Teaching English

A framework for planning a listening skills lesson

Submitted by admin on 10 February, 2010 - 10:34
By developing their ability to listen well we develop our students' ability to become more independent
learners, as by hearing accurately they are much more likely to be able to reproduce accurately, refine
their understanding of grammar and develop their own vocabulary.
In this article I intend to outline a framework that can be used to design a listening lesson that will
develop your students' listening skills and look at some of the issues involved.
The basic framework
Pre-listening
While listening
Post-listening
Applying the framework to a song
Some conclusions

The basic framework
The basic framework on which you can construct a listening lesson can be divided into three main
stages.
Pre-listening, during which we help our students prepare to listen.
While listening, during which we help to focus their attention on the listening text and guide the
development of their understanding of it.
Post-listening, during which we help our students integrate what they have learnt from the text into their
existing knowledge.

Pre-listening
There are certain goals that should be achieved before students attempt to listen to any text. These are
motivation, contextualisation, and preparation.
Motivation
It is enormously important that before listening students are motivated to listen, so you should try to
select a text that they will find interesting and then design tasks that will arouse your students' interest
and curiosity.
Contextualisation
When we listen in our everyday lives we hear language within its natural environment, and that
environment gives us a huge amount of information about the linguistic content we are likely to hear.
Listening to a tape recording in a classroom is a very unnatural process. The text has been taken from
its original environment and we need to design tasks that will help students to contextualise the listening
and access their existing knowledge and expectations to help them understand the text.
Preparation
To do the task we set students while they listen there could be specific vocabulary or expressions that
students will need. It's vital that we cover this before they start to listen as we want the challenge within
the lesson to be an act of listening not of understanding what they have to do.

While listening
When we listen to something in our everyday lives we do so for a reason. Students too need a reason to
listen that will focus their attention. For our students to really develop their listening skills they will need
to listen a number of times - three or four usually works quite well - as I've found that the first time many
students listen to a text they are nervous and have to tune in to accents and the speed at which the
people are speaking.
Ideally the listening tasks we design for them should guide them through the text and should be graded
so that the first listening task they do is quite easy and helps them to get a general understanding of the
text. Sometimes a single question at this stage will be enough, not putting the students under too much
pressure.
The second task for the second time students listen should demand a greater and more detailed
understanding of the text. Make sure though that the task doesn't demand too much of a response.
Writing long responses as they listen can be very demanding and is a separate skill in itself, so keep the
tasks to single words, ticking or some sort of graphical response.
The third listening task could just be a matter of checking their own answers from the second task or
could lead students towards some more subtle interpretations of the text.
Listening to a foreign language is a very intensive and demanding activity and for this reason I think it's
very important that students should have 'breathing' or 'thinking' space between listenings. I usually get
my students to compare their answers between listenings as this gives them the chance not only to
have a break from the listening, but also to check their understanding with a peer and so reconsider
before listening again.

Post-listening
There are two common forms that post-listening tasks can take. These are reactions to the content of
the text, and analysis of the linguistic features used to express the content.
Reaction to the text
Of these two I find that tasks that focus students reaction to the content are most important. Again this is
something that we naturally do in our everyday lives. Because we listen for a reason, there is generally
a following reaction. This could be discussion as a response to what we've heard - do they agree or
disagree or even believe what they have heard? - or it could be some kind of reuse of the information
they have heard.
Analysis of language
The second of these two post-listening task types involves focusing students on linguistic features of the
text. This is important in terms of developing their knowledge of language, but less so in terms of
developing students' listening skills. It could take the form of an analysis of verb forms from a script of
the listening text or vocabulary or collocation work. This is a good time to do form focused work as the
students have already developed an understanding of the text and so will find dealing with the forms that
express those meanings much easier.

Applying the framework to a song
Here is an example of how you could use this framework to exploit a song:
Pre-listening
o Students brainstorm kinds of songs
o Students describe one of their favourite songs and what they like about it
o Students predict some word or expressions that might be in a love song
While listening
o Students listen and decide if the song is happy or sad
o Students listen again and order the lines or verses of the song
o Students listen again to check their answers or read a summary of the song with errors in and correct
them.
Post-listening
o Focus on content
Discuss what they liked / didn't like about the song
Decide whether they would buy it / who they would buy it for
Write a review of the song for a newspaper or website
Write another verse for the song
o Focus on form
Students look at the lyrics from the song and identify the verb forms
Students find new words in the song and find out what they mean
Students make notes of common collocations within the song

Conclusion
Within this article I have tried to describe a framework for listening development that could be applied to
any listening text. This isn't the only way to develop our students listening or to structure a listening
lesson, but it is a way that I have found to be effective and motivating for my students.
Nik Peachey, teacher, trainer and materials writer, The British Council








Cooperative Group Game Ideas
Cooperative Group Game Ideas
Game: Pencil Mini-Golf
Skill this address: resisting impulses (to peek)
Props: green construction paper, colored pencils,black marker
How to Play: Have people work together to draw mini-golf pathways on
1113 pieces of green construction paper with black markers. Paths should
be approximately 3 inches in width, and not too complex. Players get into
partners. Each partner chooses a different colored pencil. One player closes
their eyes, the other player guides the partner through the course with words
only (not guiding their hand). The other player attempts the course with his
colored pencil. The team progresses to attempt another pairs mini-golf path.

Game: Red Handed

Skill this addresses: reading facial expressions

Props: One marble

How to Play: Everyone forms a circle, one person
is chosen to be IT in the center. While IT closes
his eyes, the other players pass a small object
(such as a marble) in one fist to the next person
while music plays. After 30-45 seconds, the music
stops and IT opens his eyes. Players all hold both
hands out with closed fists. The players must try to
use an innocent or un-emotional facial
expression as IT tries to examine peoples faces to
determine who has the marble. IT taps peoples
fists to have the person reveal if they are holding
the marble.


Game: 3 Word Story Pass

Skill this addresses: Topic maintainence, listening

Props: an object such as a squishy ball, or sensory
object that kids can pass to each other.

How to Play: Everyone sits in a circle. Each person will
add 3 words to a single story as it is passed around the
people. Each person can only add 3 words, then they
pass the object to the next person.
Example: Late last night.a green monstercame into
the.grocery story whenan alien laughedat the
mask

Game: Referee Round-Up

Skill this addresses: Students identify good sport and bad
sport behaviors

Props: tissues, puppets (optional)

How to Play: Before the game, give each student 5
tissues. Role play or do a puppet show where you
demonstrate good sport and poor sport behaviors. As
students observe a poor sport behavior, they should toss
a tissue on the floor to throw a penalty flag on the
behavior. When they observe a good sport behavior, they
should raise their arms to signal a touchdown for good
sportsmanship


Game: Diappearing Act
Social/Emotional Skill this supports: impulse control (not blurting out
answers)
Props: about 8-10 small objects or toys
How to Play: There are 3 people needed minimum to play this game. It can
be played with groups up to about 10. Lay out the objects on a table or mat
for everyone to see. Tell all players that they need to study the objects and
remember what it there. One person is called the magician, one person is
called the guesser and the final person is called the clue giver. The
Guesser leaves the room momentarily. The Magician removes one of the
objects and conceals it. The Guesser returns to the room and examines the
objects to determine which object disappeared. If they do not know, they can
ask the Clue Giver to give clues to describe the object.
Game: The Human Slide Show
Social/Emotion Skill this supports: body language
Props: something to serve as a curtain such as a bed sheet or blanket
How to Play: First with the group, brainstorm a list of various actions
that a person could do, such as: eating, running, skateboarding, jumping,
cheering, dancing, clapping, sleeping, sitting, batting, throwing,
catching, etc. Put this list on a whiteboard or chart paper for the group to
refer to. Then, each player comes up in front of the group and secretly
chooses one action to demonstrate. The group leader holds up the curtain
in front of the person doing the action. Choose another player from the group
to say, Freeze!. The actor freezes the action and the group leader removes
the curtain. Other players refer to the list of actions, trying to guess which
action is being demonstrated.
Game: The Traveling Mystery
Social/Emotional Skill this supports: impulse control
Props: 8-10 small objects such as blocks, a watch, tape, calculator, etc.
How to Play: Players sit in a circle facing inward. Behind his back, the group
leader hands difference objective one by one to the player sitting to his
left. The mystery object travels around the circle as each player passes it to
the next player behind his/her back without looking at it. Before passing on
objection, a player whispers into the ear of the person on his right (the person
who passed them the object) what kind of object he thinks it is. At the end of
the line, the object is revealed.







Oral Comprehension (listening) in
the SL Classroom

What is overlooked when we ask do you speak such and such a
language? Communication implies interacting with others which
involves not only speaking, but listening too. That is why listening, or
oral comprehension, is included as one of the branches of
the Tree. Language teachers often experience difficulty in trying
to improve their students listening skills, especially in a Foreign
Language context since learners are not exposed to the
language outside of the classroom. We address this topic in this
section of the web-site.

What role does listening comprehension play in
communication?
Listening comprehension is a key initial step in communication. The better a student
can understand what is being said, the better will be their ability to communicate. In
addition, they will be better able to notice the characteristics of the target language
which will help improve their language development in all four key skill areas.
Students may feel a great deal of pride when they are able to comprehend
something in the target language. This can be a great motivating factor in
continuing to learn the language, and teachers should do whatever possible to
promote this sense of accomplishment. Consequently, teachers need to construct
learning activities which will enhance learners' oral comprehension (listening skills)
and motivate them, as well.
The work of Nunan and Lamb (1996) is a great help in this area. They outline a series
of questions which teachers need to consider when preparing listening activities:
What is the context for listening?
Should one or two items from the listening exercises be modeled for the whole
class so that learners know what to do?
How many times should the item be heard by students?
How will learners check the accuracy of their listening? (that is, the students
answers?)
Is it possible to check listening accuracy to be done independently or
collaboratively?
back to top
What are some tips to help teachers develop
students listening skills?
An effective teacher is aware that students are not always able to develop oral
comprehension skills on their own; without additional supports listening, by itself, is not
enough to develop better listening skills. Here are several activities a teacher can
employ to facilitate the development of listening skills.
Promote active listening: Giving the students something to listen for ensures
that they are involved in the task. Exercise sheets are another tool that
promote active listening;
Identify listening strategies: Give the students tools to guide their listening; such
as, looking for specific information, identifying predictable words or phrases, or
discussing what they expect in certain forms of speech; such as, newscasts or
advertisements.;
Selecting the most appropriate strategy for presenting the lesson; for example,
using a top down (general meaning, summarizing) or bottom up (cognates,
specific words, word order patterns) approach;
Allow the students to hear as much of the target language as possible while
using a variety of teaching methods; for example, sometimes using visual
cues, at other times not;
Use authentic materials; for example, a lecture or a radio announcement in
the target language, to help students become accustomed to different
accents and to a realistic pace of speech;
Ensure the students know the goals of the listening task: is the goal to
understand whats being said, to decide whether to keep listening or to
obtain specific information?
Provide opportunities for reflection and discussion so the students can share
what was heard, what was learned and methods they employed to better
understand what was said;
Organize pre-listening activities, such as providing students with
relevant vocabulary, reading a related text, looking at a related image or
clarifying necessary cultural information etc.;
Be sure to check level of the listening exercise beforehand to ensure it is an
appropriate level for the students.
Information taken from Goals and Techniques for Teaching Listening, Strategies for
Developing Listening Skills and Developing Listening Activities
back to top
What are some examples of listening activities
to use in the SL classroom?
Here are some listening activities to use with students; they range from semi-guided
tasks to unstructured tasks.
Ads by Browser ShopAd Options
Semi-Guided Tasks (teacher may prompt
with questions)
listen to a paragraph as it is read
aloud and summarize it in your own
words;
listen to a favorite song and
summarize its contents;
listen to a dialogue, cartoon, or skit
and edit where necessary;
listen to a joke or riddle which
reveals something about the culture
being studied;
listen to a children's story or rhyme,
a fable or proverb.
Unstructured Tasks
Describe one of the following and
record it onto a cassette, computer
program, etc. (students may be
permitted to make some brief notes to
prepare)
a process such as cooking rice or
riding a bike;
a familiar person;
a landmark in your locale;
conduct a survey of native
speakers regarding views on a
controversial issue; present and
discuss the summary.
There are several advantages to this
activity. The recordings allow
participants to hear themselves speak in
the target language, which can be very
helpful for shy learners. Students view
this as an easier form of homework than
a written assignment which will motivate
the student to complete the task.
Pre-Listening and While-Listening Activities
It is often stated that spoken and written
language differ. Some reasons for this
include, the following: spoken language is
often used for social interaction rather
than simply presenting information; it takes
place in a context which provides visual
and oral cues which assist comprehension;
and, often we listen with a particular
purpose in mind, sifting through what we
hear in order to meet that
purpose. Furthermore, native speakers
have unstated preconceived ideas as to
how a conversation should proceed, and
interpret the conversation on the basis of
their contextual knowledge about the
speaker and the situation. All of these
factors demand well-developed listening
skills. A teacher can assist their students to
hone their listening skills through pre-
listening and while-listening activities.
Example:
Ask the class questions about a topic, but
do NOT record their responses. Then read
a passage which relates to the same
topic. Ask them the same questions
again. Afterward, initiate a discussion as
to the effectiveness of the pre-listening
questions: did they help the listener focus
more quickly? Why or why not?
Selective Listening
Selective listening skills can be
developed by giving students things to
listen for. The objective would be to
increase the students awareness of
what they hear and understand without
metalinguistic input. A relevant exercise
would be to have the students to listen
to any number of the following oral
activities, and respond to a series of
prepared questions. The students might
need to do some of these listening
activities before class.
engage in conversation with
someone
listen to ad on TV or radio
listen to folktales
listen to directions
understand radio news
teach and encourage prediction
use advertisement materials
Other Listening Activities
a. Simon Says
b. True-False: each student has a card on one side of the card the word yes is
written, on the flip side no (in the target language, of course); students hold up the
appropriate card in response to the teacher's questions. This exercise can also be
done using hand signals instead: thumbs up or down, or using ones left or right hand
to indicate yes or no.
c. Sound identification game: students make a consonant or vowel fan, which is a
series of paper strips with one letter or combination of letters at the end of each
paper. The teacher points to a picture of a word and the students use the fan to
indicate which letter the word begins with.
d. Three Card game: Each student receives three cards with words or pictures
written/drawn on them; for example, card #1 may say south, card #2 may say Friday,
and #3 may say Spring. The teacher asks oral questions and the students hold up the
appropriate card in response. For example, the teacher says I want the card that is
the name of a season.
back to top

Teaching Listening
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/listening/liindex.htm
Teaching Listening: Goals and Techniques for Teaching Listening
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/listening/goalslisten.htm
Teaching Listening: Strategies for Developing Listening Skills
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/listening/stratlisten.htm
Teaching Listening: Developing Listening Activities
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/listening/developlisten.htm