Teaching Listening Skills to Secondary school Students?
Listening subskills
Prediction
Extracting specific information
Getting the gist
Extracting detailed information
Guessing meaning from content.
Pre-listening activities
Discuss a relevant picture
Discuss relevant experiences
Associate ideas with the topic
Associate vocabulary with the topic
Predict information about the topic
Write questions about the topic
While-listening activities
Identify the exact topic, or an aspect of it
Note two to four pieces of information
Answer questions
Complete sentences
Complete a table, map, or picture
Post-listening activities
Give opinions
Relate similar experiences
Role-play a similar interaction
Write a brief report
Write a similar text
Debate the topic
Listening activities
(lower levels)
Putting pictures in a correct sequence
Following directions on a map
Checking off items in a photograph
Completing a grid, timetable, or chart of information
Form completion
Matching
Listening activities
(higher levels)
Answering true/false or multiple questions
Predicting what comes next (preceded by a pause)
Constructing a coherent set of notes
Inferring opinions across a whole text
Intensive Listening activities
Filling the gaps with missing words
Identifying numbers and letters
Picking out particular facts
Recognizing exactly what someone said.
Non-verbal responses in listening
Minimal or no response
Non-verbal-respond by drawing
Non-verbal-physical response
Post-listening activities
Using notes made while listening to write a summary
Reading a related text
Doing a role-play
Writing on the same theme
Studying new grammatical structures
Practising pronunciation
A Checklist for teaching listening
Always set a task – listening with a purpose
Always tap into students’ background knowledge
Provide contextual ‘support’
Practice detailed listening and general listening
Let students compare answers in pairs before group feedback to increase confidence
Avoid testing listening, develop the skills
Ensure learners give diagnostic feedback
Praise the students for their efforts.