attention. On the other hand, we need to be cautious at the text types we listen to because it can give us clues to understand the spoken language. For example, if we listen to a story, we can realize that the characters use different grammar patterns. Listening also requires to be good at understanding some connected speech features, such as the speed of delivery and accent. Also, depending the reason for listening, we can make use of one or more subskills. Thus, there are three main subskills: listening for global understanding, specific information and detail. Moreover, others way of listening are listening intensively and extensively. Therefore, the process of listening involves a lot of things. Finally, this knowledge can be used to choose the appropriate text and plan a listening activity according to the steps as in reading, because the students need to be familiarized with the topic before to listen to it, and also show if they have understood after the task.

References:

• Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2011). The TKT course. Ernst Klett Sprachen.The TKT course. Module 1,2,3.

• nTargetenglish (2012). Improving Your English Listening Skills [Video]. Avaliable from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW0ELPceczs

• Ur, P. (1984). Teaching listening comprehension. Cambridge University Press.