Descriptive Listening Analysis

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 intends to further substantiate and justify the explicit teaching of listening. Towards this direction, a consolidated criticism of an existing listening task based on research and a presentation of an original listening lesson plan will be accompanied.

The processes involved in listening and their pedagogical implications in teaching listening in L2

Field (1999) lays out the cognitive processes involved in listening, that is bottom-up and top-down, and also the interaction of these two. From the bottom-up perspective, the listener gradually extracts meaning by

Schemata are world knowledge, personal experiences and cultural elements that students bear. Concepts, words or situations described in the pre-listening task allude to the appropriate schemata and forge associations. This process enables students to make predictions, facilitates comprehension and supports top-down processes (Vandergrift, 1999). Furthermore, pre-listening tasks should incorporate other skills, that is speaking, reading, and