EEd 211

The Four Macro-Skills

Teaching Listening
- Listening
- Speaking Listening – the ability to accurately receive and interpret
- Reading messages in the communication process. It is also
- Writing the key to all effective communication.

- It means being aware of both verbal and non-verbal

messages.

Remember: Listening is not the same as Hearing!

Hearing - refers to the sounds that you hear, whereas

listening requires more than that.

Listening Strategies - are techniques or activities that

How do You Teach Receptive Skills? contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of
listening input.
- A verbal response, e.g. answering questions orally.
- A physical response, e.g. an action in a Total Two Listening Strategies
Physical Response activity.
- A creative response or visual representation, e.g. 1. Top-Down - are listener based.
reading a description of a person and drawing - The listener taps into background
them. knowledge of the topic, the situation or
- A written response. context, the type of text, and the language.
- Top-down strategies include listening for
Cloze Passage - a contextual analysis strategy that helps the main idea, predicting, drawing
students learn to predict and verify word meaning of inferences, and summarizing.
unfamiliar words or familiar words that have new/unusual 2. Bottom-Up - are text based.
meanings by searching for clues in nearby words, sentences, - The listener relies on the language in the
and paragraphs of a text. message, that is, the combination of
sounds, words, and grammar that creates
Completing a Cloze Passage meaning.
 Receptive skills involve bottom-up and top-down - Bottom-up strategies include listening
processing. for specific details, recognizing
 For students to develop their top-down processing cognates, and recognizing word-order
skills, they often need to hear or read the text a few patterns.
times.
 To develop learners’ listening and reading skills,
5%
teachers can be a model. That is, teachers can speak
to their students and write example sentences on
the board.

How do You Teach Productive Skills?

Types of Listening

- Listening for gist.

- Listening for specific information.
- Listening for detailed understanding.
1. The teacher provides input and models the The following ideas will help make your listening activities
vocabulary and structures that the students are successful:
expected to produce.
2. Students are given opportunities for controlled 1. Noise - Reduce distractions and noise during the
practice of that language. listening segment.
3. Ultimately this supports them to use that language 2. Equipment - If you are using a CD-player, make
to produce new spoken and written texts. sure it produces acceptable sound quality. Bring
extra batteries or an extension cord with you.
 3. Repetition - Read or play the text a total of 2-3 can predict what they will hear and what they will
times. Tell students in advance you will repeat it. need to say in response.
4. Content - Unless your text is merely a list of items, 3. Using language to talk about language - assuring
talk about the content as well as specific language them that misunderstanding and the need for
used. clarification can occur in any type of interaction,
5. Recording Your Own Tape whatever the participants’ language skill levels.
6. Video - You can play a video clip with the sound
off and ask students to make predictions about what Developing Speaking Activities
dialog is taking place. - The purpose of real communication is to
7. Homework - Give students a listening task to do accomplish a task, such as conveying a telephone
between classes. message.
Tips to Help Teachers Develop Students’ Listening Skills - Authentic communication involves an information
gap.
1. Promote active listening - giving the students - Participants may have to clarify their meaning or
something to listen for ensures that they are ask for confirmation of their own understanding.
involved in the task.
2. Identify listening strategies - give the students tools Speaking Activities
to guide their listening, such as looking for specific 1. What a Life - It is an activity that is developed in
information, identifying predictable words or groups.
phrases, or discussing what they expect in certain 2. Taboo - It is a speaking game where students have
forms of speech. to provide some words besides the ones that you
3. Selecting the most appropriate strategy for have provided them in some slices of paper.
presenting the lesson. 3. Consequence Role Play - Here students have to
4. Allow the students to hear as much of the target take the role of another person.
language as possible while using a variety of 4. Fashion Statement - students have the opportunity
teaching methods. to give their personal opinions of style and fashion.
5. Use authentic materials. 5. Food Flashcards - It is a good activity to revise
6. Ensure the students know the goals of the listening vocabulary or to generate discussion.
task. 6. Picture Dictation
7. Provide opportunities for reflection and discussion. 7. True-False Story
8. Organize pre-listening activities. 8. Finding the Murderer
9. Be sure to check level of the listening exercise 9. Brainstorming
beforehand to ensure it is an appropriate level for 10. Reporting
the students.
Suggestions for Teachers When Teaching Speaking
Teaching Speaking
 Provide maximum opportunity for students to
Speaking - the process of building and sharing meaning speak the target language.
through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, in a  Try to involve each student in every speaking
variety of contexts." activity.
Functions of Speaking by Brown & Yule  Reduce teacher speaking time in class.
 Ask eliciting questions in order to prompt students
1. Talk as Interaction - It is an interactive to speak more.
communication which done spontaneous by two or  Provide written feedback.
more person. Therefore, they must use speaking  Do not correct students’ pronunciation often.
skills to communicate with the other person.
2. Talk as Transaction - It is more focus on message
that conveyed and making others person understand
what we want to convey, by clearly and accurately.
3. Talk as Performance - Speaking activities is more
focus on monolog better than dialog.

Strategies for Developing Speaking Skills

1. Using minimal responses - Having a stock of such

responses enables a learner to focus on what the
other participant is saying, without having to
simultaneously plan a response.
2. Recognizing Scripts - You can help students
develop the speaking ability by making them aware
of the scripts for different situations so that they