SPLIS Newsletter - February 2013 (Plain Text Version)
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ARTICLES AN INTERACTIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING LISTENING
In EFL contexts, particularly in Japan, listening comprehension is taught merely as a means of preparing learners to take standardized tests. This emphasis may miss critical skills in terms of second language acquisition. An alternative and possibly more beneficial approach to teaching listening is discussed in detail. Literature Importance of Developing Listening Skills Listening plays an important role in language acquisition (Winitz, 1981) and is the natural precursor of speaking (Nation & Newton, 2009). To be more precise, extensive listening has a number of benefits:
Acknowledging the aforementioned benefits, claims are that more than 50% of the time learners spend functioning in the second language (L2) is devoted to listening, especially in the early stage of learning (Nunan, 1998). However, listening has been long neglected in L2 classes (Nation & Newton, 2009), and listening comprehension tasks are predominant. The Interactive Approach and Its Rationale Communicative language teaching suggests a number of L2 teaching principles. One indicates that L2 listening can be taught effectively using three stages: pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening (Nunan, 1998). The pre-listening stage provides relevant background information and vocabulary for comprehension of the text. The while-listening stage makes learners engage in listening so that they understand the main points and then the details. Finally, the post-listening stage encourages learners to use the information and vocabulary learned to summarize and discuss the information with a view to drawing on it in future listening. Speaking, reading, and writing skills are naturally incorporated into the listening activity. For example, in the pre-listening stage, learners present the background information, discuss their knowledge of the theme, and read a passage or article to obtain the information for the listening task. In addition, at the post-listening stage, learners write a summary of the text and their reaction to it, or discuss the issue covered in the text. This interactive and integrated four-skill approach, especially the combination of speaking, listening, and writing, is recommended in teaching listening for several reasons:
In order to maximize the benefits of this approach, teachers need to design teaching procedures and tasks carefully. Nation and Newton (2009) claim that language teaching should be based on four strands of teaching: meaning-focused input, language-focused learning, meaning-focused output, and fluency development. This approach has pedagogical implications for teaching listening. Different kinds of activities can be used within each strand to promote language learning. For instance, when the emphasis is on meaning-focused input, an oral introduction, story-listening, or story-telling are useful activities. To promote language-focused learning, fill-in-the-blanks listening comprehension questions, listening for particular words, dictation, and dictogloss are effective tasks. In terms of meaning-focused output, story-telling and story-retelling can be beneficial for language learning. Finally, to develop fluency, activities such as listening to a particular topic extensively, story-listening, listening while reading, prediction activities, and extensive listening are helpful. Nation and Newton (2009) claim that
This approach, when applied to the teaching of listening, seems to complement the aforementioned three-stage procedure of teaching listening; both suggest that the teacher simplify materials by providing background information and vocabulary before listening and use output tasks to recycle and reinforce the learning of information and vocabulary obtained through listening. Given the reality that language-focused learning tasks are still used mainly in Japanese EFL contexts, the incorporation of meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, and fluency development tasks in listening classes would be one way to improve student proficiency. Listening-Based Sample Lessons Integrating the Four Skills The following sample lesson plan covers two consecutive lessons. The listening text is a BBC News clip titled “Is marriage becoming a thing of the past?” (Onoda & Cooker, 2008) addressing the decreasing number of married couples in the United Kingdom. Please note a few abbreviations: listening task (L), speaking task (S), reading task (R), and writing task (W). Class Meeting 1 (50 minutes) Pre-listening tasks
While-listening tasks
Post-listening tasks
Class Meeting 2 (50 minutes) Post-listening tasks
Final Word This course design draws on the four strands of teaching applied to a three-stage listening instruction procedure. It was found (Onoda, 2011) that this design was well received by second-year English majors and that their speaking and listening skills improved during the academic year. Although the results might not be generalizable, this teaching approach, supported by the author’s teaching experience, can be an alternative approach to the widely practiced approach to teaching listening. References Lynch, T., & Mendelsohn, D. (2002). Listening. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), An introduction to applied linguistics (pp. 193–210). London, England: Arnold. Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. New York, NY: Routledge. Nunan, D. (1998). Approaches to teaching listening in the language classroom. In Proceedings of the 1997 Korea TESOL Conference. Taejon, Korea: KOTESOL. Onoda, S. (2011). Design and teaching techniques for enhancing student learning in Media English courses. Media, English and Communication, 1, 1–18. Onoda, S., & Cooker, L. (2008). Unit 9: Is marriage becoming a thing of the past? In BBC: Understanding the News in English 5.(pp. 49–54). Tokyo, Japan: Kinseido. Winitz, H. (Ed.). (1981). The comprehension approach to foreign language instruction. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Sakae Onoda is a professor of English education at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. His research interests are: English-teacher education, developing listening and speaking fluency, and facilitating self-regulated language learning. He recently obtained an Ed.D. from Temple University, Japan. |
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