Listening Strategies In The Listening Process

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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 …show more content…

Based on O’Malley, Chamot, Küpper (1989) it seems that strategies can be summarized in three terms: “self-monitoring, elaboration and inferencing” (p.418). Self-monitoring is a metacognitive strategy which includes concentrating on the task at hand, on the content and managing through its difficulties. The focus could be on particular data or more general, “selective attention” and “directed attention” (p.422) respectively. Metacognitive denotes making judgements over the process itself. Elaboration is a broader category under which other strategies, such as inferencing and deduction, are located. Based on what is heard, the listener can interrelate the new data with personal knowledge even when total comprehension is not accomplished. Nonetheless, she/he can reach conclusions and form …show more content…

Lam (2002) classifies these characteristics in three wider categories. Firstly, “time-creating devices” (p.248-249) include pause fillers such as um, urh or eh which aim to provide the speaker with more time to construct his/her speech. Secondly, “facilitation devices” (p.249), that include shorter forms stemming from ellipses (e.g. Yes, I do) or frequently used chunks (e.g. You know), help oral production. Thirdly, “compensation devices” (p.249) are utilized to paraphrase, correct and repeat an utterance but with different words so as to render it clearer than before. All the above show redundancy and an effective listener should be able to recognize it, understand that it is an inherent element of oral language that differentiates it from written

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