Role of listening and speaking in the history of SLA. Previously, listening was viewed as a passive activity processing meaning and sound. But in recent models, it is shown as a more active process where message is not only received by the listener but “created in the interactional space between participants” in real time (Nation and Newton, 2009, p.39). The explicit treatment of listening in language learning has started after 1900s when spoken language became the definite source of foreign language learning replacing that of written mode (Rost, p.116). Later on with the emergence of communicative language teaching (CLT) in 1980s, listening and speaking have become an integral part of language learning as a means for communicative competence.
It's no wonder that in recent years the language teaching profession has placed a concentrated emphasis on listening, as it is considered to be a major component in language learning and teaching. Naturally, there are obstacles that make listening, which is a general purpose in most learning situations, difficult, as it is more than merely hearing words. As G.Buck states, "listening is a complex process in which the listener takes the incoming data, an acoustic signal, and interprets it based on a wide variety of linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge", i.e. listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying /Buck, 2001: 10/. This involves understanding a speaker's accent or pronunciation, his grammar and his vocabulary, and grasping his meaning.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the advice on how to improve on all of the skills listed below. Listening ● Definition: “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
Active listening technique is paying attention to the words being said with actual interest and giving back a response. While hearing is only perceiving the sounds of the words, without comprehending or managing to understand the problem. . It’s an extraordinary method for reflecting back what the other individual has communicated to tell them you are tuning in with your whole-heart attention. The effectiveness in listening necessarily depends on the interrelationships between the sender and the receiver of the message, which is found to be an important skill especially for the managers in business organizations while obtaining need-based information to perform their jobs successfully.
Combined with the ability to ask great questions, this form of listening produces desired results in coaching and mentoring sessions. 7. Fluency. The best prepared speech or presentation material will not make much of an impact if it is not carried by a fluent delivery. To be fluent is to be articulate.
Effective listening requires that you ask yourself what you and your partner are thinking and feeling. Listening is most difficult when you are being told things that you don’t want to hear. People tend to cut in to reassure themselves that what the other person is saying is not what they really mean; they defend themselves and sometimes they even start attacking the other person. Effective listening requires that you listen attentively, compassionately and uncritically so as to allow room for your partner to trust you enough to talk about his/her most intimate thoughts and feelings without the risk of being judged or rejected. Here are some very helpful listening techniques as explained by Relate; the UK’s largest provider of relationship support:- • Forget about yourself: Put aside your own feelings and thoughts and aim to get an idea of what the other person is saying.
Introduction According to Vandergrift (1997), “reception strategies are the Cinderella of communication strategies” (p.494). Since listening falls under the category of receptive skills, the aforementioned statement implies that the listening skill along with the underlying techniques to construct meaning and achieve comprehension have been neglected. However, the position of listening in curriculum design and implementation has been widely restored. Dunkel (1986) emphasizes on the importance of incorporating listening at the very beginning of the learning process on the grounds that it contributes to the mastery of the second language. Moreover, listening seems to exert considerable influence on the development of reading and writing (Oxford, 1993).
This paper is concerned with the need to improve how listening skills are taught to the students in the classroom. Teaching English through listening is not an easy task, especially when there are many factors that impede the learning process such as: lack of adequate materials and conditions; lack of qualified teachers with good pronunciation, and lack of innovative approaches to teaching listening skills. This paper focuses on the following aspects: an evaluation of how effectively listening skills can be taught EFL classroom; a look at how we can turn teaching problems into positive solutions; how to improve listening skills in the EFL classroom among students. Key words: Teaching innovative approaches, skills. DEVELOPING LISTENING SKILLS Listening is one of four fundamental skills through which a language is taught.
11. The findings of the observation checklist have shown that teaching listening was ignored among most of the teachers of English. In their teaching, teachers tended to teach listening by traditional ways i.e they read the texts loudly or let the students read them orally, rather than adopting the recommended teaching procedures. 12. As far as pre-listening practices are concerned, the data gained from the research results revealed that these practices were rarely employed in teaching listening skills.
According to Vandergrift (1997), “reception strategies are the Cinderella of communication strategies” (p.494). Since listening falls under the category of receptive skills, the aforementioned statement implies that the listening skill along with the underlying techniques to construct meaning and achieve comprehension have been neglected. However, the position of listening in curriculum design and implementation has been widely restored. Dunkel (1986) emphasizes on the importance of incorporating listening at the very beginning of the learning process on the grounds that it contributes to the mastery of the second language. Moreover, listening seems to exert considerable influence on the development of reading and writing (Oxford, 1993).